📅 Do Not Miss: March 21 - Spring Equinox Plant Market

🍩 Saturday, March 21, 2026: 9 am - 4 pm

Ft Myers Garden Center: 13890 Orange River, Ft Myers, FL
Sebring B-Farm : 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL

More Spring Equinox Plant Market details

🌞 Welcome to our Spring Equinox Plant Market, proudly hosted by the PeopleCats of Top Tropicals.

This one feels different.

After Florida’s record freeze, many gardens are brown, trimmed back, or missing a few old friends. We felt it too. And now - we rebuild.

The equinox marks equal day and night. More light ahead. New growth beginning.

And the PeopleCats are ready🐾.

• 🐱King is back on gate duty - inspecting every vehicle for proper plant-hauling capacity.
• 😺Paisley is rearranging freeze survivors and new arrivals like a design consultant.
• 😼Snitch is supervising recovery efforts from a comfortable chair.
• 😸Persephone is checking under tables for "hidden spring energy."
• 😻Sushi and Loki are preparing for guided garden tours - recovery edition.

This is not just a plant market. This is the spring reset.

👍 Why You Should Come

It is finally warm in Florida. After several nights of hard freeze, some plants survived - and some didn’t. This event is your chance to see real freeze champions in person.

If you lost plants, you are not alone. If you are ready to plant smarter, this is your moment.

Walk the gardens. See proven winter survivors. Discover cold-hardy fruit trees and resilient ornamentals. Get practical advice about replanting after freeze. This is rebuilding - Florida style.

♥️ What Makes This Event Special

We are featuring:

• Verified freeze survivors
• Cold-hardy fruit trees
• Tough flowering trees and shrubs
• Replacement plants for damaged landscapes
• Smart layering ideas for frost-resilient gardens
• You will see which species handled 25F with wind and multiple nights of freeze - with no protection.

Real-world test. Real results.

Cold hardy fruit favorites include:

• Cold-hardy Avocado varieties, including varieties, which are cold hardy to 15-20°F: Joey, Fantastic, Mexicola, Poncho, Brogdon and more.
• Macadamia Nut Trees
• Eugenia Cherries, including Rio Grande and Grumichama
• Gin Berry and Jaboticaba
• Loquat and Cattley Guava
• Peaches and Pomegranates

🌸 Cold hardy subtropical flowering trees including:

• Bauhinias and Tabebuias
• Mexican Bird of Paradise - Caesalpinia mexicana
• Jacaranda and Magnolia

🎉Event Highlights

• 30% OFF online prices
• FREE plants with purchase
• $5-10 specials
• Exciting raffle prizes

🌳Don't just mow - grow!

Start your food forest, beat rising prices, and plant a future your family will thank you for.

🛒 Feed your plants

Care of Desert Roses

Q: I am looking forward to my three desert roses I just ordered from you and I am wondering how to take care of them, especially during winter time. Should I put the pots in full sun or shade? What kind of soil do they like? How often should I water them? When it gets cooler, should I bring them inside? We do have occasional frost here during winter.

A: Here are a few tips for your desert roses:

1. When received Adenium from mail-order, unpack carefully; branches are fragile. Plant in well-drained potting mix. Cactus mix will do, but we recommend special Adenium mix. If using regular acidic peat-based potting mix, you may add sea-shells on top of soil to neutralize acidity: adeniums prefer alkaline soils. Using clay pots is beneficial. Water once and do not water again until soil gets dry. Place in bright shade until new leaves sprout, then the plant can be moved to full sun.

2. Adenium is a succulent, but not a cactus. It needs watering, however let soil dry before waterings. Reduce watering during cool season and discontinue when plant gets dormant (drops all leaves in winter).

3. Bright light is the best for profuse flowering. However, adeniums look much healthier in slightly filtered light rather than in all-day full sun.

4. Fertilize and spray leaves with liquid fertilizer SUNSHINE Megaflor - Nutrition Bloom Booster. Phosphorous is responsible both for flowering and caudex development. Avoid caudex, spray over foliage only. Dry fertilizer can be used only during hot months.

5. Watch for spider mites during hot and dry season.

6. Give plants a break during winter dormant season. Keep in bright shade and reduce watering to 1-2 per month or stop watering if temperature is below 65F.

More info on growing Desert Roses:
What you need for successful growing Adeniums
Overwintering Adeniums outside of tropics
Growing Exotic Adeniums - Growing Exotic Adeniums

Tahitian Gardenia

Q: I am interested in your Tahitian Gardenia and I would love to try and grow this plant in a large container/fabric pot. The soil here where I live is terrible as it's hard rock, clay, and sand! So I'm not sure if amending the soil would help to plant in the ground? Can you tell me if this will do okay in a container or best in ground? I live here in Las Vegas, NV (zone 9a). Any information would be great to help me make a this decision, I love the selection of cool tropical plants you offer! Also my daughter does Tahitian/Polynesian dance and this would be a cool "topping on the cake" if she could have a live Tiare flower in her performances.

A: Tahitian Gardenia will be doing best if grown in container in your area. In its natural habitat, it grows full sun but also it enjoys mild weather conditions and high air humidity. All gardenias prefer acidic soils. In your area, if planted in the ground, it may be exposed to some harsh conditions: too high temperatures, too hot sun, dry air, and as you mentioned - heavy clay and sandy soil. You can enjoy this plant grown in container, which can be moved as needed away from too much sun during summer months. Use well-drained potting mix. Use plastic pot, do not use fabric or clay pots - soil will dry out too quickly.
Also remember to fertilize this plant on regular basis with a liquid fertilizer SUNSHINE Pikake - Fragrant Flower Booster.
Grow gardenia in full sun or semi-shade during the hottest months. You may spray it with pure water if the air too dry and hot. Enjoy your Tropical Beauty and good luck!

Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster

How to get Canistel tree to produce
without dropping flowers and fruit

Q: My Canistel tree is 3 1/2 years old and is growing very well, see the picture below. It gets hundreds of pea sized "berries" but then they fall off. No canistel fruit. What's wrong?

A: You have such a nice looking tree, it is a shame you can't get any fruit to ripen.
In our experience, Pouteria trees dropping fruit prematurely is a very common problem. There may be one of the following reasons, or a combination of them:
- Cold winters may affect production, and while Canistel is generally pretty hardy tropical plant that can easily withstand short periods of chill, the fruit may never form properly if it had a cold winter.
- Lack of water. Canistel tree is pretty drought tolerant, but for the proper production cycle it needs regular irrigation. Especially during hot summer.
- The tree may be not strong enough; young trees drop fruit very often when they don't have enough "fruiting energy" built up in their system.
Your tree looks well established and vigorous, however, flower/fruit drop is often a sign of insufficient nutrients of particular kind, usually Boron (B) and/or Molybdenum (Mo): either when a tree is too young and not strong enough, or because of poor soils and lack of necessary elements.

Here is what can be done, considering you live in a warm, frost-free climate.

1. Provide regular fertilizing program. We recommend liquid fertilizers Sunshine Boosters that are safe to use with every watering and year around. It is beneficial to switch plants from traditional "slow-release" fertilizer to the liquid one because it makes a huge difference in plant growth and flower/fruit quality and quantity. See also:
- Why liquid fertilizers are better than dry
- Article about benefits of liquid fertilizers.

Healthy Plant Food: Q&A from Mr Booster

Encouraging blooms on the Hawaiian Sunset Bell Vine

Q: Please can you advise how to encourage the Stictocardia beraviensis the Hawaiian Sunset Bell vine blooms? Mine is all beautiful leaves and full sun in Miami.

A: Providing full sun, Stictocardia blooms profusely. In your area, it should be happy and thriving. However, keep in mind that these flowers can be seasonal (meaning, not ever-blooming). The good news it, Hawaiian Sunset Bell usually blooms several times a year on and off. In our garden, we have a large plant growing in the ground and covering a whole fence; we see flowers 3 times a year:
- Early Spring
- Summer (sporadically)
- Late Fall to early Winter

Make sure to provide proper fertilizer to encourage blooms. It is especially important if you grow this plant in container (where nutrients are very limited). We suggest the following fertilizer for your Stictocardia:

SUNSHINE Megaflor - Bloom Nutrition Booster