Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 6 Sep 2024

What to plant by the pond?

Elephant Ears Illustris Colocasia

⛲️ What to plant by the pond?

  • 🐘 Elephant Ears Illustris Colocasia is a classic beauty.
  • 🐘 The heart-shaped, large purple-and-green leaves of Illustris are huge, and their dark highlights are stunning.
  • 🐘 This elephant ear is a lover of moist shade, but does best with a little dappled sunlight.
  • 🐘 It will tolerate boggy conditions.
  • 🐘 Provide light shade to full shade and consistently moist or boggy soil.
  • 🐘 It is a strong fast growing variety that does great in container, landscapes, ponds and patios.


🛒 Order Illustris Elephant Ears

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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Date: 20 Dec 2024

Why Red Plumbago is so wanted for shade gardens

Plumbago indica - Chitraka, Scarlett Leadwort, Red Plumbago

👍 Why Red Plumbago is so wanted for shade gardens

  • ♥️ Plumbago indica - Chitraka, Scarlett Leadwort, Red Plumbago is a rare gem from India that boasts vibrant scarlet-red flowers. A semi-woody perennial shrub with graceful, flexible branches.
  • ♥️ Thrives in low-light areas, bringing bold color to places where many plants struggle.
  • ♥️ Works great in shade gardens, containers, or even indoors as a striking ornamental plant.
  • ♥️ Traditionally used in India for enhancing digestion and stimulating appetite, thanks to compounds like Plumbagin.
  • ♥️ Cold sensitive plant, protect from frost, keep above 40F.


📸 More photos in next post👇

🛒 Order Red Plumbago indica

#Container_Garden #Remedies #Shade_Garden

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Date: 4 Dec 2024

Is Sapphire Gem really a ginger?

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem

💎 Is Sapphire Gem really a ginger?

  • 💎 Despite its name, Blue Ginger is not a true ginger but a member of the Commelinaceae family, closely related to the well-known Tradescantia houseplants.
  • 💎 Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger, Sapphire Gem is a clump-forming perennial enchants with its deep sapphire-blue blooms - a rare and striking color for the tropics.
  • 💎 Growing 2-5 feet tall, it features dark green stems with leopard-like spots at the leaf axils and shiny, horizontally held foliage.
  • 💎 Native to Brazil and Peru, Blue Ginger thrives in semi-shade or partial shade with moist, well-draining soil, making it an ideal addition to shade gardens, patios, or indoor collections.
  • 💎 Its vibrant blue, lavender, or purple flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and other pollinators, creating a lively display.
  • 💎 In warm climates it remains evergreen and can tolerate brief dips into the low 30s. In cooler regions, it grows beautifully in pots and can be overwintered indoors in a cool, bright location. For best results, keep the soil moist but not waterlogged, maintain good air circulation, and fertilize moderately during the growing season.
  • 💎 In warm environment, the plant is evergreen and doesn't go dormant (unlike true gingers). Close relative - Dichorisandra pendula - Weeping Blue Ginger


🛒 Plant exotic Blue Ginger

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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Date: 23 Apr 2024

Did you know that ice cream actually grows on a tree?

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

🍦 Did you know that ice cream actually grows on a tree?

Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis) - fast growing shade tree with wonderful fruit that kids love! 👯‍♀️
  • ✳️ Bean pods up to 3 ft long contain sweet, juicy, white pulp that has a soft cotton wool texture and tastes of vanilla ice-cream.
  • ✳️ The fruit has fantastic health benefits. It contains up to 25% sugar, 10% protein, 5% fiber, vitamins C, A and E, and minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and zinc. The protein content is two times higher than that of a banana!
  • ✳️ A mature tree will produce around 100 fruits in a season. Seedlings start fruiting within 3-4 years.
  • ✳️ Fast growing, umbrella-shaped tree, 20 ft tall and almost as wide, provides plenty of shade. This is our favorite tree when we need to create shade quickly.


🛒 Shop Icecream Bean Tree

#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders

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We Grow Happiness

Date: 19 Jun 2025

Valencia Pride mango - a stunning shade tree with red-blushed, fiberless, honeyed fruit

Valencia Pride mango

Valencia Pride mango - a stunning shade tree with red-blushed, fiberless, honeyed fruit.
Mango Rainbow🌈


🥭 Valencia Pride is a vigorous Florida heirloom - a Haden seedling from 1941, famed for its large, oblong-sigmoid fruit with yellow skin and crimson blush. The nearly fiberless, firm flesh is juicy and flavorful, offering sweet-tart notes of honey, coconut, and stone fruit . The tree grows tall and open, making it ideal for shade in zones 9-11, and is moderately cold-hardy with good disease resistance. It ripens mid- to late summer (July-August in Florida) and produces reliably once established.

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

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