Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 21 Oct 2025

Compact Bauhinias - everblooming container trees

Compact Bauhinias - everblooming container trees

Compact Bauhinias - everblooming container trees

🌈 Compact Bauhinias - everblooming container trees

📸 Pictures for the previous post, Bauhinias:
  • Bauhinia madagascariensis - Red Dwarf Orchid Tree. Blooms from winter through fall, up to 10 months a year. The most cold-hardy of all.
  • Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree. A large tree in the ground, but compact in pots if trimmed. Grafted trees flower right away. Winter bloomer, cold hardy to light frost.
  • Bauhinia tomentosa - Yellow Orchid Tree. Flowers from Winter through Summer, cold hardy to light frost.
  • Bauhinia monandra - Napoleon's Plume Orchid Tree. Almost everblooming with the longest flowering period (less cold hardy than the first three).
  • Bauhinia acuminata - Dwarf White Orchid Tree. Blooms from summer through winter (also less cold hardy than the first three).


🛒 Explore Bauhinias (Orchid Trees)

#Container_Garden #Trees

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Date: 27 Sep 2024

How to protect Mango Trees from Cold Weather

How to protect Mango Trees from Cold Weather



🌞 Mango trees love warm weather. They grow best in temperatures between 70F to 100F.

📍 Cold weather can be harmful to mango trees: when the temperature drops below freezing, trees can get damaged. Frost can hurt young leaves and flowers, reducing the amount of fruit.

💬 Ways to protect mango trees from cold


  • 🔹 Right location: Plant in sunny areas with protection from cold winds.

  • 🔹 Cover them up: Use blankets or frost cloth to protect young trees.

  • 🔹 Add mulch: Helps keep the roots warm during cold weather.

  • 🔹 Move potted trees: Bring them inside when it gets too cold.

  • 🔹 Use Sunshine Boosters to improve tree hardiness


Fertilized mango trees are stronger and more resilient.
  • They grow faster and have better root systems, making them more hardy against cold weather.
  • Sunshine Boosters provide the essential nutrients needed for strength and vigor, helping plants recover faster from cold damage.


🥭 Sunshine Boosters "Mango Tango" makes mango trees stronger and more resistant to cold. A well-fed tree can survive cold better and produce more fruit. With Sunshine Boosters, you ensure your mango trees stay healthy, even in chilly weather!

📚 Learn more from the articles:


Mango trees and how to deal with cold weather
How to fertilize your Mango trees

📸 See photo in the next post👇

🛒 Shop Sunshine Boosters

#Fertilizers #Mango

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 30 Dec 2022

Cold protection for tropical plants

greenhouse  and  cold  protection  covers  on  tropical  plants

Pushing the limits of tropical gardening

The year is almost over but the winter is not. This Christmas weekend at our Sebring B-farm we had it down to 30F. As a tropical gardener, winter can be challenging, especially if you grow plants outside of tropical zones.

greenhouse  with  tropical  plants

To protect your garden from the cold, consider the following:

1. Monitor freeze watches and be prepared to take action if necessary.
2. Create temporary structures like mini-greenhouses using PVC pipes, carport frames, or bamboo sticks to support covers.
3. Use covers such as frost cloth, cardboard boxes, blankets, and bed sheets.
4. Use Christmas lights and other heating elements, including propane heaters, to keep plants warm.
5. Add a layer of heavy mulch around plant trunks to protect them from the cold.
6. Apply plant boosters that improve cold hardiness, such as Sunshine Epi, Sunshine-Si, and Sunshine Superfood.

At TopTropicals B-Farm, we sprayed our plants with a special cold hardiness treatment Sunshine-Si and covered and wrapped everything we could. We also moved cold sensitive species inside greenhouses. All of our plants are looking great and happy!

Mulching  mango  trunks  and  using  Christmas  lights  for  cold  protection

Photo above: Mulching mango trunks and using Christmas lights for cold protection

Read more about this special treatment plan: Cold Hardiness Improvement Kit.

Covering  plants  during  cold  night

Plastic  warm  house  wrapping

Photo above: Temporary wrapping of a section of a greenhouse with a plastic or frost cloth protects from a windchill. It may also win you a few degrees even without a heater. In this particular case, according to our temp sensors, it was 30F outside, and 41F inside this "dome", no heaters used.


Sunshine Boosters:

Last chance to stock up
at a lower price!

Sunshine Boosters are natural, amino acid-based liquid fertilizers made with only the highest quality ingredients. Starting in 2023, the pricing for Sunshine Boosters will be adjusting to reflect the increasing cost of supplies. This is your last chance to stock up on Sunshine Boosters before the end of the year! Sunshine Boosters are safe to use year around, with every watering.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to get the best value for your money!

Use discount for even better deal:

22FOR22
for 22% off orders $220+

Min order $220. Offer expires 12-31-22

Sunshine  boosters  for  different  plant  types

Date: 20 Feb 2026

Top Ten Flowering Tree Winners of Florida 2026 Record Freeze

Bauhinia Orchid Tree

Bauhinia Orchid Tree

Beaucarnea recurvata - Pony Tail

Beaucarnea recurvata - Pony Tail

Caesalpinia mexicana, Mexican Bird of Paradise

Caesalpinia mexicana, Mexican Bird of Paradise

Callistemon - Bottlebrush

Callistemon - Bottlebrush

Erythrina

Erythrina

Jacaranda tree

Jacaranda tree

Magnolia figo

Magnolia figo

Magnolia Little Gem

Magnolia Little Gem

Tabebuia chrysotricha

Tabebuia chrysotricha

Tabebuia impetiginosa

Tabebuia impetiginosa

🏆 Top Ten Flowering Tree Winners of Florida 2026 Record Freeze



These flowering trees had no damage after 3 nights of hard freeze (25F) with NO PROTECTION:
🛒 Explore cold tolerant tropical plants

📚 Learn more:


#Discover #How_to #Trees

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 19 Nov 2024

In the photos:

Coconut palm, Cocos nucifera

Coconut palm, Cocos nucifera

Fan palm - Licuala sp.

Fan palm - Licuala sp.

Areca palm - Areca (Dypsis) lutescens

Areca palm - Areca (Dypsis) lutescens

Windmill palm - Trachycarpus fortunei

Windmill palm - Trachycarpus fortunei

Cabbage palm - Sabal palmetto

Cabbage palm - Sabal palmetto

Queen Palm - Syagrus romanzoffiana

Queen Palm - Syagrus romanzoffiana

Majestic palm, Royal Palm - Ravenea rivularis

Majestic palm, Royal Palm - Ravenea rivularis

European fan palm - Chamaerops humilis

European fan palm - Chamaerops humilis

Date Palm - Phoenix canariensis

Date Palm - Phoenix canariensis

🌴 How cold hardy are palm trees and how to protect them in winter
  • 🌴 Most palms are tropical plants and require a frost-free climate to grow outdoors. However, there are a few exceptions. Adjust care depending on your zone and palm species. 
  • 🌴 Some cold-hardy species can handle harsher conditions, with proper protection, making them great options for gardeners in zones that experience occasional freezes.
  • 🌴 Mulch generously: Apply a thick layer of mulch around the base to insulate roots. Keep mulch a few inches away from the trunk to prevent rot.
  • 🌴 Water before frost: Water deeply before a freeze to stabilize soil temperature and prevent dehydration.
  • 🌴 Cover young palms: Wrap smaller or sensitive species in burlap, frost cloth, or blankets. Avoid plastic, as it can trap moisture and cause damage.
  • 🌴 Protect the crown: For cold-sensitive palms, bundle fronds upwards and wrap the crown with cloth or burlap to shield the growing point.
  • 🌴 Use heat sources: Place Christmas lights (non-LED) or a heat lamp near the tree, ensuring they’re safe and don't touch the foliage.
  • 🌴 Avoid pruning: Keep fronds intact during winter—they provide natural insulation.
  • 🌴 Species-specific care: Cold-hardy palms need less protection. Delicate types require more attention, including covering and relocating potted ones indoors.


📷 In the photos:



🌞 Cold sensitive palms:


Coconut palm: Cocos nucifera
Fan palm: Licuala sp.
Areca palm: Areca (Dypsis) lutescens

❄️ Cold hardy palms:


Windmill palm: Trachycarpus fortunei
Cabbage palm: Sabal palmetto
Queen Palm: Syagrus romanzoffiana
Majestic palm: Ravenea rivularis
European fan palm: Chamaerops humilis
Date Palm: Phoenix canariensis

🛒 Shop Palm Trees

#Trees #How_to

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals