The Hawaiian Ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa) is more than just a colorful tropical accent. Across Polynesian, Hawaiian, and Southeast Asian cultures, the color of ti plant leaves has long been associated with different meanings, moods, and uses - both symbolic and practical.
🌈 Green leaves
Green ti plants are linked to peace, balance, and steady growth. Traditionally, they were planted around homes for protection and good fortune. In the garden, green varieties are usually the toughest and most shade-tolerant.
🌈 Red and deep burgundy leaves
Red ti plants are associated with strength, power, and protection. In Hawaiian tradition, red ti leaves were believed to ward off negative energy and were often used in ceremonies. Garden-wise, deeper reds usually mean more sun exposure and stronger pigmentation.
🌈 Pink, magenta, and multicolor leaves
These colorful ti plants symbolize joy, celebration, and creativity. They are often used as ornamental focal points and in festive plantings. Variegated and pink types tend to prefer brighter light to keep their colors sharp.
🌈 Purple and dark-toned leaves
Purple ti plants are linked to mystery, spirituality, and transformation. Their dramatic color comes from high anthocyanin levels and usually intensifies in bright light with good nutrition.
🌈 Yellow or light variegation
Yellow tones often represent optimism and new beginnings. Plants with lighter variegation may grow a bit slower and need protection from harsh sun, but they add a softer contrast in tropical landscapes.
🌈 One practical note
Leaf color is influenced not just by variety, but also by light, temperature, and nutrition. Fading color usually means too little light or depleted soil, while rich, bold tones signal a happy plant.
Ti plant colors tell a story - part cultural tradition, part plant health, and part personal style in your garden.
The most asked-about tree in the Sunshine State: Bauhinia
Purple Orchid tree - Bauhinia purpurea
🌸 The most asked-about tree in the Sunshine State: Bauhinia
🌸 If you visit Florida in winter, chances are you will notice a tree covered in orchid-like flowers and wonder what it is. That tree is often an orchid tree, most commonly Bauhinia purpurea. It is fast growing, wide spreading, and blooms from late winter through spring, sometimes with a second round in summer. The flowers range from magenta to lavender, are lightly fragrant, and stand out even from a distance. The leaves are just as distinctive - split into two halves like butterfly wings, which is why these trees are also called butterfly trees.
🌸 Orchid trees are easygoing and practical. They thrive in full sun, tolerate many soil types as long as drainage is good, and need little water once established. Growth is quick, often 2–3 feet per year, making them excellent shade trees for hot climates. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and in some cultures the buds and blossoms are used in cooking, while the bark has a long history in folk remedies. Beautiful, useful, and low maintenance, orchid trees are a perfect fit for Southern landscapes.
🔥 Burbidgea schizocheila - Voodoo Flame Ginger is one of those gingers that quietly surprises you. This ginger looks fake - but it blooms like this in real life! Compact, upright, and rarely seen in cultivation, it sends up glowing golden-orange flower cones that look almost unreal against its dark green leaves and deep maroon stems. Blooms appear on and off throughout the year, and each cone slowly opens individual flowers that can last up to two weeks, giving you a long-lasting show instead of a one-day flash.
🔥 What makes this plant especially intriguing is how different it is from typical gingers. It grows more like a sculptural accent than a spreading clump, staying neat and vertical. Even more unusual - it behaves partly like an epiphyte. The rhizome prefers to sit above the soil surface, with only the roots buried, much like orchids or staghorn ferns. Bury the rhizome and the plant will sulk.
🔥 Voodoo Flame Ginger thrives in bright shade, warm temperatures, and high humidity, making it a natural choice for indoor growing or protected patios. Direct sun will scorch the leaves, and cold temperatures are not tolerated, so it is best kept in containers and brought inside when nights cool down. Slow-growing, tidy, and dramatic without being flashy, this is a true collector ginger - strange, elegant, and quietly mesmerizing.
Bob is the classic orange cat, which immediately raises the question: what's wrong with you orange cats anyway? Zero brakes, maximum chaos.
Cash is his younger accomplice, still in training, carefully learning the fine art of hooliganism from Bob.
Together they race through the house like a hurricane, knocking things over and rewriting the rules of peace and quiet. Other cats take one look and disappear.
Do you see the shenanigans in their eyes too?
🐈📸 Cats Bob and Cash - partners in crime at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden
Every so often a plant blooms and the whole greenhouse seems to slow
down.
