Pipers, the Pepper Plants

Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), the one that is used more frequently than salt or sugar!

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Who doesn't know Black Pepper? Every household has a pepper shaker, even if they are not fans of spicy food. But do you know where black pepper comes from? Certainly, from a plant. But not from the same plant that gives us Chili pepper! You will be surprised to know that Black pepper along with its other spicy relatives, belong to the same family as a Peperomia houseplant! In the 16th century, people began using name pepper to also mean the unrelated New World Chili pepper (genus Capsicum of family Solanaceae). Piper's spiciness is due to the chemical compound piperine, which is a different kind of spicy from the capsaicin characteristic of Chili peppers...
Today we will tell you more about the most interesting and useful species - Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), Piper betle (Betel Leaf), Piper sarmentosum (Lalot), and Piper auritum (false Kava-Kava, or Root Beer Plant).

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Piper auritum (false Kava-Kava, or Root Beer Plant) - the most useful especially in Mexican cuisine

Piper betle (Betel Leaf), popular Indian herb that brings you health and happiness...

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: Sweet Dragon or Sweet Cherry?.. Both!

Sweet Dragon or Sweet Cherry?.. Both!

Photo above: Biquinho Pepper (Capsicum annuum x chinense) - nipple-shaped bright orange to red fruits with unique flavor which packs quite a bang!
Not because of its heat, but because of its intense fruity habanero flavor!

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy. Easy like Sunday Morning...

This weekend we celebrate our Easy Sunday and Cyber Monday together!
So we've doubled your opportunity to Save AND we've added a second beautiful plant to help you save even more!
Take an extra day to enjoy your Easy stroll through Top Tropicals' Garden with savings of

50% OFF and MORE!

For two days only, you can easily get the sweetest variety of the Dragon Fruit and add a super rare variety of Tropical Black Cherry Lolita to your garden!
Both plants Easy Priced at $19, that's a savings of more than 50% from the regular $39 price!
Learn more about these plants:

Yellow Dragon Fruit

Selenicereus megalanthus - Yellow Pitaya, Dragon Fruit
- is the best tasting Dragon Fruit in the world that is not only sweet, it has a great flavor (unlike most Pitayas that are pretty watery).
These plants originated from Ecuador and are well-developed, multi-branched, as you can see from the photo.

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

Lolita Cherry

Eugenia uniflora - Black Surinam Cherry Lolita
- rare, hard-to-find black-fruited variety Surinam Cherry starts as red and turns black as it ripens.
It is very sweet and has exceptional flavor, without aftertaste, large 1-1.2 inch, very juicy.
Reliable producer. The tree is upright, freely branching, cold hardy to upper 20's once established.
Plants are in 2 gal pots, well branched and ready to fruit next season.

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

You can save even more by using our Black Friday sales discount code on your order:

FRIDAY20 - 20% OFF - for orders over $200
FRIDAY15 - 15% OFF - for orders over $150
FRIDAY10 - 10% OFF - for orders over $100

Excluding S&H. Codes extended through Monday: 11/29/21

Remember, the special $19 prices are good for only 48 hours and expire Tuesday morning at 7 am EST.
Limited to availability, while supply lasts, hurry up!

Enjoy!

Philodendrons: from the Magic Rainforest...

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there... One of the most excellent representative of this green world is a Philodendron... Taxonomically, the genus Philodendron is still poorly known, with many undescribed species...
...Philodendron care is easy because if you watch for the signals, the plant will tell you exactly what it needs. Even inexperienced houseplant owners will have no trouble growing philodendron plants because the plants adapt readily to conditions inside the home. This makes learning how to care for a philodendron incredibly simple...

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Season star:
The Purple Tango of Hypnotizing Jacaranda

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Hypnotizing bluish-purple, trumpet-like flowers create the magical image of the tree. Incredible, long-lasting purple blooms in spring give way to rich, yellow hues in the fall, making the Jacaranda Tree a season-to-season star that stands out. Fern-like foliage lends volume to its bold, dramatic silhouette for a landscape look unlike any other. When the trumpet-shaped blooms finally fall, they form a lilac carpet beneath the awe-inspiring Jacaranda for luxuriant curb appeal...

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A Native Virgin - Sweetbay Vanilla Magnolia
(Magnolia virginiana)

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Fossilized specimens one of Magnolias have been found dating to 20 million years ago. Magnolia virginiana as a true American pioneer - it was the first magnolia to be scientifically described, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia; as Magnolia is also the type genus of all flowering plants (magnoliophytes), this species in a sense typifies all flowering plants...
...The flowers carry a very strong vanilla scent that can sometimes be noticed several hundred yards away! Fresh off the tree, the flavor of leaves is unique and fun to use. If you have a Florida Sweet Bay, your cooking will have flavors folks outside Florida can never hope to duplicate. It likes moist soils, so if you have a wet spot on your land - plant this tree. The lifespan of individual trees has been estimated at 130 years! No bugs, no pests!..

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