Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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What trees are fruiting and blooming right now?

Tabebuia chrysotricha - Dwarf Golden Tabebuia

Photo above: Tabebuia chrysotricha - Dwarf Golden Tabebuia

Q: What tropical trees are fruiting and flowering in March?

A: There's always something blooming and fruiting, especially with spring on the way! Our garden is buzzing with bees and butterflies, and in the nursery, you'll always find plants in bloom or bearing fruit. Here are a few standout winners of the season.

Orchid Trees

Bauhinia alba (candida) - White Orchid Tree

Orchid trees are among the most spectacular trees in Florida, flowering from late winter through spring. They are fast-growing, not fussy about soil or water, and bloom for several weeks in a stunning display of white, purple, pink, or red flowers. In the photo: Bauhinia alba (candida) - White Orchid Tree - the most cold-hardy of all Bauhinias, tolerating temperatures as low as 26F. You can see them in full bloom across Florida right now!

Carambola - Star Fruit

Starfruit (Averrhoa carambola)

Starfruit trees (Averrhoa carambola) have been fruiting in our garden since fall, and they just keep producing! We've had so many starfruits that we ended up making lots of jam.

Calliandra

Calliandra tweedi With Love - Red Tassel Flower

Calliandras are known to be spectacular winter bloomers, but in our garden, they seem to flower year-round. They make fantastic ever-blooming hedges or striking small specimen trees.
In the photo: red-flowering Calliandra tweedii "With Love" - Red Tassel Flower, yright now, this beautiful bush is covered in red blooms in front of our office at Sebring Farm.

Mulberry Trees

Mulberry fruit on the tree

Yes, it's Mulberry season! Some varieties have already ripened, while others are just about to. We're competing with the birds to see who gets the first fruit, but honestly, there's plenty for everyone! These trees are very cold hardy and highly productive.

Loquat Trees

Loquat tree Eriobotrya japonica

Loquat trees (Eriobotrya japonica) are loaded with fruit right now! We've started picking them and have already made some delicious preserves - you can only eat so many fresh. Loquats continue fruiting through April and May, making them one of the most rewarding, easy-to-grow, and productive fruit trees.

Tabebuia Trees

Tabebuia impetiginosa - Dwarf Pink Tabebuia, Pau DArco, Taheebo

Tabebuia trees put on a spectacular show from late winter through spring! Golden and pink Tabebuias are small, compact trees that fit any yard and deliver a breathtaking display year after year.
Check out these short videos of blooming Tabebuias:
Tabebuia chrysotricha - Dwarf Golden Tabebuia
Tabebuia impetiginosa - Dwarf Pink Tabebuia, Pau DArco, Taheebo

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How to add color to your yard. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

How to add color to your yard

🌈 How to add color to your yard.

  • 🔜 Lovely Cassias we mentioned in earlier post are in full bloom today - they love the Summer Heat! They are our favorite Summer flowers.

  • 🔜 Cassia (Senna) trees are compact, fast growing, tolerant to drought and poor soils, free-flowering and relatively cold hardy. Always a great choice!

  • 🔜 Cassias come in several colors: yellow, orange, pink, red and rainbow.

  • 🔜 Yellow-flowering cassias:

  • Senna surattensis (Cassia glauca) - Scrambled Egg Bush
    Cassia siamea - Kassod Tree
    Cassia didymobotrya - Popcorn Cassia
    Senna alata - Empress Candles
    Cassia occidentalis - Fedegoso, Coffee Senna

  • 🔜 Pink/red and multi-color Rainbow cassias (which are hybrids between yellow and pink cassias):

Cassia grandis
- Red Cassia
Cassia javanica - Apple Blossom Tree
Cassia marginata - Rainbow Shower Tree
Cassia roxburghii - Ceylon Senna
Cassia x nodosa - Pink Shower, Appleblossom.

What cassias do you have in your garden?
Share photos in comments
👇

🛒 Shop showy Cassia trees

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What is the best flowering shrub for a shady spot? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What is the best flowering shrub for a shady spot?

Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra

Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra

Aphelandra squarrosa - White Zebra Plant

Aphelandra squarrosa - White Zebra Plant

Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen

Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen

Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle

Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle

💐 What is the best flowering shrub for a shady spot?
  • 🚩 Aphelandra is hands down one of the best solutions for a shade garden where you want to see more colors. It is a great addition to a collectible tropical butterfly garden, can grow into 4-5" tall bushy specimen. Tolerates both sun and shade.
  • 🚩Aphelandras have beautiful lush foliage and showy, long terminal inflorescences throughout the warm season.
  • 🚩These flowers are loved by hummingbirds.
  • 🚩Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra. Yellow flowers emerge out of long orange stalks in the fall time. Pretty and unusual!
  • 🚩Aphelandra squarrosa Dania (Snow White) - White Zebra Plant. It is also one of the best house plants, not only pretty because of its white-veined "Zebra" foliage, but also for the apical inflorescence with its beautiful yellow bracts.
  • 🚩Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen, has extremely tropical look and fragrant flowers of unusual color combination: orange and pink.
  • 🚩Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle - a rare hybrid with bright red flowers


📚 Learn more from previous posts:
Panama Queen
How to grow Zebra in container?

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Why is it called Blue Butterfly? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Why is it called Blue Butterfly?

