Skip the Egg Hunt - Start a Plant Hunt 🐰

Mango Plant Facts

Botanical name: Mangifera indica
Also known as: Mango

USDA Zone: 9 - 11

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

Groundhog said long winter… and it sure felt like it. But now it is finally over, and balconies and patios are waking up again.

Easter is here, and with it comes that fresh start feeling - time to open the doors, bring plants back out, and start growing.

We made it through the cold. For northern gardeners, that is every year; for borderline zones, it is a reminder that freezes happen. That is exactly why growing in pots makes sense - you stay flexible.

Container growing is not just about pots - it is about choosing the right plants. The best options stay manageable, produce well, and handle being moved.

Let's look at what works. Start with plants that naturally stay compact and adapt well to containers. These are the ones that won’t outgrow your space and will reward you quickly. These are proven performers in containers - compact, productive, and easy to manage:

• Dwarf Condo Mango for your patio
• Jaboticaba - source of Brazilian wine "Vinho Tinto de Jabuticaba"
• Tropical cherries - fast-fruting Eugenias
• Blackberry Jam Fruit and Peanut Butter Fruit - fun for kids and adults
• Fig Trees - compact and hardy

Blackberry Jam Fruit Plant Facts

Botanical name: Randia formosa, Mussaenda formosa, Randia mussaenda, Rosenbergiodendron formosum
Also known as: Blackberry Jam Fruit, Jasmin de rosa

USDA Zone: 9 - 11

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

Fig Tree Plant Facts

Botanical name: Ficus carica
Also known as: Fig Tree, Brevo

USDA Zone: 7 - 10

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

Simple rule: if it stays compact and handles pruning, it works in a container.

Skip the egg hunt this year - go on a plant hunt instead. Start with one or two plants this Easter - not ten. Get them established, learn how they grow, and then expand.

Container basics (keep it simple):

• Pot size: start with 3–7 gallon, upgrade as plant grows
• Soil: fast-draining mix (never heavy garden soil)
• Water: soak well, then let top inch dry
• Feeding: consistent light feeding works better than heavy doses
• Sun: most tropicals want full sun (6+ hours)

🐣 Browse our Easter Container Collection

Peanut Butter Fruit Tree Plant Facts

Botanical name: Bunchosia argentea, Bunchosia armeniaca
Also known as: Peanut Butter Fruit Tree, Ciruela Del Monte

USDA Zone: 9 - 11

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

Jaboticaba Plant Facts

Botanical name: Myrciaria cauliflora, Plinia cauliflora, Eugenia cauliflora
Also known as: Jaboticaba, Duhat

USDA Zone: 9 - 11

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

Grumichama Plant Facts

Botanical name: Eugenia brasiliensis, Eugenia dombeyi
Also known as: Grumichama, Brazilian Cherry

USDA Zone: 9 - 11

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

🌈 Adeniums: More Than Just Plants

Adenium Plant Facts

Botanical name: Adenium sp.
Also known as: Adenium, Desert Rose, Impala Lily

USDA Zone: 9 - 10

Highligths

Make this plant work in your climate

Get personalized tips for your region

🌱 Shape, Color, and Why Each Adenium Feels Unique

Adeniums can stop you in a strange way. It is not only the flowers, although they help. It is the whole plant. The swollen base, the curves, the way no two look quite the same. Some are thick and heavy, some more refined, almost like they were shaped on purpose. After a bit, you stop seeing them as regular plants and start treating them more like objects you want to keep and look at.

That is usually how a collection starts. One plant, then another that feels different, and then you want contrast. Light next to dark, soft next to bold, one with a wide base next to a taller form. It is not really about having many. It is about how they look together. And over time, each one changes a little, so the collection never stays the same.

🛒 Explore Exotic Adenium varieties

♥️ Mother’s Day: More Than a Gift

Mom: You grew this… for me? You remembered my favorite…
Smokey: I did.
Mom: You never forget what matters. It’s beautiful.
Smokey: Not as much as you. Happy Mother’s Day.
Sunshine: You raised him right. It shows.

Some things stay with you from your mom.

A favorite fruit. A smell from the garden. The way she showed you how to care for something and stick with it.

At the time, it felt small. Later, you realize it wasn’t. It turns into something real - a tree, a habit, a way of doing things you still follow.

Mother’s Day is simply a reason to tell your mom you remember. To say thank you for what she taught you, and to show your love.

It does not have to be complicated. Just something that makes it clear you were paying attention.

If you are thinking what to give, start simple.

A fruit she loves. A plant she will enjoy watching grow. Something alive, not just something that sits on a shelf.

It does not have to be big. What matters is that it means something to her.

And maybe, years from now, it becomes one of those things that stays.

We put together a few plants that make good Mother’s Day gifts.

Fragrant flowers. Fruit trees she can enjoy year after year. Easy growers that do not require much effort.

If she has a favorite, start there. If not, pick something simple and reliable.

🛒 Shop Gift plants

Today: Spring Equinox Plant Festival 🌿

Everything is ready for today at our Spring Equinox Plant Festival. The garden is full and we would love to see you. Come over today and enjoy it with us.

❄️ The Hardiness Report: February 2026 ❄️

🐾 Smokey & Sunshine’s real-world survival data from our Sebring, Florida Research Gardens. Smokey analyzed the data. Sunshine just stayed happy. Here is what they found.

📊 Weather Data – February 1–6, 2026

Sebring, Florida – 132 years of recorded observations
This was not a light frost. It was a prolonged, windy, penetrating hard freeze.

• 🌡 Minimum temperature: 25F
• ❄️ Wind chill: 14F
• ⏳ Duration: 3 nights of 8–10 hour hard freeze
• ☀️ Daytime temperatures: around 50F for 7 days
• 🌀 Wind: sustained 20 mph, gusts 40–50 mph

While all our plants in pots were protected in greenhouses, our in-ground plantings faced the freeze outdoors. We covered what we could. Even so, some plants were damaged, some died, and some surprised us by surviving.

In the next few newsletters, we will share the real survivors - the plants that proved themselves in the ground, under real conditions. Smokey and Sunshine have been out in the fields assessing the damage from the February 1–6 freeze. While many plants struggled, the Macadamia proved to be a true standout. This is how we grow them to handle the tough years.

Why does this matter? Because we have gotten used to warm winters, and this freeze was a rude awakening. Not everyone lives in Miami. If you garden in places where a real cold event can happen, you have to be prepared - and you have to plant what can take it.

🌰 Macadamia: Freeze Tested and Standing

When temperatures dropped to 25F with wind chill near 14F, our established macadamia trees remained upright, green, and structurally intact. Leaves held. Branches stayed firm. No collapse, no panic.

That is not luck. That is macadamia hardiness.

Often considered a "tropical luxury nut," macadamia proved it can handle more than many gardeners expect. In USDA Zones 9b-11, with proper drainage and site selection, it is not just ornamental - it is a long-term food tree with real resilience.

In a winter that reminded us not to take warmth for granted, macadamia earned its place on the survivor list.

The nut itself is famous for its strength. The shell is among the hardest in the nut world, requiring serious pressure to crack. Inside, the kernel is creamy, buttery, rich, and deeply satisfying. High in monounsaturated fats and naturally low in sugar, macadamias have long been valued both for flavor and for nutrition.

The tree is equally impressive. An evergreen with tough leaves and elegant spring flowers, it matures into a productive, manageable canopy. Nuts develop slowly over six to seven months. Production begins in a few years and increases steadily as the tree matures. Plant it once, and it can reward you for decades.

Cold will come again. It always does. The question is not whether winter will test your garden. The question is whether your trees are ready. Macadamia proved it is. If you are building a garden that feeds you for decades, this is a tree worth planting.

🛒 Add Macadamia Tree to your garden