Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 28 Jun 2025

Bright, bold, and edible: Variegated Chaya

Leaves of Variegated Maya Spinach Tree

Leaves of Variegated Maya Spinach Tree

Variegated Maya Spinach Tree growing in pot

Variegated Maya Spinach Tree growing in pot

🌱 Bright, bold, and edible: Variegated Chaya



🌿 Cnidoscolus aconitifolius variegatus, known as Chaya "Jatropha" or Variegated Maya Spinach Tree, is a rare gem for gardeners who crave both beauty and function. On top of health benefits of regular Chaya we mentioned earlier, this one is also a rare spectacular ornamental!

🌿 With its striking, creamy-splashed fan-shaped leaves and sculptural form, this plant brings dramatic texture to sunny landscapes or large containers. And as a bonus, it sends up charming clusters of white flowers!

🌿 More than just a looker, it's a productive perennial too - its leaves, once cooked, are a nutritious green similar to spinach. Just don't eat them raw.

🌿 This drought-tolerant shrub thrives in sun, asks for little more than space to grow, and rewards you with year-round color and character. Whether you grow it for food, flair, or both, the Variegated Chaya is an unforgettable addition to your garden.

🛒 Add rare beauty and purpose to your garden

📚 Learn more:


Chaya's health benefits: a must-have tropical leafy vegetable for sustainable gardening

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 6 Jul 2025

Allergy-free cat that blooms all year!

Acalypha hispida - Red Hot Cattail, Chenille Plant

🔥 Allergy-free cat that blooms all year!



🐈 Acalypha hispida - Red Hot Cattail or Chenille Plant, is a showstopper with long, fuzzy tassels that look just like playful cat tails - without the sneezes!

🐈This tropical beauty grows fast, blooms year-round in warm climates, and dazzles with vibrant red, pink, white, or crimson flowers that hang like living ornaments.

🐈 Whether grown as a tall shrub, trimmed hedge, or in a sunny container, it's tough, salt-tolerant, and always eye-catching. Bright light and a few trims are all it needs to purr-form!

🛒 Buy now - the purrfect bloom with zero allergies!

📚 Learn more:


The purrrfect hypoallergenic Cat Tail

#Hedges_with_benefits

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 18 Oct 2024

What is the most spectacular variegated ginger?

😵‍ What is the most spectacular variegated ginger?



🌀 Variegated Spiral Ginger - Costus arabicus (amazonicus) variegata - is a tropical stunner originally from South America but adored in Hawaii and Florida

🌀 This ginger's eye-catching, spiraling stems are streaked with striking white variegation, topped with elegant pure white flowers with yellow centers.

🌀 The pure white blooms are truly a piece of art! Perfect for shade gardens (but also can take sun), this plant thrives in moist soil and loves plenty of water.

🌀 If you're looking to add a bit of drama and elegance to your garden, this beauty is a must-have!

📚 Learn more about gingers from previous posts:
💋Ginger makes a natural shampoo
💋Our most favorite Ginger plant - African Princess
💋How Raspberry ginger became spiral
💋The most interesting edible gingers
💋5 most spectacular Gingers
💋French Kiss the Red Button Ginger
💋Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe Peacock Ginger
💋The most fragrant ginger ever
💋Spice Up Your Garden with Variegated Ginger

🛒 Shop Gingers

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 7 Jul 2025

Learn more:

Chonemorpha fragrans - Frangipani vine

💎 What is better than Plumeria? Only climbing Plumeria!

💮 It's in bloom again at Top Tropicals Garden! Over and over, from Spring through Winter! Almost year around non stop. What a vigorous vine, and the perfume flowers never stop coming.

💮 Imagine Plumeria's wild cousin climbing your fence: Chonemorpha fragrans, the Frangipani vine, is a tropical liana with jumbo 12-inch leaves and creamy white flowers that fill the air with that unmistakable Plumeria scent.

💮 This beauty doesn’t grow like a tree - it climbs! Perfect for fences, trellises, or pergolas, it brings vertical drama and sweet, Plumeria-like fragrance to sunny or lightly shaded spots.

💮 Give it some support and a little fertilizer, and your garden will bloom into a lush, fragrant escape that smells like a Hawaii vacation!

🛒 Grow your own wall of perfume

📚 Learn more:


A Plumeria you can train to climb
Plant this vine over a fence to bring fragrance into your garden
Can Frangipani be a vine? How to bring fragrance into your garden

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 13 Jul 2025

What is better - Lychee or Longan?

Longan - Euphoria longana - tastes a lot like Lychee

🍊What is better - Lychee or Longan?

🟠 What is more productive than a lychee tree and just as delicious? The Longan tree - Euphoria longana.

🟠 This fast-growing beauty is a breeze to care for and starts fruiting early. Longan produces clusters of sweet, juicy fruit with crisp skin and fragrant white flesh that tastes a lot like lychee - some even say better!

🟠 It's tougher too: more wind-resistant, less fussy about soil and water, and fruits more regularly than its famous cousin. You can keep it compact with pruning or grow it in a container.

🟠 If you want a tropical fruit tree thats reliable, prolific, and packed with flavor, Longan is the one to grow!

🛒
Add a Longan tree to my garden!

📚 Learn more:


The most prolific and as good as Lychee

#Food_Forest

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals