Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 31 Oct 2025

👻 When plants grow wings...

🌴 Twilight in the garden. Smokey is holding a glowing pumpkin. Sunshine is sipping cocoa.

Sunshine: "Smokey, why does that plant look like it wants to fly away?"
Smokey: "That’s the Bat Lily - Tacca. It’s rare, it’s weird, and it’s in bloom just in time for Halloween."
Sunshine: "Figures. You always find the spooky ones."

Meet the Bat Lily (Tacca)

Tacca is also called the Bat Lily or Devil Flower. This tropical wonder grows bat-shaped wings and foot-long whiskers. The black form (Tacca chantrieri) looks straight out of a gothic dream, while the white one (Tacca nivea) is ghost-like and elegant.

Some of our plants are blooming right now in the nursery — true Halloween magic! Blooms are delicate and may not travel, but the plants are strong and will flower again soon in your care.

Black Bat Lily (Tacca chantrieri) with dark maroon wings and long whiskers

White Bat Lily (Tacca nivea) in bloom with wide ivory wings

"The White Bat Lily (Tacca nivea) is bold and sculptural, with oversized ivory wings that command attention. Its pale bracts stretch wide above clusters of deep maroon flowers, and long, silvery whiskers spill gracefully through the foliage. In filtered light, the plant seems to glow from within — elegant, crisp, and perfectly balanced between the strange and the beautiful. If I could pick, I’d go with the White Tacca. It feels more architectural, more balanced — those oversized wings catch light in a way that shows off every vein and curve. It looks engineered by nature, almost like an alien design prototype that actually works.

The Black Bat Lily (Tacca chantrieri) feels alive with shadow. Its dark maroon wings and wiry whiskers make it look like something that fluttered out of the jungle at dusk. The bloom’s layered structure and near-black sheen give it a quiet power — mysterious, understated, but impossible to ignore. But if I were designing mood lighting for a greenhouse at night, the Black Tacca wins. It’s subtle, mysterious, like a secret only visible up close. Together, they’re perfect opposites — yin and yang of the tropical underworld: white for daylight, black for moonlight." — says Tatiana Anderson, Top Tropicals Plant Expert

Special Offer: Discounts on Rare Tacca Plants

Grow your own Bat Lilies — White or Black — at a special Halloween price!

Get 25% OFF Tacca plants with code

TACCA2025

Min order $25 (excluding S/H), valid online only, cannot be combined with other offers.

Hurry, offer expires November 03, 2025!

🎃 Storewide Halloween Sale – For Everything Beyond Tacca

Not into spooky plants? Enjoy savings on all other tropical plants across the store!

Get 15% OFF tropical plants with code

HALLOWEEN2025

Min order $100 (excluding S/H), valid online only, cannot be combined with other offers.

Hurry, offer expires November 03 2025!

👉 Collect Tacca plants:

Black - Tacca chantrieri

White - Tacca nivea

Green - Tacca leontopetaloides

Date: 4 Nov 2025

Do you have Shampoo Ginger in your garden?

Zingiber Zerumbet, Shampoo Ginger, Pine Cone Ginger

💄 Do you have Shampoo Ginger in your garden?

💄Pine Cone Ginger (Zingiber Zerumbet), is called Shampoo Ginger due to its unique, milky substance found in the cones. If you squeeze these bright red cones, a fragrant, milky liquid seeps out - traditionally used in Asia and Hawaii as a natural shampoo. Even today, you’ll find it in commercial shampoos.

🛒 Grow your own Natural Shampoo Ginger

📚 Learn more:

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Remedies #Fun_Facts

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 16 Nov 2025

Updates from Mittens

🕺 Updates from Mittens

🐾 Mittens is growing up fast and turning into a beautiful young lady! She still follows Chiane to work every single day and hasn’t missed a shift yet. Talk about dedication! Sometimes you just get lucky and find the perfect team member - and we sure did!
🐾 At TopTropicals, we’re truly blessed with a crew of hardworking, happy people and equally devoted #PeopleCats.
🐾 When you visit our Garden Center in Ft Myers, don’t forget to say a few kind words to our team - they work tirelessly to care for the plants and make sure each one is shipped safely to your home.

🐈📸 Mittens the Cat relaxing after hard work at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden

#PeopleCats

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 27 Nov 2025

Give thanks for a little

Cat Jacques checking refrigerator

Cat Sushi is looking for sushi in refrigerator

Cat Bob checking refrigerator

🍴 Give thanks for a little

"Give thanks for a little, and you will find a lot." - African (Hausa) proverb

🍗 Happy Thanksgiving!

🐈📸 Cats Jacques, Sushi and Bob are looking for sushi in TopTropicals refrigerator at PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 7 Dec 2025

Whats for breakfast? Guava versus Banana

Smokey: Guava for fiber, banana for power. Pick wisely. Sunshine: I pick whatever requires zero effort. Smokey: So... guava in a hammock. Perfect.

🍉🍌 What's for breakfast? Guava versus Banana

Some mornings you want something light. Some mornings you want something that hits like a tiny energy bomb. That’s why people always compare guava and banana. Both are everywhere, easy to eat, and trusted since forever - from Ayurveda scrolls to modern nutrition charts.

But they’re not the same kind of morning fruit. Let’s walk through them like we’re in the kitchen deciding what to slice first.

🍉 Guava - the fiber champion

🍌 Banana - the quick energy classic

Bananas are the opposite personality: soft, sweet, ready in seconds.
Per 100 g: 89 calories, 22 g carbs, good potassium, and a little vitamin B6.

Bananas give fast energy without upsetting the stomach. Athletes eat them before workouts because carbs, sugars, and potassium wake up your muscles. Vitamin B6 helps mood and brain function, which is why a banana on a groggy morning works wonders.

They also pack antioxidants, polyphenols, and heart-protective compounds. Even the peel has nutrients (though not exactly breakfast-friendly).

📊 What studies say - quick notes

· Guava: anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, anti-obesity, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antidiarrheal, boosts hemoglobin, supports dental health.
· Banana: antioxidants, fiber, vitamins C and E, carotenoids, flavonoids, and heart-protective compounds.

🔮 What Ayurveda says

· Guava calms Pitta and Kapha - great for acidity or sluggish digestion.
· Bananas balance Vata - grounding and nourishing - but can raise Kapha at night. Morning banana = good. Night banana = maybe skip.

🏆 Guava or banana - which one wins?

Both win, just in different ways:

🍉 Pick guava for:

· light, high-fiber start

· better digestion
· steady energy
· low calories
· weight control

🍌 Pick banana for:

· instant energy
· easy digestion
· pre-workout boost
· quick carbs
· soft, comforting fruit

🍉 Slow mornings love guava.

🍌 Busy mornings belong to banana.

For home growers

If you live in a warm climate, both fruits are incredibly rewarding to grow.

🍉 Why grow guava?

· Fruits in 1-2 years.
· Compact for small yards or containers.
· Super productive when mature.
· Needs only sun, warmth, and pruning.
· Homegrown flavor is sweeter and more aromatic.

🍌 Why grow banana?

· Grows fast and looks lush.
· One mat can feed a whole household.
· Dwarf varieties fit small gardens.
· Homegrown bananas taste richer and creamier.
· When a bunch ripens, breakfast is handled for a week.

Growing your own fruit means you’re never out of a healthy breakfast. Something is always ripening, always ready to pick, and always sweeter than anything you buy.