Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Date: 20 Dec 2025
Hello friends,
From our home and garden to yours, we wish you a warm and peaceful holiday season. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, as it comes to a close, Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, the New Year, or all of the above, we hope your days are filled with light and the promise of what is growing ahead.
Gardening connects us across seasons, cultures, and traditions, and we are grateful to share this journey with you.
Date: 18 Feb 2026
By Tatiana Anderson, Horticulture Expert at Top Tropicals
Every new year carries its own energy.
2026 is the Year of the Horse - a year of movement, fire, momentum, and bold decisions. It is not a quiet year. It pushes us forward.
When fellow gardeners ask me what to grow in a year like this, my answer
is simple:
Grow something that balances strength with grace.
For me, that plant is Jasmine Sambac.
In many cultures, Sambac represents devotion, purity, and deep affection. In the Philippines it is the national flower - Sampaguita - woven into garlands for weddings and sacred ceremonies. In Hawaii, it becomes leis - a symbol of welcome and connection - Pikake. In India, it perfumes temples and homes.
This is not just a fragrant shrub.
It is a plant tied to love, loyalty, and continuity.
The Horse runs forward.
Jasmine anchors the heart.
In a fiery year like 2026, I believe we need both.
And that is why I always return to Jasminum sambac.
Over the years I have grown thousands of plants, but very few have the staying power of Jasmine Sambac.
It is not just fragrant. It is intensely, unmistakably fragrant. One open flower can perfume an entire patio. In the evening, the scent becomes deeper and richer.
But what makes Sambac truly special is its adaptability.
It can grow as a compact patio shrub, a flowering hedge, or a climbing vine. It performs beautifully in containers. It tolerates both full sun and partial shade. The more light you give it, the more flowers it rewards you with.
And unlike many tropicals, Sambac does not bloom just once. With proper care, it flowers in cycles throughout the warm season.
For gardeners, that combination is rare: beauty, perfume, flexibility, and repeat bloom.
That is why it has remained one of the most wanted fragrant plants in cultivation.
Date: 4 May 2026
Cinco de Mayo has a way of sneaking up the right way. The weather settles, the evenings stretch a little longer, and suddenly everything moves outside - plants, people, and whatever happens to be for lunch. It is the kind of day where you stay out longer than planned, something cold is sweating on the table, and dinner becomes whatever sounds good.
This year, it was mango tacos. Not a recipe we planned - just a few ripe mangoes that needed a purpose and the kind of lazy inspiration that shows up around 5pm in the garden. Nothing complicated. Just something warm from the pan and a quick assembly that somehow feels like a celebration.
It's funny how a good meal can send you down a rabbit hole. One bite of something fresh and you start wondering where it came from, whether you could grow it yourself, and how much better it might taste if you did.
That is really the point. A small shift from planning to picking, where the line between the garden and the kitchen starts to blur. If you are growing fruit, or thinking about it, this is your reminder: the best meals usually start about ten feet from your back door.
Date: 7 May 2026
Date: 20 Sep 2025
Costus igneus (Chamaecostus cuspidatus) - Fiery Costus or Spiral Flag