⭐️ The giant star shaped bloom you wont believe is real

• 
  ⭐️ Stapelia gigantea, the Starfish Flower, is one of those plants you notice from across the yard and immediately walk over to investigate. The blooms are huge - often close to a foot across - and look exactly like soft, fuzzy starfish dropped right onto the plant. Pale yellow petals with fine maroon lines give it that wild, otherworldly look.
• 
  ⭐️ Yes, it has a scent - just enough to fool flies, which is exactly what the plant wants. They’re the pollinators, and this flower knows how to get their attention. For us humans, the real show is the size, shape, and texture. It’s a living prop straight out of a sci-fi movie.
• 
  ⭐️ Even without flowers, the plant itself looks cool: thick, 4-angled succulent stems that sprawl and stack into a low, sculptural mound. In the ground it can spread a couple feet wide, and in a pot it becomes the ultimate conversation piece. And despite looking like a cactus, it’s actually in the Milkweed family. When it’s happy and sets seed, the pods open to release silky little parachutes floating away on the breeze.
• 
  ⭐️ Strange, bold, and absolutely unforgettable - this is one plant nobody walks past without asking about it.

🛒 Get your own Zulu plant

📱

YouTube short videos:

• ✦ Starfish flower: the bizarre bloom you cant stop staring at
• ✦ Starfish flower in bloom
  

📚 Learn more:
Stapelia gigantea in Plant Encyclopedia

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden

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❔ Another definition of Happiness

"Happiness consists of getting enough sleep." - Robert A. Heinlein

🐈📸 Cat James Coconuts is a happy Purrrson at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden. He sleeps 23 hours a day.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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🍴 Sugar apple spoon mash: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🟢Scoop out ripe Sugar Apple flesh and mash lightly with a fork, removing seeds as you go.
• 🟢Stir in a splash of chilled coconut milk.
• 🟢Serve it half-frozen like a tropical slush, eaten straight from the bowl.

Sugar Apple Spoon Mash

Ingredients

• 1 ripe Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa)
• 2 to 3 tbsp chilled coconut milk

Instructions

1. Scoop out the ripe Sugar Apple flesh and remove all seeds.
2. Mash the pulp lightly with a fork.
3. Stir in the chilled coconut milk.
4. Serve immediately or half-freeze for a tropical slush.

🛒 Grow Sugar Apples - in containers or in the ground

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ Why everyone wants the Sugar Apple?
• ▫️ Annona squamosa - Sugar Apple - in Plant Encyclopedia
• ▫️ Top 10 fast-fruiting trees: Annona - Sugar Apple, Custard Apple
• ▫️ What does Sugar Apple look like and how does it taste?
• ▫️ This is why Atemoya is better than any other Annonas
• ▫️ What's inside this bumpy Annona fruit? Delicious Health benefits

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🚽 The throne is mine

"The throne is mine." - Game of Thrones
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton

🐈📸 Cat Niki a.k.a. the Security Gard, who created her own salon, now took over the bathroom at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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⭐️ What will bloom for you in November: Gardenia nitida - Shooting Star

• ⭐️ It's end of November and let's see what's in bloom today.

Gardenia nitida - the Shooting Star Gardenia - is looking absolutely perfect right now. This is one of the most unusual gardenias you’ll ever run into. Native to tropical Africa, slow-growing, elegant, and honestly… it doesn’t even look like the regular gardenias people are used to.
• ⭐️ The leaves are the first giveaway. Instead of the thick, waxy look of common gardenias, this one has big, soft, diamond-shaped leaves that give the whole plant a delicate, almost tropical-orchid vibe. The shrubs grow into neat, rounded shapes, so they do great in containers or smaller garden spaces.
• ⭐️ And the blooms… they’re happening right now! Long, skinny white tubes that flare open into bright little starbursts. They show up in clusters, and when the sun hits them, they really do look like tiny shooting stars across the plant. The fragrance is sweet, rich, and drifting all over the walkway even before you get close.
• ⭐️ It blooms several times a year, but this moment - right now, heading into winter - is one of its best. If you like rare fragrant plants, this is one of those collector pieces you don’t see every day, especially looking this full and this fresh.

🛒 Get the Shooting Star to light up your garden in Winter

📚 Learn more:
More about Gardenia nitida from Plant Encyclopedia

📱 Watch YouTube short videos:

• ✦ You thought you knew Gardenias, until you saw this one
• ✦ Shooting Star Gardenia: a rare scent from Africa

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

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