Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 23 Nov 2025

📅 Mark Your Calendar - Holiday Plant Market

Holiday Plant Market flyer for December 13 2025 showing two PeopleCats in a festive garden, one black cat in an apron next to a mango tree and one orange cat holding a basket of tropical fruit, with event details, discounts, and Top Tropicals locations.

Holiday season in Florida means sunshine, green leaves, and cats on patrol. On Saturday 12/13/25, our PeopleCats are hosting a special Holiday Plant Market at TopTropicals, 9 am to 4 pm. This is not a regular nursery day. This is the one where you grab a donut in one hand, a mango tree in the other, and try not to trip over a cat giving you a tour.

We are bringing out the best plants we grew all year: big fruit trees with real branches, flowering and fragrant beauties, rare collectors plants, and vines that are ready to take off as soon as you get them home. December is perfect planting weather in Florida, so while the rest of the country is scraping frost from windshields, you can be choosing which banana, mango, or jasmine will perfume your yard next summer.

Holiday extras: 30% OFF online prices, free plant with purchase, 5 to 10 dollar specials, mini donuts and holiday treats, iced tea and citrus water, tropical Christmas music, and raffle prizes. If there is enough ripe fruit in the morning, we will set up a tasting table too. Our PeopleCats will be on duty all day, rearranging plants, checking on visitors, and occasionally allowing themselves to be petted between tours.

Event discounts and specials are valid at both locations:

Save the date, tell a friend, and plan your plant hunting route now. Come celebrate the holidays the Florida way: sunshine, rare fruit trees, happy cats, and a car full of tropical plants going home with you.

Facebook event page - Download invitation

to confirm attendance
RSVP on Facebook!

Learn More About The Holiday Plant Market

Date: 15 Dec 2025

Thank you for coming to Plant Market in Ft Myers

Kristi Vanbenschoten, Top Tropicals manager, holding Persephone the cat on her shoulder in the garden

Kristi Vanbenschoten, Top Tropicals manager, and Persephone the cat

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported our Holiday Plant Market last Saturday, December 13, 2025. It was great to see familiar faces, meet new visitors, and watch the garden fill with people exploring, asking questions, and choosing new plants to take home. Our CatsPeople were busy greeting guests, supervising carts, and making sure everyone felt welcome. Your support and good energy are what make these events special for us. We hope your new plants settle in beautifully, and we look forward to seeing you back in the garden soon!

Check out Event Mementos

Persephone the cat at Garden Event

Date: 20 Dec 2025

🎄 From our home and garden to yours!

Christmas yard decoration showing a festive holiday train with Santa, a snowman, and gift-filled cars displayed on a front lawn in a warm-climate neighborhood.

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: 7 May 2026

3 Best Trees for a Fast-Fruit Garden

3 Best Trees for a Fast-Fruit Garden
3 Best Trees for a "Fast-Fruit" Garden 🍒

Want fruit without the wait? These tropical powerhouses deliver a "fast-food" garden in record time.

🍓 The Top 3 Speed Demons



1. The Favorite: Papaya 🍊
If you want speed, Papaya is king. It can go from a small seedling to heavy fruit in 6-10 months. It behaves more like a giant herb than a tree: it is fast, has shallow roots, and is incredibly responsive to water and fertilizer. In warm climates, it is a plant it and watch it go legend. More details

2. The Reliable: Guava 🍉
Guava is the most forgiving fruit tree you can own. It handles heat, poor soil, and the occasional week of neglect without missing a beat. Most varieties begin producing in just 1-2 years, staying compact enough for small yards or large pots. More details

3. The Surprise: Eugenias 🍒
This family (including Surinam Cherry, Grumichama, Cherry of the Rio Grande, and Pitomba) often flies under the radar. They look like ornamental shrubs, but they establish quickly and can fruit within year two. They handle pruning beautifully, making them perfect for edible hedges. More details
  • 🍓 The Fast-Fruit Honor Roll
  • 🍓Ultra-Fast (Under 1 Year)
    Papaya and Banana: The heavyweight champions of speed.
    Strawberry Tree (Muntingia calabura): Non-stop cotton candy berries.
    Grafted Favorites: High-quality Mango, Avocado, Peach, Nectarine, and Persimmon.

    Mango Plant Facts

    Botanical name: Mangifera indica
    Also known as: Mango
    USDA Zone: 9 - 11
    Highligths Large tree taller than 20 ftSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Moderate. Water when top soil feels dryYellow, orange flowersPink flowersEdible plantSeaside, salt tolerant plant
    Get personalized tips for your region

    Avocado Plant Facts

    Botanical name: Persea americana, Persea gratissima
    Also known as: Avocado, Alligator Pear, Aguacate, Abacate
    USDA Zone: 9 - 11
    Highligths Large tree taller than 20 ftSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Regular. Let topsoil dry slightlyEdible plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short time
    Get personalized tips for your region

    Peach Plant Facts

    Botanical name: Prunus persica, Amygdalus persica
    Also known as: Peach
    USDA Zone: 5 - 10
    Highligths Small tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Regular. Let topsoil dry slightlyWhite, off-white flowersPink flowersEdible plantDeciduous plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short time
    Get personalized tips for your region
  • 🍓Very Fast (1-2 Years)
    The Berries: Mulberry (especially Everbearing), Fig, and Barbados Cherry.
    The Exotics: Strawberry Guava, Loquat, and the curious Peanut Butter Tree (Bunchosia).
    The Sweet Treats: Blackberry Jam Fruit (Randia formosa).
  • 🍓Tropical Staples (2-3 Years)
    Starfruit (Carambola): A heavy producer that looks stunning in the garden.
    Annona Family: Sweet Sugar Apples and creamy Atemoyas.
    Macadamia Nut: A long-term investment that starts surprisingly early.
  • 🍓Fast Climbers and Bush Fruit
    Passionfruit: Will cover a fence and fruit in a single season.
    Berries: Mysore Raspberry and classic Blackberries for quick returns.


🛒 Ready to harvest? Shop the "Fast-Fruit" Collection

📚 Learn more:


· Eugenia cherries in Plant Encyclopedia
· 10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes
· Top 10 fast-fruiting trees
· 5 fast-growing fruit trees and shrubs for quick, low-effort harvests (Top Tropicals experts for Martha Stuart)

#Food_Forest #How_to #Discover

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 4 May 2026

🎉 Work First. Celebrate Anyway. That Is the Plan.

Sunshine cat holding large mango tacos in a garden nursery while Smokey works on laptop with margarita and donuts on table
Smokey: Work first. Celebrations later.
Sunshine: I am celebrating efficient workflow.
Smokey: Impressive. Somehow your workflow smells like tacos.
Sunshine: I assembled mango tacos. Join my festivities.

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.

Mango Plant Facts

Botanical name: Mangifera indica
Also known as: Mango
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large tree taller than 20 ftSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Moderate. Water when top soil feels dryYellow, orange flowersPink flowersEdible plantSeaside, salt tolerant plant
Get personalized tips for your region

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.

🛒 Start with one plant - Shop Fruit Trees

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