Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Date: 16 Sep 2025
Cat Niki
Date: 21 May 2019
Q: I'm a beginner gardener and looking for something easy to grow that will add a lot of color to my garden fast.
A: Try growing Canna lilies. They are a favorite of many
gardeners as they are so easy to grow and always provide a reliable, beautiful show
of flowers. In fact, Cannas are one of those plants that are spectacular even
if they never bloomed. The leaves are tropical-looking, banana-like and huge!
They range in a wide variety of shades and colors, always accentuating the
large showy flowers on top.
One of our favorite cannas right now is Canna Cleopatra - very striking and most unique. Large yellow flowers
speckled with red spots, or red flowers and even flowers with a little bit of
both. Foliage is exotic and very beautiful, often dark green,
dark chocolate or a combination of both. This is a canna that will
definitely illuminate
your garden!
Cannas like a lot of water, full sun and high heat. They are also heavy feeders and prefer soils that are well drained, organically rich and moist. The leaves will quickly tell you when the plant is hungry. Feed your cannas weekly with a water-soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer Broad Leaf Plus, and they will quickly respond with beautiful, lush growth. Deadhead often to encourage continued flowering. Cannas are winter hardy in US hardiness zones 7 and warmer. If you live in colder areas, the rhizomes need to be lifted in the fall, and stored indoors in a dark, warm spot until spring arrives. Be sure to divide clumps every three or four years. Give them lots of room as they grow into large plants, forming spreading colonies up to 7 feet high and 4 feet wide. Show them off in mass plantings, in large containers or in mixed flower borders. Lure in hummingbirds with these beauties!
Date: 15 Jan 2024
Photo above: Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Q: We just moved to Florida and our yard is currently just plain grass. I want to add some beautiful tropical plants, but I'm not sure where to start. Can you suggest easy-to-care-for plants that look nice in winter, preferably with flowers? Considering it's Winter time and some trees look dormant... But I can't wait to start my tropical garden!
A: Florida residents are blessed to have mild winters, and many tropical and subtropical plants enjoy this climate year around. Just be mindful of your location's specific conditions (sun-shade, wet-dry, cold sensitive or hardy). Here are some recommendations for easy-to-grow, evergreen plants that love Florida and look great even in winter. They'll establish well during cooler months, add a splash of color to your garden with their flowers, and even treat you with fruit!
Clerodendrum Winter Starburst
Clerodendrum Blue Butterfly
Eranthemum Blue Sage
Odontonema Firespike
Pavonia - Brazilian Candles
Photo above: Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
Banana Magnolia
Jasminum sambac Little Duke Supreme
Vietnamese
Gardenia
Nyctanthes - Parijat
Ylang Ylang vine
Photo above: Gardenia vietnamensis - Vietnamese Gardenia
Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Candle Tree
Photo above: Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote
Noni Tree
Yellow Dragon Fruit Palora
Coffee Tree
Photo above: Morinda citrifolia - Noni Tree
Calathea
zebrina - Zebra Plant
Black Bat Head Lily
White Bat Head Lily
Medinilla
Vanilla Orchid
Reed Ground
Orchid
Calathea Fuzzy
Pheasant
Colocasia Mojito
Syngonium
Photo above: Tacca nivea - White Bat Head Lily
Date: 13 Dec 2022
In the photo: Malpighia glabra - Barbados Cherry, Acerola
Q: What fruit trees do you recommend that will start fruiting right away? I am 84 and I would really love to see the fruit sooner than later!
A: Most of grafted fruit trees will start producing the same year - such as Mango, Avocado, Peaches and other grafted trees. Besides, these are several garden favorites that start fruiting right in 1-3 gal container.
1. Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat
2. Spondias cytherea - June Plum
3. Psidium guajava - Tropical Guava
4. Musa sp. - Banana
5. Annona squamosa - Sugar Apple
6. Morus sp. - Mulberry tree
7. Eugenia uniflora - Surinam Cherry
8. Malpighia glabra - Barbados Cherry, Acerola
Date: 4 Apr 2020
Our customer Lucie
Herard shared pictures of her tropical garden with us... Many of you have
beautiful gardens that you are proud of... but this one is... in Canada! Believe it
or not, before winter she digs everything up and brings it inside! Then in
Spring, she starts again every year. Dedication? Determination? Heroism! Lucie
won the Planet Bananiers photo contest for the third time.
Look at these pictures and visit Lucie's Facebook page for more photos and videos of her amazing garden.
Ask yourself: and what can I do? Is my life really that hard with mowing a
lawn once a week and blowing the leaves? You don't have to be a hero to make
something worthwhile in your life. Just take a shovel and start... one plant a
day. And you will end up living in Paradise.
Lucie reminds you: "Ornamental horticulture production activities are
now considered an essential service! Add soil in a pot, water very slightly for
the first two weeks and put closer to the window. That's all, the leaves
will start growing again!"
Share with us photos of your garden. The winner of this contest will get plants $200 worth, with FREE shipping!
