🐎 Year of the Fire Horse - what should you grow in 2026?

✔️ Here are the top lucky plants to grow, gift, or decorate with during the Year of the Fire Horse - each one chosen for its symbolism, element balance, and ability to channel that galloping energy in a positive direction:

🌿Anthuriums

Symbolizes: Elegance, passion, transformation
Why it's lucky: Its bold, vigorous leaves and exotic flowers are perfect for 2026.
Where to use it: Place in the southeast corner of your home, office, or garden to draw prosperity and charisma.

• 🛒 What to plant: Exotic Anthuriums - Anthurium Black Dragon, Anthurium hookeri - Giant Birds Nest, Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium, Anthurium vittariifolium - Long Leaf Anthurium

💮 Jasmines and Gardenias

Symbolizes: Love, luck, beauty
Why it's lucky: Horses are social and affectionate - jasmine’s sweet scent supports romance and good vibes.
Where to use it: Grow near entrances or windows; use jasmine oil in bedrooms to boost relaxation and harmony.

• 🛒 What to plant: Fragrant Jasmines - Sambac, French Perfume, Night Blooming, and many varieties of Gardenias.

🌻 Sunflowers and sunny-yellow flowers

Symbolizes: Optimism, vitality, success
Why it's lucky: Bright yellow blooms reflect Fire energy and attract recognition.
Where to use it: Display in the east or south part of your home; great for creative spaces or work areas.

• 🛒 What to plant: Tropical Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia), Tecoma stans - Yellow Elder, Cassias and Sennas

🎋 Lucky Bamboo, Money Trees and Bonsai

Symbolizes: Growth, flexibility, fortune
Why it's lucky: Combines Wood (growth) with Fire (motivation) - a perfect combo for 2026.
Where to use it: Place arrangements with 3 or 9 in the southeast to promote health and wealth.

• 🛒 What to plant: Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana), Shaving Brush Tree (Pseudobombax), Money Plant (Pilea), Money Tree (Pachira aquatica)

Edible Greens with Fire-Friendly Energy

Symbolizes: Nourishment, healing, grounded action
Why they're lucky: Green leafy herbs support Wood energy, which fuels Fire. Think fresh, healthy, juicy, and nourishing.
🛒 What to plant: Tropical herbs, spices and edibles, including -

• · Chaya (Maya spinach tree)
• · Gynura (Longevity spinach)
• · Lippia dulcis (Aztec sweet herb)
• · Lemongrass and Citronella
• · Alspice and Baurum
• · Pepper Vines (Pipers) and Chili Peppers (Capsicums)

Grow them near the kitchen, patio, or sunny balcony for both beauty and bite.

❌ What to avoid?

Poisonous or sharp plants. The Horse is a plant lover - but not a fan of painful surprises. Keep the Fire Horse energy smooth, not spiky.

✍️ Final tip: Let the Fire Horse run wild - but not out of control

2026 is your chance to charge ahead - but keep your hooves on the ground. Plants can help you stay focused, bring balance, and add a little luck along the way. So get planting, stay bold, and let the good energy gallop in!

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️More #Horoscope info for plants and cats
• ▫️2026: Year of the Fire Horse - time to grow bold, live free, and plant lucky

#Horoscope

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🐎 2026: Year of the Fire Horse - time to grow bold, live free, and plant lucky

• 🔥 Hold on to your flower pots - because on February 17, 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse gallops in, ready to shake things up.

This zodiac year brings passion, freedom, and a go-big-or-go-home kind of energy.
If you've been itching to make a change, start a new project, or finally plant that herb garden - this is your cosmic green light!
• 🔥 What kind of energy does the Fire Horse bring?


The Horse is all about movement, independence, and bold decisions. Fire Horses, in particular, are fiery (naturally), adventurous, and stubborn in the best way. They're known for charging ahead fearlessly - sometimes without thinking it through. That means 2026 is a year to take chances, but stay grounded. Think big, but don’t skip the planning.
• 🔥 What does that have to do with plants?

A lot, actually. Horses are herbivores. In the year of the Fire Horse, plants aren’t just background decoration - they’re fuel, fortune, and Feng Shui. The Fire element thrives on bright colors, strong scents, and warm energy, so the right plants can balance all that intensity, boost your luck, and keep your home and garden in harmony.

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️More #Horoscope info for plants and cats
• ▫️Year of the Snake
• ▫️2025: The Year of the Green Wood Snake A Time for Wisdom, Growth, and Renewal
• ▫️Green Wooden Dragon's favorite plants

#Horoscope

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🌸 How to create privacy in your yard fast

• 🌸 Tropical Hydrangea - Dombeya x wallichii - really shines, if you need privacy in your garden fast!
• 🌸 Dombeya is the fastest-growing flowering shrub you can plant. In just one season, it can turn an open space into a thick, leafy privacy screen. Large, heart-shaped tropical leaves fill in quickly, creating solid coverage long before slower hedges even get started.
• 🌸 The bonus comes in winter, when the plant is covered in big, soft pink, hydrangea-like flower clusters that also attract bees and pollinators. It loves water and handles wet spots with ease, making it a great choice for Florida gardens and rainy summers.
• 🌸 If you are looking for a fast, flowering solution for privacy in your garden, Dombeya is your hedge with benefits!

🛒 Plant Dombeya today and get pricacy right away

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ Dombeya x wallichii in Plant Encyclopedia
• ▫️ What is the most popular Winter-flowering shrub?
• ▫️ 13 festive shrubs with bright flowers that bring color to your Winter Garden when everything else is dormant

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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😠 The office team in action

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

🐈📸 Cats Klaksa (turned her back), Google and Jacques brainstorming in the office of TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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🍴 Persimmon spoon pudding

Ingredients

• 2 very ripe persimmons (astringent type, fully soft)
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• Optional: pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Scoop the soft persimmon flesh into a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Chill the puree in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.
3. Spoon into a bowl and top with plain yogurt.
4. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon if desired and serve.

🍑 About the fruit:
Persimmon (Diospyros spp.) is a graceful, cold-hardy subtropical fruit tree native to China and widely grown across temperate and warm regions. The fruit is loved for its rich sweetness, often compared to honey and apricot. Persimmons are divided into astringent types, which must soften fully before eating, and non-astringent types, which can be enjoyed firm. The fruit is nutritious and commonly eaten fresh or used in desserts.

🌱 In the garden:
Persimmon trees are highly ornamental, with drooping branches, lush summer foliage, and dramatic fall color. They thrive in well-drained soils, tolerate alkaline conditions, and are hardy in USDA zones 7-10. Many varieties perform well in containers, making persimmon a beautiful and productive choice for both edible landscapes and patio gardens.

🛒 Plant Persimmon Tree for sweet fruit and deserts

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Explore Persimmon trees (Diospyros spp) in Plant Encyclopedia
• ▫️How soon will Persimmon tree fruit?
• ▫️Why so many gardeners this year planted Native American Persimmon
• ▫️Hardy, dramatic looking tropical fruit tree with a sweet fruit

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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😈 Connection established

🐈📸 Cat Serge is transmitting an encrypted Bluetooth message to his alien handler Pelmen - straight to Planet Nibiru. Transmission successful. Awaiting instructions.

TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden #PeopleCats

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🎆 New way to grow Vanilla Orchid, and a wise message at the end

• ✨ Vanilla planifolia - Vanilla Bean Orchid (they call it also Madagascar, Bourbon, or French Vanilla) discovered a new set up!
• ✨ I gave this vanilla orchid as a tiny plant last year: "Bathroom with a skylight, add trellis" - classic vanilla advice.
• ✨ Fast forward to this Christmas - and this thing has gone rogue! It climbed out of the bathroom, marched down the hallway, and claimed the concrete wall by the front door. And yes, it looks very happy doing it!
• ✨ Every visitor stops. Every visitor stares. And then they notice the sign underneath. Turns out vanilla orchids are excellent at pointing things out.
• ✨ If you’ve ever wondered where vanilla really wants to grow… this one has opinions. Add something unexpected to your garden - or your house.

🛒 Plant Vanilla Orchid the new way!

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Vanilla planifolia - Madagascar Bourbon French Vanilla Bean Orchid - in Plant Encyclopedia
• ▫️Climbing 10 feet for Vanilla Beans
• ▫️How to properly plant Vanilla Orchid
• ▫️How to grow your own vanilla orchid at home
• ▫️The Secret of how to Make Vanilla Orchid bloom
• ▫️The biggest in the world Vanilla dilloniana

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

#Shade_Garden #Container_garden #Food_Forest

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🐈🐈🐈 What I really want is a cat

"I don't want another man in my bed ever again. What I really want is a cat." - Emma Forrest, Your Voice in My Head

🐈📸 Cat Jim II - TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Mango tree tipping - Quick Field Guide: why it improves flowering and production

📊 Mango Tree Tipping - Quick Field Guide

It is mid-winter. While early mango varieties like Nam Doc Mai are already flowering, late varieties still have a month or two before they start. Trees such as Keitt, Honey Kiss, Kent, Venus, Beverly, Palmer, and Neelam bloom later in the season. In warm climates without expected cold snaps, this is still a good window for tipping before flowering begins. Tipping encourages more branching, more flower tips, and better fruit production. If cold weather is still possible, save this guide and tip after the risk of cold has passed - but always before the tree enters the flowering stage.

• ✔️ What tipping is


Tipping is the removal of the soft growing tip of a mango branch once it reaches about 20 inches long. This simple cut stops straight upward growth and forces the branch to split into multiple side shoots.
• ✔️ When to tip

• · Young, actively growing trees
• · After a flush hardens slightly (not brand-new soft growth)
• · Warm weather when the tree is growing strongly
• · Best during the training years, not heavy fruiting years

• ✔️ How to tip (step-by-step)

• · Let a branch grow to about 20 inches
• · Using clean pruners, remove 1-2 inches from the tip
• · Cut just above a node (leaf joint)
• · Do not cut into thick woody growth - this is a light heading cut

• ✔️ What happens next

• · 2-4 new branches usually form below the cut
• · The tree becomes shorter, wider, and stronger
• · More branch tips = more flowering points
• · Better light penetration inside the canopy

✔️ Why it improves flowering and production

• · Mango flowers form at branch tips
• · More branches = more tips
• · A well-shaped tree puts energy into fruiting, not height
• · Easier harvesting and long-term structure

❌ Common mistakes to avoid

• · Letting branches get too long before tipping
• · Tipping weak or stressed trees
• · Over-tipping all at once (stagger cuts)
• · Doing it right before cold weather
• · Doing it too close to flowering

✍️ Simple rule to remember

→ grow 20 inches → tip → repeat
This builds a compact, productive mango tree from the start.

🛒 Explore mango trees

📚 Learn more:
▫️Tipping mango trees
📱 Why tipping mango trees makes them fruiting machines (DIY Garden Tip)

#Food_Forest #Mango #How_to

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