Date: 16 May 2026
🔮 When the World Around Becomes Too Gray: Plant a Tree. Eat a Donut. Keep going.
Smokey: Plant a tree.
Sunshine: And if that does not help?
Smokey: Plant another one.
Sunshine: And eat a donut.
Smokey: Not strictly necessary, but statistically beneficial.
If you have been feeling a little worn down lately, you are not alone.
You already know about the headlines. We do not need to list them. You have probably seen them today before breakfast.
We are not here to pretend that is not happening. It is happening. And it is a lot. But here is the thing we keep coming back to, the thing that has been true for as long as people have had hands and a patch of ground: when the world feels out of control, you can still plant something.
Gardening is not an escape. It is an answer. When you put a tree in the ground, you are making a quiet statement. You are saying that you expect there to be a future. That you intend to be in it. That shade and fruit and flowers still matter, and you are going to make sure they exist in your corner of the world.
That is not naive. That is courageous in the most ordinary and underrated way.
One tree, planted this season, might give you fruit in a few years. It might give butterflies somewhere to stop. It might give a bird a place to nest. It will almost certainly give you something to look at on a hard day that reminds you the world still contains beauty, and that you put some of it there. And if one tree does not quite do it? Plant another one.
Dostoevsky said beauty will save the world. We think a mango
Do not skip the donut.
A donut is a small, simple, completely unnecessary thing. That is exactly the point. It is not productive. It does not solve anything. It is just good, and sometimes that is the whole reason. In a world that constantly demands you be useful and informed and concerned, eating a donut is a quiet act of being human. You are allowed to enjoy a small thing on a hard day. You do not have to earn it.
Rest a little. Then go put something in the ground. Anything that will grow and flower and remind you that beautiful things are still happening whether the headlines mention them or not.
We have the plants. You bring the donuts.
🛒 Plant a sweeter world: grow color and flavor
Date: 15 May 2026
Smokey and Sunshine HIRING NOW: Customer service / sales in garden center
Sunshine: Smokey, we need plant people.
Smokey: Does your girlfriend know plants?
Sunshine: Of course. She fertilized my donuts so they would grow larger.
Smokey: Did it work?
Sunshine: Kind of. I gained three pounds.
Smokey: Perfect. Bring her in.
TopTropicals.com is looking for a part-time customer service and sales team member for our Ft Myers Garden Center.
If you genuinely love plants, enjoy helping people, and don't mind getting your hands dirty in a tropical nursery environment – then working with rare tropical plants, fruit trees, and fellow plant lovers can be fun and rewarding!
💼 Responsibilities
· Help walk-in customers select plants and check out
· Answer customer questions by phone, email, social media, and message board
· Open and close office, operate cash register
· General customer service and sales support
📚 Requirements
· Genuine love for plants and willingness to learn. We will train
· Friendly, patient, and polite with customers
· Strong work ethic and reliability; punctuality is essential
· Ability to follow instructions and work efficiently
· Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs and comfortable working outdoors in Florida heat and weather
· Drug-free - background check and drug test upon employment
· Valid Florida driver's license and reliable transportation
· Must love cats - our famous "PeopleCats" helpers patrol the gardens daily
� Preferred qualifications
· Basic computer skills (email, office, internet). We will train
· Previous plant knowledge or nursery experience
· Sales or customer service experience
💰 Pay
· Starting pay: $18/hour depending on experience and performance
· Opportunity for growth based on performance
📅 Schedule
· Part-time to start, potential for full-time later
· Friday and Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm
📍 Location:
Top Tropicals Garden Center
13890 Orange River Blvd
Ft Myers, FL 33905
✍️ How to apply:
Please email a brief resume and a short paragraph explaining why you'd like this job.
Resume guidelines:
· Keep it brief; include job history and education
· Please avoid long descriptions of unrelated experience
· Tell us why working with plants and people interests you
🚶➡️ To apply in person:
You are welcome to visit our Garden Center during business hours:
Monday-Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm
To apply in person, ask for Kristi - our manager.
No phone calls please.
Thanks for applying - we hope to see you working alongside our plants, #PeopleCats, and fellow plant lovers soon.
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date: 15 May 2026
The anti-cucumber legend
🍆 Cucumber videos prepared me for this moment.
They said cats fear cucumbers?
You brought me an avocado.
Nice try.
Wrong vegetable.
Wrong cat.
🐈📸 Cat Philemon stress testing an Avocado Red Russel at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.
🛒 Explore Avocado varieties
#PeopleCats #Food_Forest
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date: 15 May 2026
The Tropical Survivor: Why This Pink Plume Defied a 25F Freeze
The Tropical Survivor: Why This Pink Plume Defied a 25F Freeze
When Central Florida temperatures plummeted to 25F for two days, many gardeners braced for a total loss; and while most tropicals melted into black mush, Justicia carnea - the Pink Brazilian Plume or Jacobinia - proved that looks can be deceiving.
Tougher Than it Looks
As many other tropical plants from Acanthaceae family - Justicia plants are much hardier than they look.
At first glance, the Brazilian Plume looks like a greenhouse diva. It boasts huge, lush leaves and giant, cotton-candy pink flower clusters. However, it harbors a secret: it behaves more like a hardy perennial than a delicate shrub.
Even when a hard freeze burns the top growth to the ground, the root system remains remarkably resilient. Once the soil warms, fresh shoots often push through the dirt faster than expected.
A Hummingbird Magnet for the Shade
The real draw of Justicia carnea isn't just its survival skills - it’s the show-stopping blooms.
Large upright plumes can reach the size of a football. The tubular flowers are a primary target for hummingbirds and butterflies. Unlike most tropical bloomers, it thrives in filtered light and bright shade, making it perfect for understory planting.
👉 Gardener’s Tip:
Don't dig it up too soon! Freeze-damaged stems may look finished for weeks, but patience usually rewards you with new growth by late spring.
🌱 Quick Care Guide
Light: Bright shade or filtered sun
Soil: Rich, well-draining
Water: Regular moisture during heat
Best For: Pool areas, woodland gardens, and pollinator beds
For gardeners wanting that high-impact tropical aesthetic without the heartbreak of constant replanting, this Jacobinia is the ultimate comeback kid.
🛒 Plant beautiful and hardy Jacobinia
📚 Learn more:
· Justicia plants in Plant Encyclopedia
· Top 20 plants for a Butterfly Haven
· What flowers do NOT attract bees?
· Five best butterfly attractors for a Southern garden
· What tropical plants survived Florida's historic freeze without protection
#Butterfly_Plants #Discover #Container_Garden
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date: 14 May 2026
How to take your plants from good to exceptional
How to take your plants from good to exceptional
If your plants are growing but not really impressing you, this is the missing piece. Basic feeding keeps plants alive. The right boosters take them further - stronger growth, better blooms, sweeter fruit, and healthier plants overall.
☘️ Additional boosters that take plants to the next level
Beyond the base nutrition, Sunshine Boosters includes additional products that help plants perform better during key stages of growth. All formulas, including supplements, are compatible and can be used together when needed.
☘️ Full microelement support
Sunshine SuperFood is a microelement supplement that corrects deficiencies and improves flowering and fruiting. It helps with yellow leaves, weak growth, poor rooting, and low fruit set.
It provides iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, and molybdenum. These support photosynthesis, energy flow, growth regulation, and sugar movement.
Together, they improve plant strength, flowering, and overall development. Sunshine SuperFood is amino-acid based, stable, and does not build up in the soil.
☘️ Better fruit and flavor
Sunshine Honey is focused on flowering, fruiting, and taste. It improves sweetness, flavor, fruit size, and reduces bud drop.
Boron helps move sugars to flowers and fruit, improving structure and reducing cracking. Molybdenum supports photosynthesis and increases available sugars.
The result is better pollination, bigger flowers, and higher-quality fruit.
☘️ Growth and stress support
Sunshine Epi is a natural bio-stimulant that supports faster growth, stronger roots, and better resistance to stress. It helps plants handle cold, heat, drought, and disease.
It improves branching, structure, and recovery after stress. It can also be used for seeds and cuttings to improve rooting and early growth.
All these boosters work together with the base Sunshine Boosters system. They do not replace regular feeding but enhance it. When used at the right time, they help plants grow stronger, flower better, and produce higher-quality fruit with improved taste and appearance. 👉 More...
🛒 Get your plants real food
📚Learn more:
How to feed the right formula at the right time
Why your plants need more than NPK
What makes Sunshine Boosters different
This changes how you feed your plants
Sunshine Boosters: Complete Plant Nutrition System
Frequently Asked Questions: Plant Nutrition & Fertilizer
Green Magic + SUNSHINE Boosters: A Complete System for Strong Plant Growth
Spring Nutrition Strategy: Is Your Garden Starving?
How to keep your house plants beautiful all year by feeding them right
Why do you need Sunshine Boosters?
Which dry fertilizer to use - slow release or controlled release?
Green Magic effect: before and after
The SECRET growers never tell you: simple trick how to bring plants back to life and keep green
📱 What are Sunshine Boosters
#Discover #Fertilizers #How_to
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals