Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
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True love of Night Blooming Jasmine
By Onika Amell, tropical plant specialist
Q: I live in New Cumberland, West Virginia. I love the smell of Night-Blooming jasmine. Is it possible to grow it in the northern panhandle of West Virginia? Do I have to plant it every year or do I keep it in a pot and take it inside during the winter months?
A: Technically, Night Blooming Jasmine is not a true jasmine
(those plants belong to Oleaceae, or Olive family). Night Blooming Jasmine
belongs to the Solanaceae family, also known as the Nightshade or "Potato" family
of plants. Yes, this sweet fragrant flower called Jasmine for its perfume is
related to potatoes and tomatoes!
Night Blooming Jasmine - Cestrum nocturnum - is loved by many gardeners for its beautiful
fragrance at night. It is one of the most fragrant tropical evergreen shrubs
available. Cascading clusters of tiny, tubular pale yellow to white flowers open at
night and release a heavenly fragrance throughout the garden, especially on
warm summer evenings. The fragrance is much lighter during the day.
Night Blooming Jasmine is grown year-round in zones 9-11. It is at its
happiest in a sunny to a partially sunny spot in your garden in well-drained soil
but can be grown in cooler climates as a container or greenhouse plant.
You would absolutely be able to enjoy this plant during the warm months
in West Virginia, but it will most certainly not survive outside during the
winter. You will have to bring it inside. Take it outside again only once you
are confident there is no more possibility of frost. When grown indoors, be
sure to give it the sunniest, South facing window in your home. When grown in
a container, you will need to re-pot it every two to three years so it
doesn't become root-bound.
For those who are lucky to live in frost-free areas, in ideal growing
conditions outside, it can easily reach 8 feet with a spread of 5 feet. It has
a lovely informal look that can soften a more manicured garden. Add organic
matter to the planting hole when you plant to enrich the soil around the root
ball. Water well in the summer, but allow them to dry out a bit between
watering in the winter. Plant this Jasmine near pools, porches, doors, windows,
and walkways where its lovely fragrance can be enjoyed. The shrub is also an
excellent plant for privacy hedges and screens. When grown as a hedge, plant 3
feet apart.
Trim lightly after a bloom cycle to shape and then do a hard pruning in
fall or spring to control the size of this plant. Fertilize 3 times a year -
in spring, summer, and autumn - with a good quality granular fertilizer.
Recommended fertilizers:
Pink N Good Daily Plant Food - Flower Booster
Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster
Interesting facts:
Night-blooming jasmine is an excellent mosquito repellent. The powerful
scent of the flowers attracts moths and bats that feed on mosquitoes and
other small insects.
The flowers of the Night Blooming jasmine are widely used in India and
other countries of South Asia for perfumery, medicinal applications and in
religious ceremonies.
Limited time special offer:
Instant $5 off Night Blooming Jasmine
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Plant of the Month: Golden Dewdrop - Duranta erecta
Stevie's Pick: what's in bloom?
Our exotic plant grower Steven Gowdy is featuring the most interesting plants he discovers and recommends today while working in TopTropicals greenhouses.
Duranta - Golden Dewdrop - is simply stunning with cascading flowers in
abundance. Either it has lavender, blue, or solid white flowers, it is a
sight to behold. The popular name Golden Dewdrop is inspired by the clusters of
bright orange-yellow berries that follow the flowers, in such quantities that
they often cause the slender branches to droop gracefully.
Duranta erecta blooms off and on all year and can be pruned to size as a
bush or a standard tree. If let go, it can grow up to 20 feet tall and wide.
Durantas are excellent butterfly and hummingbird attractors. They will
complement your tropical garden or a stand alone in your Southern landscape.
Great for providing a color contrast in the landscape, they are especially
well-suited as a bright-colored background or screening.
White
Golden Dewdrop has pure white flowers that appear in loose clusters, and
both berries and blossoms are often seen on a plant. This evergreen fast
growing shrub spreads and arches to 10 feet tall and wide and is great for live
hedges and covering fences and corners.
Variegated variety, also called Variegated Sky Flower, is grown for its summer flowers, and very showy
leaves that are dark green with bright white variegation and creamy-yellow
margins around the one inch long serrated leaves.. In the summer, cascading
clusters of blue tubular flowers appear followed by wonderfully contrasting
orange-yellow berries.
In mild climates, Durantas can be in flower nearly year round with flowers
and fruit appearing at the same time. It does best in full sun with frequent
deep watering and is pretty hardy, to about 20-25F. It is a good choice for
espaliers, as a small tree or large bush; all forms benefit from frequent
selective pruning. Prune back in late-winter to encourage a more compact shape
and strong flush of fresh spring foliage. Requires moderate watering in a
well-drained soil.
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FEATURED BUTTERFLY PLANT:
Duranta variegata - Variegated Sky Flower
Variegated Sky Flower is grown for its summer flowers and ornamental fruit. This evergreen fast-growing shrub spreads and arches to 10 feet tall and wide and is great for live hedges and covering fences and corners. In the summer, cascading clusters of blue tubular flowers appear followed by wonderfully contrasting orange-yellow berries. This variegated form has creamy-yellow margins around the one inch long serrated leaves. In mild climates, this plant can be in flower nearly year round with flowers and fruit appearing at the same time. It does best in full sun with frequent deep watering and is hardy to about 20-25F. A good choice for espaliers, as a small tree or large bush; all forms benefit from frequent selective pruning. Flowers are very attractive to butterflies. Great for providing a color contrast in the landscape, and is especially well-suited as a bright-colored background or screening. Prune back in late winter to encourage a more compact shape and strong flush of fresh spring foliage. Requires moderate watering in a well-drained soil.
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Macadamia Goodness
Macadamia nuts are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and
healthy fats. Their potential benefits include weight loss, improved gut
health, and protection against diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and heart
disease.
Native to Australia, Macadamia trees are now grown in various places around the world, such
as Brazil, Costa Rica, Hawaii, and New Zealand.
Like most other nuts, Macadamia nuts are rich in nutrients and beneficial
plant compounds. They are also linked to several benefits, including improved
digestion, heart health, weight management, and blood sugar control.
10 health benefits of macadamia nuts
1. Rich in nutrients
2. Loaded with antioxidants
3. Boost heart health
4. Reduce risk of metabolic syndrome
5. May aid weight loss
6. Improve gut health
7. Providing anticancer properties
8. Boosting brain health
9. Bumping up your longevity
10. Easy to add to your diet
Learn more...
Delicious Macadamia nuts are loved by everyone, but they are so expensive from a grocery store... If you are excited about this nut, start saving: get your own tree and harvest your own goodness!
Macadamia are very handsome trees. They are easy to grow, require very little care and are relatively cold hardy. The are slow growing, compact bushy trees that start fruiting within 2-3 years from seed. Macadamias trees are reliable producers. The most important in Macadamia cultivation - do not over-fertilize this plant, it is very sensitive to regular fertilizer. Use only liquid plant food, and provide Micro-elements on regular basis.
Read more about this plant >>
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Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster
How to get Canistel tree to produce
without dropping flowers and fruit
Q: My Canistel tree is 3 1/2 years old and is growing very well, see the picture below. It gets hundreds of pea sized "berries" but then they fall off. No canistel fruit. What's wrong?
A: You have such a nice looking tree, it is a shame you can't get
any fruit to ripen.
In our experience, Pouteria trees dropping fruit prematurely is a very common problem.
There may be one of the following reasons, or a combination of them:
- Cold winters may affect production, and while Canistel is generally
pretty hardy tropical plant that can easily withstand short periods of chill, the
fruit may never form properly if it had a cold winter.
- Lack of water. Canistel tree is pretty drought tolerant, but for the
proper production cycle it needs regular irrigation. Especially during hot
summer.
- The tree may be not strong enough; young trees drop fruit very often when
they don't have enough "fruiting energy" built up in their system.
Your tree looks well established and vigorous, however, flower/fruit drop
is often a sign of insufficient nutrients of particular kind, usually Boron
(B) and/or Molybdenum (Mo): either when a tree is too young and not strong
enough, or because of poor soils and lack of necessary elements.
Here is what can be done, considering you live in a warm, frost-free climate.
1. Provide regular fertilizing program. We recommend liquid
fertilizers Sunshine Boosters that are safe to use with every watering and year
around. It is beneficial to switch plants from traditional "slow-release"
fertilizer to the liquid one because it makes a huge difference in plant growth
and flower/fruit quality and quantity. See also:
- Why liquid fertilizers are better than dry
- Article about benefits of liquid fertilizers.
Use this plant food for your Canistel tree:
SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster
2. Apply micro-element remedies that are very effective for improving fruit production, especially when flower or fruit drop occurs:
SUNSHINE Honey - promotes more efficient blossoming and pollination, makes
flowers bigger and reduces bud drop.
SUNSHINE SuperFood - improves plant vigor and quality and size of
flowers
These are all natural, eco-friendly supplements that work great for fruit
trees and other edibles.
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Plants for happiness and joy
Plants as homeopathic remedies and happiness boosters. Many people know about health benefits of vitamin C which improves and boosts our immune system similar to SUNSHINE plant booster stimulating growth of plants. But not everybody realizes that this vitamin is responsible for overall happiness of our body, it brings many systems in balance. A number of tropical plants used in salads, as well as fruit with high content of vitamin C can play dual role in your life. You can use them as food, as well as enjoy their beautiful tropical appearance. Such plants will help you feel interest and joy in life when you feel apathetic and resigned to the situation you are in. Just to name a few:
Lychee
Barbados Cherry
Eugenias
Hibiscus Karkade
Try them out. Stay healthy and happy!
Date:
December Fest on Dec 10, mark your calendars!
Topic: Edible landscape. 10:00am - 2:00pm. Agenda:
Class @ 11:00am by Robert Riefer. How to keep pests off of maturing fruit.
Class @12:00pm Super foods by Zoe Merring. Benefits of Soursop, barbados cherry, goji, moringa. Benefits and recipes.
Discounts on all edibles
Prize giveaways at 12:00pm and 2:00pm (must be present to win)
20% off After-Cyber-Monday sale! Now that everybody is done with shopping for monitors and speakers, it is time to get some happy stuff! 20% off on all fruit trees, 1 day only! Enjoy your shopping and get the plants you always wanted at a low price!
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The fruit of Heaven:
Phyllanthus acidus - Amlak, Otaheite Gooseberry
Grow Your Own Food
This is a fun rare fruit tree to have if you like lemonade and believe in Vitamin C benefits! The tree is super easy to grow, relatively cold hardy and doesn't require any special care. It is a fast growing plant, however the mature tree is only about 20 ft so it will be well suited for any size garden, even container garden. As you can see, it happily fruits in a pot. Bright yellow fruit are beautiful and curious, they always make a conversation piece!
About Otaheite Gooseberry
Otaheite Gooseberry, or Amlak, is a rare tropical fruit tree from SE Asia and India, very
close related to Phyllanthus emblica (Amla, Amlaki), however it is much cold
hardy than Amla. Known as Amritphala in Sanskrit, which literally means "the
fruit of heaven" or "nectar fruit". It is so called because it has many
helth benefits. Amlak is one of the favorite fruit of Indian people who definitely know what is good for
you! Fruit paste is a major ingredient of Chavyanprash, a popular Ayurvedic tonic. It is the
richest source of vitamin C.
Fruits are borne in loose clusters, which hang from the tree trunk and main branches. Fruits are esteemed for jellies,
preserves and pastries, and are great for making a delicious lemonade rich in vitamin C. There are no commercial plantings; trees grow only in
home gardens.
You need to have one! Or two. We have only limited quantities.
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What is the easiest, prettiest, and most practical plant?
A plastic one?
Believe it or not, there is a different answer:
Plant of the month: Callisia Variegated Golden Tendril
Callisia fragrans x soconuscensis Melnikoff - Variegated Golden Tendril
An ultimate plant:
- perfect low maintenance house plant
- easy to grow
- has multiple holistic medicinal properties
- can grow fast as grownd cover
- needs almost no water
- sun or shade
- no fuss, no kidding!
This is an extremely rare variety of the European Holistic Medicinal Plant - Golden Tendril. It has showy variegated leaves and makes a beautiful houseplant on top of its medicinal value. It tolerates wide range of conditions and requires very little water; takes both bright sun or shade and is very fast growing and easy. The plant has wide medicinal use in Europe, literally every household uses this plant as a home remedies... just like Aloe Vera! According to scientific research, active biological substances from steroid group contained in this plant can struggle with any types of infections, stimulates metabolic processes, strengthens immunity and circulatory system, has a positive influence on growths and much more... some people consider it a virtual panacea. Whether it works for everybody or not, it is definitely fun to own such a legendary plant!
These are pictures of actual plants for sale!
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New Top Tropicals Video
Top Tropicals Video - Pesticide 101 Safe and Easy. Top Tropicals Plant Clinic with Robert Riefer (Certified Crop Adviser, ISA Certified Arborist). Many people are afraid of using harsh chemicals. We will discuss some pests you may find in your garden and what you can do about them, including using easy and safe household remedies.
Check out this video: Pesticide 101 Safe and Easy.
Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what's fruiting and blooming!