Clerodendrum ugandense - Blue Butterfly

Clerodendrum ugandense - Blue Butterfly

Clerodendrum ugandense - Blue Butterfly

Clerodendrum ugandense - Blue Butterfly

⚡️ #Fun_Facts: Why is it called Blue Butterfly?

Clerodendrum ugandense (Blue Butterfly): This plant's blue flowers and butterfly-like shape attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden. So this plant is all about butterflies!

🛒 Order Blue Butterfly Bush

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What Tree Calliandra brings into your garden? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What Tree Calliandra brings into your garden?

Calliandra houstoniana - Tree Calliandra

Calliandra houstoniana - Tree Calliandra

Calliandra houstoniana - Tree Calliandra, flower

Calliandra houstoniana - Tree Calliandra, flower

⚡️ #Fun_Facts: Tree Calliandra

🎉 Calliandra houstoniana - Tree Calliandra - is the only tree form of Powderpuff. It quickly grows into a bushy beautiful tree in just one season, and fluffy pink flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies year around

🛒 Order

#Trees #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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How to grow Popcorn with pretty flowers. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

How to grow Popcorn with pretty flowers

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)

🍿 How to grow Popcorn with pretty flowers
  • 🌽 Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia) is a fun plant! When rubbed, its leaves emit a scent similar to buttered popcorn, hence its name.
  • 🌽 It blooms with beautiful large clusters of sunny yellow flowers.
  • 🌽 Perfect fast growing flowering shrub - ideal for places where you want to see a showy, pretty plant quickly
  • 🌽 Butterfly magnet - one of the favorite flowers for all kinds of butterflies! Everyone who is working on a butterfly garden, plants Popcorn Cassia


🛒 Order Popcorn Cassia

#Butterfly_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

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What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both!

Blue Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum ugandense)

Blue Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum ugandense)

Pink Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum mastacanthum)

Pink Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum mastacanthum)

🎀 What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both!

These two varieties of Clerodendrum must go together - Blue Butterfly and Pink Butterfly - perfect combination! The flowers and butterfly-like shape attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden. So these plants are all about butterflies!

Blue Butterfly Bush that we mentioned earlier, is a popular fast growing showy shrub with bright blue butterfly-like flowers

🎀 Pink Butterfly Bush is very rare new plant in cultivation, is very similar to more common Blue variety but has pink flowers.

🛒 Order Butterfly Bushes

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Why Poinciana is super popular tropical flowering tree. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Why Poinciana is super popular tropical flowering tree

Peltophorum - Golden Flamboyant, Yellow Poinciana

Peltophorum - Golden Flamboyant, Yellow Poinciana

Peltophorum - Golden Flamboyant, Yellow Poinciana

Peltophorum - Golden Flamboyant, Yellow Poinciana

Peltophorum - Golden Flamboyant, Yellow Poinciana

🌼 Why Poinciana is super popular tropical flowering tree
  • 🟡 Peltophorum - Golden Flamboyant, Yellow Poinciana, in one of the most popular flowering trees of Tropics, along with Delonix and Jacaranda.
  • 🟡 Golden Showers: It has bright yellow flowers bloom in clusters, creating a stunning, sunshiny display.
  • 🟡 Butterfly Magnet: Attracts butterflies and bees, bringing life and movement to your garden.
  • 🟡 Shade Provider: Its wide, spreading canopy offers a cool, shady spot to relax under.
  • 🟡 Easy Maintenance: Low-maintenance and hardy, making it perfect for those who want beauty without the hassle.
  • 🟡 Tropical Vibe: Adds a lush, tropical feel to any garden, making you feel like you're on a permanent vacation.
  • 🟡 Fast Grower: Quick to grow, so you don’t have to wait long to enjoy its full beauty.
  • 🟡 Elegant Foliage: Delicate, fern-like leaves add an elegant touch and sway gracefully in the breeze.
  • 🟡 Long Blooming Season: Enjoy its gorgeous flowers for an extended period, adding color and joy to your garden.


📚 Three top tropical trees - from the legends of Caribbean

🛒 Order online

#Trees #Butterfly_Plants

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What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden?

Asclepias - Milkweed, butterfly attractor

What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden? 5 best butterfly attractors.

If you love butterflies and if you enjoy having nature around your home, then plant a butterfly garden. Caterpillars, which transform into butterflies, require special kinds of plants to feed upon. Below are the top five winners that butterflies appreciate the most. Besides, remember That all yellow flowers are attractive to butterflies, for example Cassias. Butterflies like the Sun and everything that looks like the Sun! 🌞

🏆 5 best butterfly attractors:

1. Calotropis gigantea - Giant milkweed, Arka
2. Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
3. Plumbago - blue, white and red
4. Rondeletia leucophylla - Panama Rose
5. Asclepias - Milkweed

💻 Learn more:

🎥 ABC-7: Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals
The Milkweed and the Monarch, how to raise your own
Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
Plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds

🛒 Shop butterfly plants

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This is what butterflies love. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

This is what butterflies love

Odontonema - Butterfly Bush

😍 This is what butterflies love

💥 Odontonema - Butterfly Bush - is blooming since early spring non stop, attracting lots of butterflies in our garden.

📚 Previous posts:

🛒 OrderButterfly Bush

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