Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 21 Sep 2024

What Guava variety is the best for Guava Wine

Araca Pera, Brazilian Guava Wine

Araca Pera, Brazilian Guava Wine

Araca Pera, Brazilian Guava tree (Psidium x angulatum)

Araca Pera, Brazilian Guava tree (Psidium x angulatum)

🍷 What Guava variety is the best for Guava Vine

  • 🍷 Araca Pera, or Brazilian Guava tree (Psidium x angulatum), is a unique Guava hybrid of a flavorful wild guava from the Brazilian Amazon which is rare in cultivation.
  • 🍷 These fruit are 1.5-2", with an acidic, sour guava-like flavor. Its juice is concentrated and must be diluted and sweetened to produce a delicious drink.
  • 🍷 It is the major source of a special Guava Wine production. Our favorite Guava Wine is from Schnebly Redland's Winery - this is where we obtained the seeds from their mother plants. This refreshing and vibrant rose wine is full of flavor and has a bouquet that never stops.
  • 🍷 The fruit is processed into ice cream sorbet, gelatins and candies.
  • 🍷 A great container specimen or a bushy tree for frost-free gardens.


📚 More about Guavas from previous posts:



🛒 Shop Guava trees

#Food_Forest

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Date: 21 Jun 2024

Healthy breakfast, lunch or snack: Avocado toast

Avocado

Avocado

Healthy breakfast, lunch or snack: Avocado toast



Avocado toast is creamy, crisp and so satisfying. It’s a delicious and simple breakfast, snack or light meal!

Ingredients (makes 1 toast):
  • ◾️ 1 slice of bread (thick-sliced whole-grain or rye bread is the best)
  • ◾️ ½ ripe avocado
  • ◾️ Pinch of salt and black pepper


📝 Instructions
  • ◾️ Toast your slice of bread until golden and firm.
  • ◾️ Remove the pit from your avocado. Use a big spoon to scoop out the flesh.
  • ◾️ Spread avocado on top of your toast.
  • ◾️ Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.


🍿 Enjoy!

🛒 Grow your own Avocado and Pepper plants

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Avocado

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 23 May 2024

What is the easiest container plant with beautiful flowers?

Adenium collage

Adenium collage

🎍 What is the easiest container plant with beautiful flowers?

  • 🌸 Desert roses - Adeniums! With so many colors of hybrids available in cultivation, you want to collect them all!
  • 🌸 Double flowers, red, purple, yellow, striped, dotted, rainbow, and even black flowers!
  • 🌸 Unlike most tropical and house plants, Adeniums like a neutral to hard water. They have very low water needs, can grow in full sun or shade.
  • 🌸 A secret how to create a large swollen caudex: raise the plant a bit every time you re-pot it, so that the upper part of roots will be a little exposed. The plant will form more roots that will go down.


📚 Learn how to grow Adeniums:


What you need for successful growing Adeniums

🛒 Shop Adenium colors and hybrids

#Container_Garden #How_to

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 17 May 2024

Why cucumbers grow on a tree? Because they are candles!

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote fruit

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote fruit

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote flower

Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote flower

Why cucumbers grow on a tree? Because they are "candles"! 🕯
  • 🕯 This bizarre tree is a conversation piece and every plant collector should have one!
  • 🕯 Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, or Guahalote - is a highly ornamental tree with interesting leaves, pretty cream flowers and...ready?
  • 🕯One foot long fruits resembling a greenish-yellow cucumbers or candles that hang off the tree!
  • 🕯Juicy fruit is edible and has a sweet flavor similar to sugar cane. Eaten raw or cooked; used to make pickles or preserves
  • 🕯The fruit is a remedy for colds; roots used as a diuretic.
  • 🕯Easy to grow and not fussy about conditions. Cold tolerant to light frost.


🎥

🛒Get your own Candle Tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Nature_Wonders #Remedies

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 31 Jan 2025

Why Rosita de Cacao is called the Funeral Tree? For how long does its fragrance last?

Funeral Tree - Quararibea funebris (Rosita de Cacao, Flor de Cacao) - Flower

Funeral Tree - Quararibea funebris (Rosita de Cacao, Flor de Cacao) - Flower

Funeral Tree - Quararibea funebris (Rosita de Cacao, Flor de Cacao) - tree

Funeral Tree - Quararibea funebris (Rosita de Cacao, Flor de Cacao) - tree

Why Rosita de Cacao is called the Funeral Tree? For how long does its fragrance last?

  • 😇 The Legendary Funeral Tree - Quararibea funebris (also called Rosita de Cacao, Flor de Cacao) got its name from the flower's extraordinary ability to retain its spicy, sweet fragrance for centuries.
  • 😇 These flowers were used in ancient funeral ceremonies, placed in crypts to preserve their aroma for generations. Even today, dried Rosita de Cacao flowers can hold their scent for decades, a testament to their remarkable endurance.

  • History and Legends

    Aztec names: Poyomatli, Xochicacaohuatl, Flor Cacahuaxochitl, Cacaoxochitl.
  • 😇 The species was at one time widespread and growing wild throughout the Oaxaca region of Mexico known for plants used in Shamanism.
  • 😇 Cherished by the Aztecs, the Rosita de Cacao was deeply intertwined with their rituals and daily life.
  • 😇 The flowers, known as Cacaoxochitl or "cacao flower," were blended with chocolate drinks like Tejate, a sacred, energy-rich beverage reserved for royalty and religious ceremonies. This frothy drink combined Cacaoxochitl with other ingredients like cacao, vanilla, and chili peppers to create what the Aztecs called the "drink of the gods."
  • 😇 Legend has it that Emperor Montezuma consumed up to 50 cups of xocolatl daily, infused with Rosita de Cacao, to fuel his energy and passion.

  • Medicinal and Spiritual Uses
  • 😇 The flowers of this tree were not just for flavor - they were also prized for their calming and medicinal properties. Natives used them to treat anxiety, fevers, and coughs, often mixing them with cacao for enhanced effects.
  • 😇 Modern studies suggest the flowers contain lactone alkaloids like funebradiol, which are known for their relaxing properties and are now being investigated for potential medicinal applications.
  • 😇 Beyond its rich history, Rosita de Cacao is an evergreen beauty with creamy white, aromatic flowers and large, leathery leaves. It's a perfect addition to any garden for those who want a piece of history, an enduring fragrance, and a touch of ancient legend.


📚 Learn more from previous posts:


Fruit of Money and Love
Fun Facts: Cacao beans

🛒 Shop Tropical Fruit Trees

#Food_Forest #Fun_facts #Nature_Wonders

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