Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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Climbing 10 feet for Vanilla Beans! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Climbing 10 feet for Vanilla Beans!

Vanilla Bean Orchid - Vanilla planifolia

⭐️ Climbing 10 feet… for Vanilla Beans!
  • ⚡️ One of our Vanilla Bean Orchids at TopTropicals has big ambitions - it's already climbed 10 feet up a pine tree! We’re waiting (impatiently!) for those elegant yellow-green flowers, which will hopefully turn into vanilla beans.
  • ⚡️ Vanilla Bean Orchid (Vanilla planifolia) is the plant behind that sweet, comforting vanilla flavor we all love. It starts off like any potted orchid, but soon sends out aerial roots and becomes a climber, wrapping itself around trees or trellises. In its natural habitat, it grows high into forest canopies, but in the garden it will happily scale any sturdy support you give it.
  • ⚡️ Once established, it flowers and sets the long green pods we call vanilla beans. Growing your own is a lesson in patience - from flower to dried bean can take month - but nothing beats harvesting your own vanilla for the kitchen.


📚 Learn more:

📱How to produce your own vanilla: secrets of hand-pollination.

🛒 Climb toward your own beans

#Shade_Garden #Container_garden #Food_Forest

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The sun will rise. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

The sun will rise

Mr B the cat

Mr B the cat

🔥 The sun will rise

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." - Victor Hugo

🐈📸 Mr B the cat at sunset at Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Homegrown coffee - the journey begins. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Homegrown coffee - the journey begins

Coffee tree - Coffea arabica

☕️ Homegrown coffee - the journey begins!

Coffee trees (Coffea arabica) that you saw blooming at Top Tropicals in May with fragrant, gardenia-like flowers, now in August - they are loaded with fruit! We will update on them once they turn red and ripe...

🛒 Start your own coffee harvest

📚 Learn more:

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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🌸 Orchid Tree - Bauhinia: Winter Blooms & Year-Round Beauty

Collage showing Bauhinia blakeana with magenta flowers, Bauhinia variegata var. candida with white blooms, and Bauhinia monandra with pink speckled flowers; all suitable for gardens, with some varieties adapted to container growing if trimmed.
Bauhinia blakeana, Bauhinia variegata var. candida, and Bauhinia monandra – Orchid Trees in Bloom

Sometimes a plant stops you midwalk. Flowers so bright they almost glow, leaves shaped like butterflies — that’s a Bauhinia, the Orchid Tree. These fast growers bring color when many gardens are quiet, with some blooming in the heart of winter.

🌟 Why Grow Bauhinia?

  • Exotic blooms in colors from white to deep magenta
  • Distinctive leaves — nature’s own butterfly design
  • Many varieties flower in the cooler season
  • Fast growth, easy shaping, more blooms after pruning
  • Varieties for large yards, small gardens, and sunny patios
  • Tolerant of heat, drought, and poor soils

Bauhinia Care Tips

🌞 Outdoor

Full sun for best flowering, well-draining soil, deep watering once established. Light pruning after bloom keeps shape and encourages more flowers. Protect young plants from frost. During the growing season (Spring - Fall), apply a balanced fertilizer - like top-dress slow release fertilizer or controlled-release Green Magic. Liquid fertilizer Sunshine Boosters Megaflor can be used year around - to promote vigorous growth and abundant blooms.

🏡 Indoor / Patio

Bright sun (south window or outdoors in warm months), large pot with drainage, even moisture during growth, and a bloom-booster feed in season. Feed regularly with a balanced fertilizer controlled-release Green Magic. Liquid fertilizer Sunshine Boosters Megaflor can be used year around - to promote vigorous growth and abundant blooms. Bring indoors before frost.

🍂 Seasonal Note – Bauhinias are Deciduous

Bauhinias drop their leaves in winter — even in warm climates. This is normal and part of their rest cycle. Bare branches in the cool season will leaf out again in spring, often just as flowers begin.

📝 Quick choice guide

Shop Bauhinas

Watch videos about flowering trees