That is what happened this week with the Black Bat Lily, Tacca
chantrieri. We have grown Taccas for years, but
when the black ones open properly, it still feels special. The flowers are
dark and quiet, almost unreal up close. They do not shout for attention.
They make you lean in.
Right now, we have a lot of them blooming at the same time. If you have
never seen one in person, photos only get you part of the way there. The
wings are darker than you expect, and the whiskers seem to go on forever.
People walk into the greenhouse, stop, stare, and usually ask the same
question:
"Is that real?" - Yes. It is.
A quick honest note, because this matters. The blooms themselves are
delicate and may not travel well. That is just the nature of this plant. The
plants, however, are strong, well established. With the right conditions,
they bloom again. This is not a one-time trick.
Black Tacca is not a beginner houseplant, but it is also not impossible.
It likes filtered
light, steady warmth, and humidity. It does especially well in a greenhouse
or a
bright indoor spot where you already keep plants that enjoy moisture. It is
the kind of plant you keep
close, not one you forget in the corner.
We are offering them now simply because they are ready and looking their
best. If you have been waiting for one,
this is a good moment.
You can see the Black Bat Lily here:
https://toptropicals.com/store/item/2345.htm
Just wanted to share something we are enjoying in the greenhouse right
now. Some plants come and go. Some stay with you.
SAVE 20% OFF Tacca Plants
Use code TACCA2026 at checkout
Limited time offer. Good till 01/23/2026.
Valid on Tacca plants only. Discount applies to plants only, before
shipping and handling.
Not valid with other discounts or coupons. Not valid for past orders.
Tacca (Bat Lily) FAQ
What is Tacca?
Tacca, also known as Bat Lily or Devil Flower, is a tropical plant grown
for its unusual bat-shaped flowers with long whisker-like filaments. The
most popular species
is Tacca chantrieri, the Black Bat Lily.
Is Tacca hard to grow?
Tacca is not a beginner plant, but it is not impossible. It does best
with warmth, humidity, and filtered light. Gardeners who
already grow orchids, calatheas, or other humidity-loving plants usually do
well
with Tacca.
Does Tacca need a greenhouse?
A greenhouse is ideal, but not required. Tacca can be grown indoors in a
bright spot with indirect light and good humidity, such as near a humidifier
or in a bright bathroom with a window or skylight.
Will my Tacca arrive in bloom?
Plants may be blooming in the greenhouse, but flowers are often removed
before shipping because they are
delicate and do not travel well. The plants are well established and capable
of blooming again with proper care.
How often does Tacca bloom?
Tacca does not bloom constantly. It may take time to establish before
flowering, but once settled, it can bloom seasonally and may produce
multiple flowers
in warm, humid conditions.
Does Tacca grow from a bulb?
Tacca grows from a rhizome, not a bulb. The rhizome stores energy and
allows the plant to regrow and bloom again.
Why does Tacca have long whiskers?
The long filaments are thought to help attract pollinators such as flies
by mimicking the look of decaying organic matter. While unusual, this is
part of the plant's natural pollination strategy.
Smokey: I finally got these Taccas. I wanted them for a long time. I
think I got a little
attached already. They look like something from a Tim Burton movie. And look
at that flower. It even has whiskers like me. Sunshine: I understand. I get emotionally attached very fast too.
Mostly to coffee.
Date: 14 Jan 2026
How to clone yourself: Diplazium baby tricks
Peacock Fern (Diplazium proliferum)
👀 How to clone yourself: Diplazium baby tricks
🌿 This fern looks normal at first glance - until you look closer. Peacock Fern (Diplazium proliferum) does something unbelievable: it grows tiny baby plants right on its own fronds! Those little clones are called bulbils, and they develop while still attached to the leaf, ready to root and become new ferns. And once those baby plantlets get big enough, you can pin them to soil and they root into brand-new ferns.
🌿 In fern books, you might also hear this called a "viviparous" or "proliferous" frond - because the new plants start developing right on the leaf. Basically, the fern is cloning itself in public!
🌿 And it gets even better. When new fronds emerge, they curl up tightly and slowly unfurl like tiny baby dragons waking up. This classic fern move is called circinate vernation, and on Peacock Fern it looks especially wild.
🌿 A rare, collectible fern and a conversation piece that feels more like a science experiment than a houseplant!
🌿 Perfect for shaded, humid spaces and anyone who loves plants that do something unexpected.
