Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 17 Nov 2023

Hedges with Benefits
Reference Chart

Hibiscus  mutabilis  flowering  hedge

Large and fast growing

Tithonia diversifolia - Sunflower tree
Acacia farnesiana - Sweet Mimosa
Calliandra surinamensis - Powderpuff
Aloysia virgata - Almond Bush
Dombeya x wallichii - Tropical Hydrangea
Cornutia grandifolia - African lilac
Gmelina philippensis - Parrots Beak
Hibiscus mutabilis Cotton Candy - Mallow Hibiscus
Senna alata - Empress Candle, Candelabra Plant

Medium or easy-trim

Acalypha hispida - Cat tail, Chenille plant
Bauhinia galpinii - Pride of De Kaap
Cestrum nocturnum - Night blooming jasmine
Dombeya seminole - Tropical Rose Hydrangea
Gardenia thunbergia - Forest gardenia
Hamelia patens - Fire Bush
Hibiscus variegated Snow Queen
Jasminum sambac Maid of Orleans
Ochna integerrima - Vietnamese Mickey Mouse, Hoa Mai
Odontonema callistachyum - Lavender Butterfly Bush
Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike, Red
Rondeletia leucophylla - Panama Rose
Tecoma stans - Yellow Elder

Short or slow growing

Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant
Allamanda schottii - Dwarf Allamanda Bush
Brunfelsia pauciflora Compacta - Dwarf Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow
Clerodendrum incisum - Musical Note
Calliandra schultzii - Dwarf calliandra
Gardenia vietnamensis - Vietnamese Gardenia
Leonotis leonurus - Lions Ears
Neea psychotrioides - Pigeon Plum, Hoja de Salat
Plumbago auriculata Imperial Blue

Garden Specimens

Combretum constrictum Thailand, Ball of Fire
Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Red Dwarf Poinciana, Bird of Paradise
Clerodendrum quadriloculare - Winter Starburst
Euphorbia leucocephala - Snows of Kilimanjaro, Pascuita
Gardenia nitida - Shooting Star Gardenia
Hibiscus schizopetalus - Coral Hibiscus
Jatropha integerrima compacta
Kopsia fruticosa - Pink Gardenia
Malvaviscus x penduliflorus Variegata - Summer Snow
Mussaenda philippica x flava - Calcutta Sunset (Marmelade)
Plumeria pudica - Bridal Bouquet

Semi-Shade to Shade

Clerodendrum bungei - Glory Bower
Clerodendrum paniculatum - Pagoda Flower
Eranthemum pulchellum - Blue Sage, Lead Flower
Clerodendrum speciosissimum - Java Glorybower Mary Jane
Justicia carnea - Pink Brazilian Plume, Jacobinia
Magnolia figo - Banana Magnolia
Megaskepasma erythrochlamys - Brazilian plume
Thunbergia erecta - Kings Mantle
Tibouchina lepidota - Ecuador Princess, Jules Dwarf

Edible Hedges

Eugenia uniflora - Black Surinam Cherry Lolita
Camellia sinensis - Tea Leaf
Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel
Laurus nobilis - Bay Leaf
Manihot esculenta - Yuca Root
Nashia inaguensis - Moujean Tea, Bahamas Berry
Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus
Sauropus Variegata - variegated Katuk

Date: 19 Jun 2024

Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever!

White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

👍 Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever!

  • White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium) is a must for every Southern garden.
  • Famous for its intense, sweet scent.
  • Symbol of Hawaiian Paradise along with Plumeria and Jasmine we mentioned earlier.
  • Lei and hair decoration: popular in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands for leis and hair adornments.
  • Butterfly-like flowers: bears fragrant, butterfly-resembling flowers in summer.
  • Great cut flower: long lasting cut flowers, ideal for scenting the home.
  • Can survive light freezes, with tops regrowing in the spring. Takes sun or shade.


🛒 Shop Butterfly Ginger

#Shade_Garden #Perfume_Plants

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 3 Jun 2024

The truth about Seaside Clerodendrum: it can cover the whole beach!

