Date: 11 Jan 2021
Tropical gardener beginning-of-year checklist
Final pre-Spring check of whatever we had forgotten! For a gardener, the year ahead is a chance to do things you want, as a way to achieve the things you need to do. If your number one New Year's resolution is to garden more (a want-to item), you also will be exercising more (a need-to). Or if you plant a new edible garden (want, want, want), you will end up checking off "eat more leafy vegetables and fruits" from your to-do list!
12 steps to get ready for 2021 season:
1 - Spray fruit trees and houseplants with insecticide and micro-elements
2 - Continue spraying SUNSHINE-Epi to improve plant hardiness
3 - Protect tender plants during cold spells and especially from freeze
4 - Reduce watering during cooler months, keeping the root zone on a dry
side
5 - To give your plants a kick start, fertilize with liquid SUNSHINE Boosters fertilizers - they are safe to be used year round
6 - Plant fruit trees: winter planting is beneficial to avoid heat stress for roots
7 - Plant Butterfly and Hummingbird Attractants
8 - Plant bulbs, vegetables and herbs. Use eco-safe, natural SUNSHINE boosters for all your edibles.
9 - Plan your summer garden and order seeds early
10 - Start tropical plants from seeds (indoors for cooler climates)
11 - Start ordering tropical plants and beneficial soil mix to get them established after shipping in pots
12 - Clean and oil garden tools
Date: 3 Oct 2025
Plant for birds: feast for wildlife and people from a tiny vine!
Passiflora suberosa - Corkystem Passion Vine
Plant for birds: feast for wildlife and people from a tiny vine!
- Passiflora suberosa - Corkystem Passion Flower: did you know this Florida native passion vine is more than just a butterfly host? Birds love it too - they’ll happily snack on the little fruits and sing you thank-you songs all day long!
- And yes, the fruit is edible for people as well! The berries are small, but they make a fun and exotic treat.
- The plants has a tiny flower and a tiny fruit – both only about half an inch – but together they create a mighty native habitat.
- It's a triple win: butterflies, birds, and people can all enjoy something from this charming little plant. Plus, it’s the larval host for Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing, and Julia butterflies, and its tiny greenish flowers provide nectar all year long. Fast-growing, easy, and full of life – a real gem for any Florida garden.
- This vine is delicate and compact, perfect for a medium trellis or climbing a small tree. Unlike the big, aggressive passion vines that can cover a whole fence, this one stays manageable.
- This Passion vine is not just charming and wildlife-friendly, it’s also tough as nails. Cold hardy and easy to grow, this native vine takes whatever Florida throws at it – heavy rains, long droughts and heat, poor sandy soils, even total neglect – and still thrives. A perfect choice if you want beauty, wildlife, and resilience all in one little plant.
🛒 Plant this small and tough vine with food and wildlife benefits
📚 Learn more:
- ✦ What is the sweetest Passionfruit?
- ✦ How big is Giant Granadilla?
- ✦ Does Red Passion flower produce edible fruit?
- ✦ The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit
- ✦ Top 20 plants for a Butterfly Haven
- ✦ Top Eight irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven
#Food_Forest #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants #How_to
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date: 18 Apr 2025
Want Constant Blooms? Plant Clerodendrums
Your Shortcut to a Colorful Garden
Q: Q: I live in Florida, and while everything is green, I want more color in my garden and patio. What low-maintenance perennials can add nonstop blooms without constant care? I'm tired of annuals that don't last. Do such plants even exist?
A: Yes, they do - and your perfect solution is Clerodendrums. These colorful tropical perennials grow fast, bloom for most of the year, and thrive in both sun and shade. They're easy to care for, relatively cold-tolerant, and come in many shapes: shrubs, vines, and even small trees. Ideal for both garden beds and containers.
Why Grow Clerodendrums?
Clerodendrums are tough, reliable, and visually striking plants:
- Fast-growing with a compact habit
- Available in many forms: shrubs, vines, and small trees
- Colorful flowers, many of them are sweetly fragrant!
- Thrive in sun or shade; cold tolerant; not picky about soil
- Bloom repeatedly or continuously
- Excellent for pots, patios, or indoors
Clerodendrums as Shrubs
- Clerodendrum
bungei - Glory Bower: fragrant pink blooms, spreads quickly
- Clerodendrum
incisum - Musical Note: unique buds shaped like musical notes
- Clerodendrum
inerme - Wild Jasmine: salt-tolerant, good for seaside areas
- Clerodendrum
mastacanthum - Pink Butterfly Bush: long-blooming, eye-catching pink
- Clerodendrum
paniculatum - Pagoda Flower: layered red-orange towers of flowers
- Clerodendrum
philippinum - Cashmere Bouquet: double fragrant flowers, shade-tolerant
- Clerodendrum
ugandense - Blue Butterfly: delicate blue blooms that attract pollinators
Clerodendrums as Vines
- Clerodendrum
thomsoniae - Bleeding Heart: classic red-and-white contrast, climbs
easily
- Clerodendrum
speciosum - Red Bleeding Heart: vivid magenta blooms, great on trellises
Clerodendrums as Small Trees
- Clerodendrum minahassae - Fountain Clerodendrum: upright, white flower
sprays
- Clerodendrum
sahelangii - Champagne Clerodendrum: cascading white blooms
- Clerodendrum
quadriloculare - Winter Starburst: purple leaves, late winter blooms
- Clerodendrum
schmitii - Chains of Glory: dangling flower clusters, unusual look
- Clerodendrum
wallichii - Bridal Veil: long white flowers, graceful arching branches
Date: 9 Jul 2024
How to grow Orchid Trees in pots
Orchid Trees in pots
Everyone loves beautiful Orchid trees with butterfly-like leaves and colorful orchid-like flowers. They are widely used in Southern landscapes. But what if you don't have a room in your garden for another tree? Or what if it gets too cold in winter for a tropical Orchid tree? You can grow it in a pot!
📝 This is how to n enjoy the stunning flowers and foliage of Bauhinia right on your patio or balcony:
- 💠 Choose the right variety. Some species suitable for containers: B. galpinii, B. madagascariensis, B. monandra, B. alba (candida), B. acuminata, B. bidentata, B. blakeana, B. grandidieri and many others.
- 💠 Choose the right pot: Select a large, sturdy pot with good drainage holes. Bauhinia trees have a vigorous root system
- 💠 Use a well-draining potting mix. We recommend a professional soilless mix: Sunshine Abundance.
- 💠 Sunny location: Position the pot in a location that receives full sun to partial shade. Bauhinia plants thrive in warm, sunny conditions.
- 💠 Watering: Keep the soil slightly moist but not waterlogged. Water the plant when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch.
- 💠 Fertilizing: For the most profuse flowering like in the video, feed the Bauhinia with liquid Sunshine Boosters Megaflor year around, it's safe with every watering.
- 💠 Pruning: Prune the plant to maintain its shape and encourage bushier growth.
- 💠 Winter Care: If you live in a region with cold winters, bring the pot indoors or to a sheltered location to protect the plant from frost.
📸 Bauhinia monandra - Napoleons Plume Orchid Tree, starts flowering when only 2 ft tall and grows well in containers.
📚 Earlier posts on Bauhinias: 1 2 3
Bauhinias: trees with Orchid Flowers and Butterfly Wings
🛒 Shop Orchid Trees
#Container_Garden #How_to
🏵 TopTropicals
Date: 7 Jul 2024
How to grow Popcorn with pretty flowers
Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)
Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)
Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)
Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia)
🍿 How to grow Popcorn with pretty flowers
- 🌽 Cassia didymobotrya (Popcorn Cassia) is a fun plant! When rubbed, its leaves emit a scent similar to buttered popcorn, hence its name.
- 🌽 It blooms with beautiful large clusters of sunny yellow flowers.
- 🌽 Perfect fast growing flowering shrub - ideal for places where you want to see a showy, pretty plant quickly
- 🌽 Butterfly magnet - one of the favorite flowers for all kinds of butterflies! Everyone who is working on a butterfly garden, plants Popcorn Cassia
🛒 Order Popcorn Cassia
#Butterfly_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits
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