The most fragrant flowers

Q: Hope you can help me with the following question with an upcoming newsletter. Would you please let us know of the strongest (pleasant) fragrant plants you currently have in stock? Fragrance that fills the space.

A: The most fragrant flower that "fills the air around" in definitely Chanel #5 - Cananga odorata a.k.a. Ylang Ylang. Just one tree when in bloom can fill the air with fine perfume for yards away.
Another strongly scented perfume tree is Joy Perfume - Magnolia champaca (both orange and white flowers are sweetly fragrant).
If you are looking for a smaller size plant, then the most fragrant are -
- Jasmine sambac
- Night-fragrant white-flowered Brunfelsias - B. americana, B. nitida, B. Gigantea, B. lactea and others.
- Night blooming Jasmine - Cestrum nocturnum is another favorite shrub with night-fragrant flowers, the scent is super strong and super sweet.
- Artabotrys hexapetalus - Ylang Ylang vine with wonderful lemony fragrance that fills the air.

See Full list of fragrant plants.

How to make the whole garden fragrant.
List of the most fragrant yet easy to grow plants

Q: Dear toptropicals, thanks for the great database on tropicals plants! I really enjoy browsing your web site and I am planning on completing my collection by purchasing some plants from your shop. I am particularly looking for fragrant plants that make the whole area fragrant. Can you provide a list of recommended fragrant plants that bloom throughout the year round? I currently have: murraya, plumeria, michelia alba, figo, champaca, rangoon creeper, honeysuckle, jasmine, stephanotis, Arabian sambac, brunfelsias.

A: As a must-have additions to your impressive fragrant plant collection, we can recommend the following rare fragrant plants below. These are our favorites that are easy to grow and free-flowering. Since they flower at different times, they will add fragrance to your garden throughout the year.
Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant
Aloysia virgata - Almond Bush
Beaumontia grandiflora - Easter Lily Vine
Brugmansia Variegated Orange Angel Trumpet
Brunfelsia magnifica floribunda Jims Giant (very fragrant and very compact!)
Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang
Cerbera x manghas hybrid - Enchanted Incense
Cestrum nocturnum - Night blooming jasmine
Crinum Queen Emma - Spider lily
Eucharis grandiflora - Amazon Lily
Euodia hortensis - Scented Evodia, Golden False Aralia (very fragrant leaves!)
Hedychium coronarium - Butterfly Ginger
Hiptage benghalensis - Helicopter Flower
Jasminum dichotomum - Rose Bud Jasmine - very fragrant!
Magnolia virginiana - Sweet Bay
Millettia reticulata - Evergreen Wisteria
Mirabilis jalapa - Four oclock plant - super fragrant!
Osmanthus x fortunei - Fortunes Tea Olive
Oxyceros horridus- one of the most intense perfume fragrances!
Radermachera Kunming - Dwarf Tree Jasmine
Satureja Viminea - Kama Sutra Mint Tree - strong mint fragrance
Sclerochiton harveyanus - Blue Lips, Mazabuka - lavender fragrance
Solandra maxima - Variegated Butter Cup
Telosoma cordata - Pakalana vine
Wrightia religiosa - Sacred Buddhist
You may consider many varieties of gardenias, and the most rewarding are:
Gardenia vietnamensis - Vietnamese Gardenia
Gardenia Aimee Yoshioka (First Love)
Gardenia posoqueria - Shooting Star Gardenia
Gardenia taitensis Heaven Scent (double flower)
Gardenia taitensis Tiare Tahiti, single flower
Gardenia tubifera Kula - Golden Gardenia
To see the full list of fragrant flowers, follow this link.

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.

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.

Check out this plant...

New Video:
Magnolia champaca... get some Joy!

Champaka, or Joy Perfume Tree, is regarded as one of the most sacred trees of India and tropical Asia. Its flowers exude a divine fragrance that is exceedingly pleasing to the Gods... and women!..
(See more info about Champaka). This video presented by our video host David Mortimer.

Meet Top Tropicals Team: David

About David in his own words:
"...I am passionate about health and living life to the fullest. I grew up in northern Wisconsin and my travels have allowed me to live in places like Colorado and Arizona before I arrived in SW Florida. I make fresh vegetable juices and cleansing programs for people as well as inspiring, educational and some funny videos on my YouTube channel and Instagram. I got into gardening during the first month of the pandemic. After I harvested my first radish and ate it fresh I was hooked! I am excited to be working and learning in such a great environment like Top Tropicals. I hope to talk about all the cool plants with everyone while I am here!.."

Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!

Joy Perfume Tree is available from our store.

Selecting the right jasmine

Q: Would you please help me select the right jasmine? I want to find a jasmine that smells like lily of the valley or honeysuckle or roses, not the one that smells like gardenia. I'm in Missouri, zone 6, so I want a jasmine for my deck for the summer, so I want it to bloom this season.

A: There are 3 major types of tropical flower fragrances - Sweet, Fresh, and Fruity (including Lemony). Below are the most interesting fragrant tropical flowers, excluding Gardenias (which are sweet type). These are all same-year bloomers, so you can enjoy the fragrance this year assuming proper care and bloom booster feeding.

* - The fastest growers that can be treated as annuals. Others can be grown in a pot and brought inside for winter, and be enjoyed every year.

