Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 29 Apr 2025

A French Emperors Hat Blooming in Your Garden?

🎩 A French Emperor's Hat Blooming in Your Garden?

🎩 Napoleon's Hat (Napoleonaea imperialis), a unique and charming plant that's sure to stand out in your garden!
🎩 Napoleon's Hat lives up to its name with large, saucer-shaped flowers that bloom straight from the leaf axils or even directly from the trunk! Talk about making a statement.
🎩 The hat-shaped, brightly colored flowers smell like butterscotch! Yes, your garden will smell like a candy shop🍬
🎩 It's Kola's Cousin! The reddish seeds resemble kola nuts and even have a similar taste, giving you a fun, "false kola" experience.
🎩 An instant conversation starter, Napoleon's Hat is a quirky, fragrant addition to your garden - perfect for those looking for something a little different.

Date: 29 Apr 2025

Napoleon's Hat - Napoleonaea imperialis

🎩 Napoleon's Hat (Napoleonaea imperialis), a unique and charming plant that's sure to stand out in your garden!
🎩 Napoleon's Hat lives up to its name with large, saucer-shaped flowers that bloom straight from the leaf axils or even directly from the trunk! Talk about making a statement.
🎩 The hat-shaped, brightly colored flowers smell like butterscotch! Yes, your garden will smell like a candy shop🍬
🎩 It's Kola's Cousin! The reddish seeds resemble kola nuts and even have a similar taste, giving you a fun, "false kola" experience.
🎩 An instant conversation starter, Napoleon's Hat is a quirky, fragrant addition to your garden - perfect for those looking for something a little different.

Date: 27 Apr 2025

Kalanchoe x Pink Butterfly

💖 Kalanchoe x Pink Butterfly - Variegated Mother of Thousands... This exceptional plant, originally gifted to us by horticulturist Mark Hooten, quickly became one of the highlights of our rare plant collection.
💖 The Kalanchoe x Pink Butterfly is a true standout, known for its unique, stable variegated "sport" - meaning it has a lower chlorophyll content, allowing vibrant, bright pink pigments to shine through. This makes it one of the most colorful succulents you'll encounter!
💖 The plant produces an abundance of tiny, butterfly-like plantlets along its leaves. Unlike other Kalanchoe plants, it has lost the ability to root from these plantlets, making it even more intriguing.
💖 Pink Butterfly is incredibly easy to care for, drought-tolerant, and thrives in both sun and shade, making it the perfect exotic houseplant for any space.
💖 This variegated form is a mutation of an older hybrid, the origin of which is a bit mysterious. The original hybrid, Kalanchoe x houghtonii, was a cross between Kalanchoe daigremontiana and Kalanchoe delagoensis. Over time, a variegated sport of this hybrid emerged, giving rise to the beautiful Kalanchoe x Pink Butterfly we see today.
💖 A must-have for any succulent collector, this plant will not only bring a splash of color to your home but also a touch of rarity!

Date: 6 Apr 2025

Rhipsalis x pilocarpa - the Hairy Stemmed Jungle Cactus

🌿 Looking for something unique? Rhipsalis x pilocarpa - the Hairy Stemmed Jungle Cactus - is an incredibly rare, "hairy-fruited wickerware cactus" from Brazil that's bound to wow any plant lover.
🌿 With its spidery, fuzzy stems reaching up to 20 inches and delicate white to peach-colored flowers, this plant is bound to wow anyone who sees it. After blooming, it even produces pink or red berries covered in fine bristles, adding to its charm.
🌿 What makes the Hairy Stemmed Jungle Cactus a must-have? It's easy to grow, thriving in warm, humid conditions with minimal watering. Perfect for USDA Zones 9-11, it makes an exotic addition to your garden or home.
🌿 But be quick – this rare beauty is vulnerable in the wild, making it even more special in your collection!

Date: 3 Apr 2025

Chinese Olive - Canarium album

Chinese Olive Tree (Canarium album) is a time-honored Superfruit tree that packed with nutrients, history, and amazing flavor.
It has been celebrated in Asia for over 2,000 years - for good reason.
The olive-like drupes are packed with essential amino acids, healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins. Plus, they’re rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and other powerful bioactive compounds.
Enjoy the fruit raw, pickled, candied, or cooked into soups and stews. It can even be dried as a snack, brewed into herbal teas, or roasted like a nut.
With its unique flavor and ancient reputation in Asian medicine and cuisine, the Chinese Olive is both a conversation piece and a functional food tree for your garden.