James Coconuts and Bob introducing Five best fruit trees
🌳 Five best fruit trees to plant in Summer
☀️ Summer might be scorching, but it’s actually a great time to plant fruit trees that love the heat. If you've got sunshine and a little space, these five tropical picks will reward you with fresh, homegrown fruit - some you’ll never find in a store!
1.🥭 Mango - the King of all fruit, a must have in every garden. Fiberlress varieties only! You can't buy those in the store.
2. Avocado - a must have super-fruit in everyone's diet, grow your own!
3.🐲 Dragon fruit - heat tolerant easy plant with low water needs, sweet fruit-bearing cactus
4. 🍉 Guava - by far the most flavorful tropical fruit, great for Summer drinks
5. 🍐 Black Sapote - fast growing, heat- and flood-tolerant, fruit tastes like chocolate pudding
⭐️If there were an award for the strangest flower, the Starfish Flower - Stapelia gigantea - would be a top contender. Also known as the Zulu Giant or Carrion Plant, it produces massive blooms, sometimes 12 inches across, that look exactly like starfish. The pale ochre-yellow petals are lined with fine maroon stripes, giving the flowers a texture and color you can't ignore.
⭐️ And then there's the smell!🐱
Its nickname Carrion Plant comes from its uncanny scent of rotting meat. While that might not sound appealing, it's a brilliant strategy for attracting its pollinators - flies - who can't resist investigating! Just like Amorphophallus - Corpse flower! 🐱
⭐️The plant itself is a stunner even without flowers, with chunky, 4-angled succulent stems that sprawl sideways. In the ground, it can spread up to 24 inches wide, and in a pot, it makes a fantastic conversation piece. Despite its cactus-like appearance, it's actually a member of the Milkweed family. When it sets seed, each pod bursts to release silky parachutes that float away just like milkweed.
⭐️It's bizarre, beautiful, and guaranteed to get people talking!
Pitaya vs Dragon fruit - what is the difference and how to grow it?
🌵 Pitaya vs Dragon fruit - what is the difference and how to grow it?
🍉 Pitaya and Dragon Fruit are the same plant! Both names refer to climbing cacti in the genus Hylocereus. The word pitaya is more common in Latin America, while dragon fruit is the name used in Asia and English-speaking countries. They come in different types: white-fleshed (Hylocereus undatus), red-fleshed (Hylocereus costaricensis), and yellow-skinned (Hylocereus, or Selenicereus megalanthus). All share the same growth habit and care needs. Pitaya or dragon fruit - whichever name you use, it's one of the easiest exotic fruits to grow at home.
🍉 How to grow Dragon Fruit
Get a desired variety or start from a cutting - let the cut end dry for a few days before planting to prevent rot. Plant in well-draining soil with lots of sun. Give it a strong support to climb on - it's a vining cactus. Water deeply but let the soil dry between waterings. Flowers open at night and need pollination - some types are self-fertile, others need cross-pollination. With care, you can enjoy fruit in 1-2 years. Remember to ferilize!
🍉 Dragon fruit varieties
🔴 ⚪️ Red skin, white flesh(Hylocereus undatus) - The most popular type, and the biggest fruit. Mildly sweet, refreshing, and often compared to a kiwi crossed with a pear. Varieties:David Bowie, Delight, Hana, Lake Atitlan, Seoul Kitchen, Vietnamese Jaina, Hana
🔴🔴 Red skin, red flesh(Hylocereus costaricensis) - Sweeter, juicier, and more intense in flavor. The deep red juice can stain, but it’s loaded with antioxidants. Varieties:American Beauty, Bloody Mary, Eureka Red, Costa Rican Sunset, Mac Edwin, Halleys Comet, Mac Edwin, Makisupa, Mega Red, Physical Graffiti, Sweet Red
🔴🟣 Red flesh, purple/magenta flesh(Hylocereus x costaricensis) - Hybrids, usually between red and white varieties. Varieties:Cosmic Charlie, Edgar's Baby, Halleys Comet, Natural Mystic, Physical Graffiti, Purple Haze, Tricia, Voodoo Child, Zamorano
🟡⚪️ Yellow skin, white flesh (Hylocereus, or Selenicereus megalanthus) - Smaller fruit, but the sweetest of all. Crisp, juicy, and tropical with notes of pineapple or honey. Varieties:Amarilla (Kirin), Colimbiana, Godlen Dragon, Palora, Thai Gold (Hawaiian)
Each type looks stunning and tastes slightly different, but all are easy to grow once you give them sun, support, and patience.
Most tropical flowers bring in pollinators, and bees are usually first in line. But what if you’d rather avoid them? Maybe you’re allergic, or just don’t want bees buzzing around. Good news: some flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, or even flies - but not bees.
👉 Quick rules:
✔️ Night-blooming + strong fragrance = moths or bats, not bees. ✔️ Red tubular flowers with little scent = hummingbirds or butterflies, not bees. ✔️ Rotten or fermented smell = flies, not bees. ✔️ Carnivorous plants = trap insects, no bee nectar.
1.
Night-blooming, fragrant - moth and bat flowers
Bees forage by day, so many night-fragrant flowers skip them.
Brugmansia - Angel’s Trumpet - big, hanging blooms, moth and bat pollinated. Cestrum nocturnum - Night-blooming Jasmine - powerful night scent, moths only. Hylocereus Dragon Fruit - huge cactus flowers, bats and moths. Brunfelsia - Lady of the Night - sweet fragrance at dusk, no bee interest.
2.
Hummingbird and butterfly flowers
Bees don’t see red well. Tubular reds, oranges, and yellows usually go to birds and butterflies.
Some flowers smell bad to us but irresistible to flies.
Amorphophallus (Voodoo Lily) - rotting meat scent. Tacca (Bat Head Lily) - spooky black flowers, fly-pollinated. Stapelia (Carrion Flower) - also fly-pollinated. Aristolochia (Pelican Flower) - giant, bizarre fly-traps.
4.
🌸 Specialized orchids
Not all orchids rely on bees. Many use moths, butterflies, or beetles instead.
Vanilla orchid - its natural bee pollinator is absent in most regions, so no bee appeal elsewhere. Brassavola nodosa and others - open at night for moths, not bees.
5.
🕷 Bonus: carnivorous curiosities
Carnivorous plants don’t offer nectar. They trap insects instead, so bees stay away.
Nepenthes (Pitcher Plant) - uses pitchers of liquid to lure and digest insects.
These flowers keep the beauty, fragrance, and wildlife appeal - but without making your garden a bee hotspot.
NEW
VIDEO:
ABC7 Fort Myers News:
Rare Tropical Fruit Trees at Top Tropicals
We received lots of orders from our customers for butterfly attracting plants after our recent
. We are glad you liked the
story and the plants!
Today's topic is on tropical fruit. Enjoy this quick tour and learn more about different
varieties of rare tropical fruit and what can be grown in your yard. We have
them all! And we can ship them to your door.
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YouTube.com/TopTropicals
and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!
In the photo: Yellow Dragon Fruit, Selenicereus megalanthus, the sweetest and the most flavorful rare
Yellow Pitaya. The taste is said to be superior to most cactus fruits.