Sweet

* Aloysia virgata - Almond Bush
* Cestrum diurnum - White Chocolate Jasmine, Day Blooming Jasmine
* Cestrum nocturnum - Night blooming jasmine
* Heliotropium peruviana - Turnsole, Cherry Pie
Portlandia Cubanola domingensis - Cubanola (Warm white Chocolate)
Portlandia grandiflora - Glorious Flower of Cuba (Warm white Chocolate)

Fresh

Beaumontia grandiflora - Easter Lily Vine
* Brugmansia Jean Pasco - Yellow Angels Trumpet
* Brugmansia Variegated Orange Angel Trumpet
* Brunfelsia americana - Lady of the night
* Brunfelsia lactea - Lady of the night
* Brunfelsia nitida - Lady of the night
Crinum Queen Emma - Spider lily
* Eucharis grandiflora - Amazon Lily
* Hedychium coronarium - Butterfly Ginger
Hiptage benghalensis - Helicopter Flower
Hoya odorata - Fragrant Hoya
Ixora hybrid Sea Green
Ixora odorata - Fragrant Ixora
* Jasminum azoricum - River Jasmine
* Jasminum Molle - Indian Jui
Jasminum nitidum - Star Jasmine
* Jasminum officinale Flore Pleno - French Perfume Jasmine
* Jasminum polyanthum - Pink Winter Jasmine
* Jasminum sambac Belle of India
* Jasminum sambac Grand Duke
* Jasminum sambac Maid of Orleans
* Polianthes tuberosa - Tuberose
*Sclerochiton harveyanus - Blue Lips, Mazabuka (Lavender-violet-like)

Fruity

Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant (Lemony)
Artabotrys siamensis - Climbing Ylang-Ylang (Lemony)
Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang
Carissa grandiflora - Natal Plum
Cerbera x manghas hybrid - Enchanted Incense
* Jasminum dichotomum - Rose Bud Jasmine
* Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle
Magnolia figo - Banana Magnolia (Banana-like)
Magnolia x Alba grafted (Bubble-gum-like)
* Mirabilis jalapa - Four oclock plant
Oxyceros horridus, Randia siamensis
* Quisqualis - Rangoon Creeper
* Radermachera Kunming - Dwarf Tree Jasmine
* Stephanotis floribunda - Bridal Bouquet
Strophanthus gratus - Climbing Oleander
Telosoma cordata - Pakalana vine (Lemony)

Fertilizers for profuse flowering:

Pink N Good Daily Plant Food - Flower Booster
Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster
SUNSHINE-Superfood micro-elements

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 >>

Hibiscus: TopTropicals' first plant

- September 2001 @ TopTropicals -

Q: I wonder how you started your plant business and what was your first plant?

A: It was 20 years ago this month that we started Top Tropicals Project. No idea where it was going or how to even get "there", just started with the idea of sharing these wonderful creatures we call plants with anyone and everyone who felt the same way.

Believe it or not, the first plant at TopTropicals was a hibiscus. Right before we opened our plant nursery in Florida, we ran into a place called Winn Soldani's FANCY HIBISCUS. The variety of colors inspired us to start our own tropical plant business. We asked the owner Winn Soldani: what plants do you suggest us to grow in Florida? His answer was, "Your plant will find you". Very soon we discovered jasmines, then perfume trees and fruit trees - all those became our specialty. Then very quickly TopTropicals.com turned into a large Plant Mall where you can find every tropical plant you can think of!
But at TopTropicals we still grow hibiscus!

- September 2004 @ TopTropicals -

Hibiscus Plus

Hibiscus is a wonderful plant, considering there are thousands of hybrids with color palettes you can only imagine. Especially interesting are those rare and useful species, yet very easy to grow, such as:
- Salad Hibiscus - Hibiscus furcellatus - yes, used in salads
- Coral Hibiscus with crazy pendant flowers - Hibiscus schizopetalus
- African Cranberry hibiscus that is used for making teas and salads - Hibiscus acetocella
- Cotton Candy Hibiscus mutabilis - the flower changes color, opens as white and turns into bright pink within 3 days, like Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow

Photo above: Hibiscus mutabilis Cotton Candy

Care of Hibiscus and other flowering tropicals

"If your plant isn't flowering, feed it."
- Winn Soldani, Fancy Hibiscus -

Among gardeners, Hibiscus plants have a reputation to have couple maintenance issues:
1) they can get bugsy (because they must be so tasty!)
2) they can get leggy, especially fancy grafted cultivars, and after a while they don't look as perfect as when they came from a nursery.

4 tips for healthy and pretty hibiscus plant

1. Full sun. Essential for profuse flowering and keeps away diseases.
2. Pruning. Keep it pruned and it will get bushy and produce more blooms.
3. Well-drained soil. Hibiscus likes regular watering but hates wet feet.
4. Nutrition program. Hibiscus plants are heavy feeders. But keep in mind that if you just keep pushing granulated plant food, you can over-fertilize the plant. Excessive salts will accumulate in soil and you will end up with a sickly looking plant.

Keys to balanced plant food and bloom booster

1) Use liquid fertilizer, preferably amino acid based, it won't create nutrients lock up
2) Fertilize on regular basis, it's better dilute concentration and add food with every watering
3) Always add micro-elements - they are essential for plant health

If you do this part right, the result will be:
- healthy, green plants, like they just came from a nursery
- reliable blooming circle
- better cold tolerance and disease resistance. Remember that a strong plant will be less stressed and less "bugged" by bugs!

We always suggest Sunshine Boosters - scientifically balanced liquid fertilizers that are amino acid based = they are natural and organic, can be used for both flowers and edibles, and what's most important - year around. They are safe to use virtually with every watering.

This is all you need for healthy plants and lots of flowers!