Clerodendrum inerme - Sorcerer's Bush, Seaside Clerodendrum

Clerodendrum inerme - Sorcerer's Bush, Seaside Clerodendrum

Clerodendrum inerme - Sorcerer's Bush, Seaside Clerodendrum

🌊 The truth about Seaside Clerodendrum: it can cover the whole beach! 😎

✅ Need to cover a large area, slope, or a fence with a pretty, fragrant dense shrub just in one season? This is your plant!
  • 🏖 Clerodendrum inerme, also known as Wild Jasmine, Sorcerer's Bush, or Seaside Clerodendrum, is perfect for covering large areas or fences quickly in just one season. This is perfect privacy plant!
  • 🏖 It is called Seaside Clerodendrum for a reason! It grows anywhere, including sand and, as we discovered, even over hot black plastic ground cover 😎
  • 🏖 Fast growing vining shrub with round, shiny, deep green leaves. Always in flower with white, fragrant blooms.
  • 🏖 Extremely hardy: withstands cold, heat, salt, and drought. Not picky about soil (can grow on sand! it's seaside!) and tolerates drought well.
  • 🏖 Ideal for coastal areas, tolerates salt spray and harsh sun, as well as shaded areas.
  • 🏖 Versatile: suitable for topiary or bonsai.
  • 🏖 Wind-tolerant and robust, making it a reliable choice for various settings.


🛒
Get your indestructible, fast growing Seaside Clerodendrum and have fun! 🏖

#Hedges_with_benefits #Perfume_Plants

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 18 Nov 2024

What Pinwheel flower is fragrant?

Tabernaemontana australis, Australian Pinwheel

Tabernaemontana australis, Australian Pinwheel

Tabernaemontana australis, Australian Pinwheel

Tabernaemontana australis, Australian Pinwheel

Tabernaemontana australis, Australian Pinwheel

Tabernaemontana australis, Australian Pinwheel

💌 What Pinwheel flower is fragrant?

  • 🌸 Tabernaemontana australis, or Australian Pinwheel, is a stunning plant that makes an exceptional addition to any rare fragrant plant collection.
  • 🌸 With beautifully shaped, white pinwheel-like flowers and strikingly dark, glossy leaves that are elongated and pointed, this plant is a feast for the eyes and a treat for the senses.
  • 🌸 Ideal for adding interest to landscape understories, Australian Pinwheel is a slow-growing, low shrub that can be maintained at a manageable 3-4 feet, or allowed to reach up to 5-6 feet, forming a dense, bushy specimen. This versatility makes it an excellent choice as an accent plant, specimen, or container plant.
  • 🌸 Though it shares similarities with other species like Tabernaemontana divaricata (Pinwheel Jasmine) and T. orientalis (Banana Bush), this Australian native has its own unique character. Its blooms resemble those of T. africana but are smaller, at about 1 inch in diameter.
  • 🌸 If you're looking to add an exotic, fragrant, and eye-catching plant to your collection, the Australian Pinwheel brings elegance and distinction, standing out with its lush foliage and starry, white blossoms!


📚 Learn more:


How to establish Tabernaemontana and get more fragrant blooms

🛒 Plant Australian Pinwheel

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 25 Jun 2025

This sacred perfume tree is perfect for small spaces: Parijat blooms with heartbreak and heaven

This sacred perfume tree is perfect for small spaces: Parijat blooms with heartbreak and heaven

🕊 This sacred perfume tree is perfect for small spaces: Parijat blooms with heartbreak and heaven


  • Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, known as Parijat, Night Jasmine, or the Sad Tree, is more than a fragrant flowering shrub - it's a story wrapped in petals. This small tree from India with highly perfumed flowers is one of the most desired fragrant plants.

  • Parijat blooms at night and drops its white-and-orange flowers by dawn, like scattered tears on the ground. In Hindu mythology, it was brought to Earth by Krishna, sparking divine jealousy. Another legend says it rose from the ashes of a heartbroken princess, blooming in sorrow each night.

  • Parijat grows 5-10 feet tall and thrives in sun or partial shade with moderate water. Its heavenly scent draws butterflies and hearts alike, and its ghostly, glowing flowers are used in Buddhist temples and traditional medicine - stems for headaches, leaves for liver ailments, and blossoms for fevers and faintness.

  • Parijat is a tree of romance, ritual, and resilience. Cold-tolerant to the 30s F, it can be container-grown in cooler zones. Just give it well-draining soil and a bit of fertilizer each month, and let the magic unfold!


🛒 Add a piece of mythology to your garden with Parijat

#Perfume_Plants #Trees #Discover

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals