Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 24 Jun 2018

Plant Horoscope. Gemini Zodiac lucky plants: Ferns and Aralias

TopTropicals

Gemini - 5/21-6/20. Ruled by the mutable, changeable planet Mercury (also patron of the art of medicine), Gemini is an AIR sign. Plants ruled by Mercury tend to have ferny or highly-divided leaves or stems (like the bronchi of lungs), hairy or fuzzy leaves (related to the cilia in the lungs), or subtle odors.

Gemini rules the lungs, shoulders, arms, and hands. Its plants help to strengthen the lungs and respiratory system, relax the nervous system, strengthen ears and hearing, the tongue and speaking, the vocal cords, lungs and thyroid, as well as the shoulders, arms, and hands. Gemini has so much going on mentally that they may need a little help to digest all the information they're constantly absorbing. Herbs that have clean, pure flavor not only help physical digestion, but assist spiritual and mental intake as well.

Gemini Zodiac lucky plants: Ferns, Blechnum, Tree ferns and Cyatheas, Fern Tree, Aralias, Jackfruit and Breadfruit, Paulownia, Anthurium, Philodendron, Philadelphus, Clerodendrums, Anise, Lavender, Myrtle, Nut trees, Macadamia, Ficus, Piggyback plant - Tolmiea menziesii, Aloe vera, Fig , Honeysuckle, Azalea, Mint Tree Satureja, Vitex, Ironwood, Mulberry, Osmoxylon, Acalypha, Allamanda, Aphelandra, Iboza, Ruda, Kiwi, Caesalpinia, Cyphomandra, Monstera, Kalanchoe , Magnolia, Oregano, Ocimum, Naranjilla, Zamia, Delionix, Acacias, Calliandra, Patchoili, Palms, Geranium, Grevillea, Eucalyptus.

For other signs information, see full Plant Horoscope

Date: 3 Aug 2025

☕ Coffee, Straight from Your Windowsill

Fluffy  orange-and-white  cat  and  black-and-white  tuxedo  cat  preparing  coffee  with  a  coffee  plant,  beans,  grinder,  and  espresso  cup  on  a  kitchen  table

Coffee Crew at Work: Harvest, Grind, Brew

Let's be honest - coffee prices are climbing, supplies are tightening, and that morning cup isn't getting any cheaper. But right now, our Coffea arabica trees are covered in green berries, quietly ripening toward harvest time. Soon, they'll turn red - and that's when it's go time.

This isn't just a pretty plant. It's a compact, shade-loving fruit tree that thrives indoors and adds year-round tropical beauty to any space. Even your cat will approve 🐱🐾.

Watch Top Tropicals videos about coffee plants

Shop Coffee Plants

Date: 24 Jun 2024

How to grow your own Carambola

How to grow your own Carambola How to grow your own Carambola
⭐️ How to grow your own Carambola

Star Fruit
- Carambola Tree (Averrhoa carambola). Growing this tree is a fun and rewarding way to enjoy this unique and delicious fruit right at home.

  • 🌟 Star power: slice it, and you get perfect star-shaped pieces for impressing guests or adding some sparkle to your fruit salad. Bright yellow and shiny, the fruit adds a pop of color to any dish. Great in salads, smoothies, desserts, or even as a garnish. Endless possibilities!

  • 🌟 Nature's candy and low-calorie treat: a delightful mix of sweet and tangy flavors packed with juicy goodness, a refreshing way to stay hydrated. Guilt-free snacking with hardly any calories. Snack away!

  • 🌟 Health benefits: Star fruit is loaded with Vitamin C. Good source of dietary fiber, keeps things moving smoothly. Packed with antioxidants to help fight off those pesky free radicals.

  • 🌟 Cultivation of the tree is easy:


  • ▪️ Loves full sun. Plant it in a sunny spot for the best fruit.
  • ▪️Keep warm and protect from winds. Thrives in warm, tropical climates, but can take some light frost winters as long as protected from winds, wind-free is the key!
  • ▪️Prefers well-drained soil. Keep it happy with good drainage.
  • ▪️Regular watering but doesn't like soggy feet.
  • ▪️Space saver: compact tree that doesn't take up much space. Perfect for smaller gardens. Dwarf varieties available, good for containers.
  • ▪️Fast grower: grows quickly. You'll be harvesting star fruit in no time!
  • ▪️Pretty blooms: produces lovely pink flowers. Adds beauty to your garden even before the fruit comes.
  • ▪️Home harvest: enjoy fresh, home-grown star fruit. Pick them right off the tree!
  • ▪️Fast-fruiting: seedlings start fruiting within 3 years from seed. Grafted or air-layered trees fruit right away.


📚 Learn more: Carambola tree is the Star of the orchard

🛒 Shop Start Fruit varieties

#Food_Forest

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 27 Oct 2025

Weird cactus looks like pasta with Dragon Fruit

Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa - Curly Locks or Orchid Cactus

👀 Weird cactus looks like pasta with Dragon Fruit

  • Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa - Curly Locks or Orchid Cactus - is one of the most unusual jungle cacti you can grow. Instead of the usual flat cactus leaves, this one grows curly, looping stems that twist and spiral in every direction. It looks like a green waterfall of botanical noodles, perfect for a hanging basket or a high shelf where its wild shape can really show off.
  • ➰Curly Locks is actually a natural mutation of a Guatemalan jungle cactus that grows high up in jungle trees, using its stems to absorb moisture and light from the air. Like many epiphytic cacti, it produces large, fragrant flowers that open at night and look strikingly similar to orchids. After blooming, it forms small, oval pink fruits that are edible and juicy - like tiny dragon fruits!
  • ➰This plant is self-pollinating, so you don’t need insects or hand pollination to get fruit. It thrives in bright, indirect light and prefers to be a bit root-bound to trigger blooming. Just water moderately, let the soil dry slightly between waterings, and avoid moving it too often once it’s happy in its spot.
  • ➰Epiphyllum Curly Locks is not your typical cactus - it’s a living sculpture, a conversation piece, and a fruiting wonder all in one.


🛒 Add Curly Locks to your rare plant collection

📚 Learn more:


Botanical bedhead: curly, crazy, and full of surprises

#Fun_Facts #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 31 Oct 2025

👻 When plants grow wings...

Smokey  the  black-and-white  tuxedo  cat  stands  upright  holding  a  glowing 
 jack-o'-lantern  filled  with  tropical  fruit,  while  Sunshine  the  fluffy  ginger
    tabby 
 lounges  in  a  hammock  under  string  lights,  sipping  cocoa.  Around  them  are 
 pumpkins,  lanterns,  and  tropical  plants  under  a  warm  twilight  sky.

🌴 Twilight in the garden. Smokey is holding a glowing pumpkin. Sunshine is sipping cocoa.

Sunshine: "Smokey, why does that plant look like it wants to fly away?"
Smokey: "That’s the Bat Lily - Tacca. It’s rare, it’s weird, and it’s in bloom just in time for Halloween."
Sunshine: "Figures. You always find the spooky ones."

Meet the Bat Lily (Tacca)

Tacca is also called the Bat Lily or Devil Flower. This tropical wonder grows bat-shaped wings and foot-long whiskers. The black form (Tacca chantrieri) looks straight out of a gothic dream, while the white one (Tacca nivea) is ghost-like and elegant.

Some of our plants are blooming right now in the nursery — true Halloween magic! Blooms are delicate and may not travel, but the plants are strong and will flower again soon in your care.

Black  Bat  Lily  (Tacca  chantrieri)  plants  in  bloom  inside  the  Top 
 Tropicals  greenhouse,  showing  dark  maroon  bracts  and  long  pale  whiskers 
 rising  above  large  green 
 leaves.

Black Bat Lily (Tacca chantrieri) with dark maroon wings and long whiskers

Close-up  of  White  Bat  Lily  (Tacca  nivea)  plants  in  a  greenhouse  at  Top 
 Tropicals,  showing  large  white  bracts  and  long  trailing  whiskers  above 
 glossy  green 
 leaves.

White Bat Lily (Tacca nivea) in bloom with wide ivory wings

"The White Bat Lily (Tacca nivea) is bold and sculptural, with oversized ivory wings that command attention. Its pale bracts stretch wide above clusters of deep maroon flowers, and long, silvery whiskers spill gracefully through the foliage. In filtered light, the plant seems to glow from within — elegant, crisp, and perfectly balanced between the strange and the beautiful. If I could pick, I’d go with the White Tacca. It feels more architectural, more balanced — those oversized wings catch light in a way that shows off every vein and curve. It looks engineered by nature, almost like an alien design prototype that actually works.

The Black Bat Lily (Tacca chantrieri) feels alive with shadow. Its dark maroon wings and wiry whiskers make it look like something that fluttered out of the jungle at dusk. The bloom’s layered structure and near-black sheen give it a quiet power — mysterious, understated, but impossible to ignore. But if I were designing mood lighting for a greenhouse at night, the Black Tacca wins. It’s subtle, mysterious, like a secret only visible up close. Together, they’re perfect opposites — yin and yang of the tropical underworld: white for daylight, black for moonlight." — says Tatiana Anderson, Top Tropicals Plant Expert

Special Offer: Discounts on Rare Tacca Plants

Grow your own Bat Lilies — White or Black — at a special Halloween price!

Get 25% OFF Tacca plants with code

TACCA2025

Min order $25 (excluding S/H), valid online only, cannot be combined with other offers.

Hurry, offer expires November 03, 2025!

🎃 Storewide Halloween Sale – For Everything Beyond Tacca

Not into spooky plants? Enjoy savings on all other tropical plants across the store!

Get 15% OFF tropical plants with code

HALLOWEEN2025

Min order $100 (excluding S/H), valid online only, cannot be combined with other offers.

Hurry, offer expires November 03 2025!

👉 Collect Tacca plants:

Black - Tacca chantrieri

White - Tacca nivea

Green - Tacca leontopetaloides