Date: 31 Oct 2025
👻 When plants grow wings...
🌴 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) with dark maroon wings and long whiskers
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:
Date: 26 Oct 2025
Figs with honey and nuts: quick-n-fun exotic recipes
🍴 Figs with honey and nuts: quick-n-fun exotic recipes
Ingredients
- Fresh ripe figs
- Honey
- Chopped nuts (walnuts or almonds)
Instructions
- Cut figs in half and place them cut side up on a baking tray.
- Roast lightly at 350°F for about 10 minutes until warm and slightly caramelized.
- Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Simple and irresistible.
🛒 Plant fig trees and always have healthy desserts
📚 Learn more:
The fruit tree that every garden must have
#Food_Forest #Recipes
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Ingredients
- Fresh ripe figs
- Honey
- Chopped nuts (walnuts or almonds)
Instructions
- Cut figs in half and place them cut side up on a baking tray.
- Roast lightly at 350°F for about 10 minutes until warm and slightly caramelized.
- Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Simple and irresistible.
🛒 Plant fig trees and always have healthy desserts
📚 Learn more:
The fruit tree that every garden must have
#Food_Forest #Recipes
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date: 8 Nov 2025
It smells like bananas but its a magnolia!
Magnolia figo, Banana Magnolia
🛒 Plant Banana Magnolia
📚 Learn more:
#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden #Trees
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date: 7 Aug 2025
Blackberry Jam Fruit - the sweetest surprise
Tea and Jam with the PeopleCats – A Tropical Afternoon Beneath the Randia
Meet the cats behind the jam! The tuxedo cat is none other than Google-the-cat - our beloved elder and one of the original cat-fathers of Top Tropicals PeopleCats.garden. At 18 years old, he’s still sharp, curious, and very much in charge. The orange fluffball? He represents the universal image of cat joy - and we’ve got a few real-life orange sunshine residents just like him.
Why do you include cats in a plant newsletter?
Because they’re part of the garden. Our rescued PeopleCats live among the plants, nap under the mango trees, inspect new arrivals, and occasionally steal a sunspot meant for seedlings. They’re not mascots — they’re part of our team. Sharing their presence is like showing a part of the soul of our space.🐈
Are the cat images real or AI-generated?
All our cats are real! We take lots of pictures and videos. And a few images are AI-generated illustrations inspired by our real PeopleCats.garden residents. While not literal photographs, they are creative interpretations that capture the spirit of our tropical home and its furry citizens.🐾
Are the stories about the cats true?
Mostly! The jam-making, tea-drinking, and greenhouse meetings are creative interpretations - but inspired by real personalities. We use AI scenes to bring their spirit to life. Real cats. Real plants. Imagined adventures.🐱
Date: 17 Nov 2025
Pram Kai Mai: a sweeter twist on Nam Doc Mai with a story - Mango Rainbow
Pram Kai Mai Mango crop in a basket
Pram Kai Mai Mango
- 🟡Why mango collectors chase after Pram Kai Mai? Pram Kai Mai is like Nam Doc Mai’s cooler cousin - with even better flavor. This Thai mango can be eaten green when it’s sweet and crispy, or fully ripe when it turns golden and silky. No fiber, just smooth, juicy flesh and a tropical aroma that hits you as soon as you slice it. It’s semi-dwarf, great for pots, and some trees even fruit more than once a year. Rare, compact, and loaded with flavor - this one’s a collector’s dream.
- 🟡Pram Kai Mai is a Thai dessert mango known for its gentle sweetness and smooth, almost fiberless flesh. The name appears in several spellings - Pram Kai Mai, Pram Kai Mea, Pram Kai Mia, Prom Ki Mia, and even Brahm Kai Meu - all referring to the same variety.
- 🟡If we break down the original Thai name พร้ามกายเมีย (Brahm/Pram/Prom Kai Mea/Mai/Mia) literally: Brahm / Pram / Prom relates to "noble, elevated, precious".
กาย - Kai means body
เมีย - Mia means wife
But no one in Thailand interprets this name word-for-word.
In mango names, this construction works as a cultural compliment, a gentle metaphor. The meaning is closer to:
"A mango so good you would save it for the one you love most."
or "A fruit worthy of a beloved wife".
Similar to how in other languages we may call something "royal", "special", or "meant for someone dear", this name is simply expressing admiration.
And the fruit truly matches that feeling. It is fragrant and sweet, with soft tender flesh. It can be enjoyed while still crisp and green, when its flavor is clean and refreshing, or fully ripe, when it becomes rich and smooth, almost melting on the tongue.
🛒 Shop Mango varieties
📚 Learn more: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try
#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals