🍉 Another day, another fruit tray from the garden! Even at the end of November, something is always ripening here in Florida. This tray turned out especially fun - a mix of familiar fruits and a couple that always make people guess twice!
🍉 Today’s harvest includes: sweet Persimmons, Star fruit, a few different dragon fruits: yellow Palora and white with red skin - this is Seoul Kitchen. There's also Cocoplum, which makes great drinks. And - ta-da! - the little showstopper of the day: Curly Locks Orchid Cactus fruit (Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa). It looks wild, but it's edible and tastes like a tiny dragon fruit.
🍉 If you live in Florida or any warm climate, growing your own fruit is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Tropical fruit trees are generous plants - they don’t wait for a season, they give you something month after month. Some days it’s a handful, some days it’s a whole tray, but there’s always a fresh treat waiting. Once you start growing your own food, you realize how easy and rewarding it is to fill your garden with flavor.
🍉 Every tray has a new surprise. Come along and see what the garden gives us next!
Photo above: A long-blooming holiday classic, Schlumbergera New
Deal, an heirloom Thanksgiving-to-Christmas cactus with cascades of
oversized pink flowers. Blooms from Thanksgiving through Easter!
As our way of saying thank you for growing with us all year long, here is
your exclusive holiday code. Use it for 15% off any order over $100 (excluding
shipping and handling):
THANKS2025
Ends November 30th, 2025 (Sunday) at midnight.
Min order $100 (exculuding S/H).
One use per customer.
Cannot be combined with other discounts.
Cannot be applied to previous orders.
Check out our specials below - hand-picked by our horticulturist for
size, beauty, and vigor! These are the biggest, fullest plants you'll see
all year! Take advantage of this Holiday discount code and get them now at
their best and fullest point!
Gloxinia
sylvatica - Bolivian Sunset. A perfect fall-winter standout: it bursts
with glowing blooms and makes a great holiday gift as a flowering
start.
Gardenia
nitida, Shooting Star: a rare African gardenia with sweet fragrance and
star-shaped blooms that appear several times a year. Soft diamond-shaped
leaves. This true collectors gem blooms in dramatic waves, filling the air
with a strong, sweet scent.
Date: 4 Dec 2025
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals
🐈 Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals
🐈📸 Cat Charlie - she climbs fence poles, supervises the garden center, and wins hearts from above at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden
9 tropical vegetables to grow indoors, or how to have garden-fresh produce all year
9 tropical vegetables to grow indoors
🌱 9 tropical vegetables to grow indoors, or how to have garden-fresh produce all year
Cold weather does not have to mean the end of homegrown food. According to Southern Living, vegetables like lettuce, carrots, and radishes can be grown indoors during winter. The downside is that most of these are annuals - you harvest once, then start over.
Tropical vegetables work differently. Many are perennial, long-living plants that grow well in containers and keep producing for years. Grow them indoors year-round, move them outside in summer for extra sun and growth, then bring them back indoors before cold weather. With enough light and regular care, these plants can provide fresh harvests in every season.
✅ Tips for growing tropical vegetables indoors
📍Place plants near a bright window or supplement with grow lights for steady growth
📍Use containers with good drainage and quality potting mix
📍Keep plants away from cold drafts and heating vents
📍Rotate pots and prune regularly to encourage fresh, tender growth
📍Feed regularly with natural Sunshine Boosters - they are formulated for edibles
✅ Tropical vegetables to grow indoors
🌿 Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, Cholesterol spinach - a fast-growing leafy green often called a superfood. The tender leaves are used fresh or lightly cooked and can be harvested repeatedly. This plant stays compact, handles containers easily, and regrows quickly after cutting.
🌿 Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus. One of Southeast Asia’s most popular leafy vegetables. Katuk produces edible shoots and leaves that are cooked in soups and stews. It grows well indoors and rewards regular harvesting with constant new growth.
🌿 Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass: a tough, productive plant that adapts well to container growing. The stalks and leaves are used for teas, soups, and flavoring. Indoors, it grows more slowly but stays productive, especially when moved outdoors in summer.
🌿 Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf: a low-growing herb with naturally sweet leaves. The foliage can be eaten fresh or used as a sugar substitute in teas and desserts. It stays compact, tolerates pruning, and performs well in pots indoors.
🌿 Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: grown for its aromatic, edible leaves rather than peppercorns. The leaves are eaten fresh, cooked, or used as food wraps. This plant stays manageable indoors with light pruning.
🌿Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: the true black pepper vine. Grows well indoors as a container vine with support. It prefers warm temperatures, steady moisture, and bright filtered light.
🌿 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) known for its large, fragrant leaves with a spicy, root beer-like aroma. The leaves are used for wrapping foods and flavoring dishes. Best grown indoors with room for its bold foliage.
🌿 Piper betle - Betel leaf: a traditional edible and medicinal leaf used widely in Asia. The glossy leaves are harvested continuously and used fresh or as wraps. This vine grows well indoors with warmth, humidity, and a small trellis.
🌿Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: A tropical pepper relative grown for its elongated spice fruits and edible leaves. Slower to fruit indoors but easy to maintain as a leafy spice plant in containers with bright light and regular feeding.
Tropical vegetables make indoor gardening more rewarding because they do not stop after one harvest. With containers, light, and basic care, these plants can become long-term food producers that move seamlessly between indoors and outdoors - keeping fresh flavors within reach all year.
Thank you to everyone who came out for our Holiday Plant Market!
It was a joy watching the garden fill up with familiar friends and first-time visitors all exploring, chatting, and discovering new favorites.
Our PeopleCats took their jobs very seriously, trotting ahead of guests, inspecting carts, and making sure no one left without the perfect plant. The whole place buzzed with good moods, warm weather, and that fun holiday energy only a tropical garden can create.
If you see yourself or your friends on the photos, save or forward to share the memories!
If you spot yourself or someone you know in the photos, go ahead and save them or pass them along. We hope your new plants settle in beautifully, and we look forward to seeing you back in the garden soon. Happy holidays and happy growing!
