❤️‍ Everyone wants Red Jade vine - this is the one that lives! How to grow Red Jade outside the Tropics.

• 🔥 Camptosema grandiflorum (grandiflora) - Dwarf Red Jade Vine, Cuitelo, or Rooster's Crest - this Brazilian superstar brings cascading chains of bright red blooms.
• 🔥 Love the stunning, fiery blooms of the famous Red Jade Vine (Mucuna benettii) but live outside the tropics? Its cousin - Dwarf Red Jade Vine - delivers the same jaw-dropping, flame-red flower chains as the famous tropical Red Jade vines - but without the extreme fuss.
• 🔥 This vine is native to Brazil, where it grows at higher elevations. That is the secret. It is noticeably more cold tolerant than Mucuna benettii and can handle short dips to around 28F with little or no damage. It is also more forgiving with watering and can tolerate brief dry spells once established.
• 🔥 Bloom time is late fall through winter, exactly when most gardens slow down. The flowers are long, heavy, and hang best from a pergola, arbor, or fence where they can cascade freely. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds find it fast.
• 🔥 Despite the word "dwarf," this is a vigorous vine. It grows quickly, needs strong support, and rewards good care with a massive display. Give it sun to light shade, water when the soil feels slightly dry, avoid soggy roots, and prune after flowering. Mulch helps keep roots cool.
• 🔥 It can even be grown in a large container with solid support.
• 🔥 If you have ever wanted the iconic Red Jade look but live in a place with real winters or surprise cold nights - this is the smarter choice.

🛒 Plant the Red Jade Vine that grows outside the Tropics

📚 Learn more:

• Camptosema grandiflorum - Dwarf Red Jade Vine in Plant Encyclopedia
• Cold-hardy Dwarf Red Jade Vine
• Camptosema grandiflora, Dwarf Red Jade Vine - my favorite plant

#Nature_Wonders #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🎅 Dog refused to play Santa - her reaction says everything

🎄 Christmas moment

Mango the Dog really tried to be festive! The Santa hat went on, slipped off, went back on, slipped again...
She sat there looking guilty, like she personally ruined Christmas... We forgave her. Obviously.

🐕 Mango's Christmas story

Mango is a black lab - loving, gentle, and loyal to her core.
One cool November night, she showed up at our gate and stayed there all night, waiting for someone to come back for her. No one did. We tried to find her family with no luck. So Mango stayed with us at TopTropicals with our rescued #PeopleCats.

When we took Mango to the vet for shots, we discovered she was pregnant! Maybe that is why she was left behind?

Right before Christmas, on December 17, 2022, Mango gave us eight beautiful puppies. Some stayed with TopTropicals - Sunshine, Draco, and Lilo - and the others went to close friends. They still come back to visit, and every year we get a full Mango family reunion.

🎁 Sometimes the best gifts show up quietly, wait patiently, and never leave.
Happy Holidays! Hope Santa brings you what you want!

🐈📸 Mango the Dog - the Christmas Dog of TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden

#PeopleCats

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🍴 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

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🐈 Did you know that Tacca is a cat?

That’s probably the real evolutionary secret no botanist will admit! Those whiskers? Pure marketing genius from nature.
Cats had it figured out first — look mysterious, add long elegant whiskers, and everyone falls in love.
Tacca just took notes and said, “Alright, I can work with that!”
Continue reading: Tacca wants to be a cat! - and everyone loves cats!

Tacca colors: Black, White, Green:

Tacca nivea - White Tacca
Tacca chantrieri - Black Tacca
Tacca leontopetaloides - Green Tacca

🛒 Add Get your own Bat Head Lily Tacca

📚 Learn more:

• Tacca Lily in Plant Encyclopedia
• Perfect Halloween plant: Black Bat Lily (Tacca)
• When plants cross into the Gothic: the Darker Bat Lily
• What is the rarest Tacca?
• The mystery of the White Bat Lily - the plant with wings and whiskers
• A flying bat with whiskers
• The rarest Green Tacca - Tacca leontopetaloides
• When Bat Head Devil Flower is in bloom
• Bat Head - Devil Flower

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🌺 What is blooming in January: Purple Orchid Tree

📸 Purple Orchid tree - Bauhinia purpurea

🛒 Discover Bauhinias - Orchid trees

📚 Learn more:

• Bauhinias - Orchid trees in Plant Encyclopedia
• The most asked-about tree in the Sunshine State: Bauhinia

#Trees

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals