Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 2 Jul 2025

The perfect ever-bloom beneath your shade tree

Tabernaemontana divaricata - Pinwheel Jasmine in bloom

🎡 The perfect ever-bloom beneath your shade tree



Tabernaemontana divaricata, also known as Pinwheel Jasmine or Crape Jasmine, is in bloom virtually year around at Top Tropicals garden.

➕ It is a charming, low-maintenance shrub that thrives under taller trees, like palms or oaks. With glossy green leaves and delicate white, pinwheel-shaped flowers, it adds brightness and elegance to shaded spaces.

➕ Blooming year-round, Pinwheel Jasmine brings steady beauty to your garden and can even be trained into a small ornamental tree.

➕ While it loves bright light for the best floral show, it's surprisingly shade-tolerant - making it a go-to choice for under-tree planting.

🛒
Let your shady spots bloom beautifully!

📚 Learn more:


What is the best showy shrub to plant under a shade tree?

#Hedges_with_benefits

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Date: 1 Jul 2025

Holding the world together

Pearl the dog and her cat buddy Ricki

Pearl the dog and her cat buddy Ricki

😘 Holding the world together



"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." - Woodrow Wilson

🐈📸 Pearl and her cat buddy Ricki at TopTropicals

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Date: 1 Jul 2025

Starry fruit and rusty leaves: the tropical tree full of surprises

Chrysophyllum cainito - Caimito, Star Apple

🌟 Starry fruit and rusty leaves: the tropical tree full of surprises



Is it Star Apple, Star Fruit, Cainito or Caimito? Are you lost? Don't be - and here is the truth:

⭐️ Don't confuse Chrysophyllum cainito (Caimito) with Pouteria caimito (Abiu), or Averrhoa carambola (Star Fruit) - which are all different fruit entirely!

⭐️ The Star Apple tree - Chrysophyllum cainito, also known as Caimito, is a tropical treasure admired for both its fruit and foliage. It is related to Sapote and Sapodilla and produces round, glossy fruit that comes in stunning purple and green varieties.

⭐️ When sliced open, the juicy flesh reveals a star-shaped pattern - hence the name "Star Apple"!

⭐️ The flavor is mildly sweet, often described as a mix of grape, lychee, and apple with a hint of caramel.

⭐️ The tree also features lush green leaves with a striking rusty-red underside, making it as beautiful as it is bountiful.

⭐️ Caimito thrives in warm climates and is popular in the Caribbean, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

🛒 Plant your own exotic Star Apple tree

📚 Learn more:


Where can I try a rare Abiu fruit and what does it taste like?
Why is it called Star Apple?
Star fruit: the Star of the orchard

#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders

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Date: 1 Jul 2025

Napoleons Plume - Orchid Tree that blooms in a pot

Bauhinia monandra - Napoleons Plume Orchid Tree in bloom

🌸 Napoleons Plume - Orchid Tree that blooms in a pot

Bauhinia monandra - Napoleons Plume Orchid Tree - is a breathtaking tropical tree with flowers that truly resemble delicate orchids, and leaves folding like butterfly wings. It is one of he most impressive varieties of orchid trees.

Each blossom starts off pale yellow and transforms to soft pink by the next day, with the center petal beautifully streaked in magenta - a unique color shift that makes the tree look like it's blooming in multiple shades at once. When in bloom, it's covered in these showy flowers, creating a dazzling display.

Despite its exotic look, this tree is surprisingly well-suited for containers. It can be easily kept trimmed and compact, with seedlings often blooming when just 2 feet tall. While it's sensitive to cold, growing it in a container makes it easy to move indoors during chilly weather. This makes Bauhinia monandra the perfect choice for gardeners who want a tropical tree that delivers nonstop visual impact in a manageable size.

How to enjoy the orchid flowers and butterfly foliage of Bauhinia right on your patio or balcony? Choose the right variety. More bauhinia species suitable for containers: B. galpinii, B. madagascariensis, B. monandra, B. alba (candida), B. acuminata, B. bidentata, B. blakeana, B. grandidieri and many others.

🛒 Shop Orchid Trees

📚 Learn more about Orchid trees:


How to grow Orchid Trees in pots
Bauhinias: trees with Orchid Flowers and Butterfly Wings
Why Bauhinias are called Orchid Trees: orchid flowers with butterfly wings...
Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Bauhinia galpinii (punctata) - Pride of De Kaap or Nasturtium Bauhinia

#Container_Garden #How_to #Trees

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Date: 30 Jun 2025

Looking forward to harvest

Bob the cat is harvesting Bay Leaves

Bob the cat is harvesting Bay Leaves

🌳 Looking forward to harvest



"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." - Robert Louis Stevenson.

🐈📸 Bob is harvesting Bay Leaves at TopTropicals

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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