Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 7 Mar 2016

Black Pepper Vine - grow a real spice at home!

Q: What plants are used for commercial production of black pepper, red pepper, and green pepper? I started organic garden and would like to try growing pepper. I live in Georgia, will it survive here?

A: Pungent and aromatic Pepper is grown in Southern India since more than two thousand years, has always been much valued all over the world. Along with other spices from India and lands farther east, it changed the course of world history. Depending on harvest time and processing, peppercorns can be black, white, green and red (reddish-brown). So, the same fruit is also used to produce white pepper, red/pink pepper, and green pepper. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one.

The vine can be easily grown in a pot on a trellis, in mild (frost-free) climates it can be grown in the ground providing a tree support. Try growing this legendary plant and taste the real spice!

For more info, see article about Black Pepper.

See full list of spice and herbs

Date: 9 Jul 2024

Where does Blackberry Jam come from? It comes from Gardenia!

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, flower

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, fruit

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, fruit

Where does Blackberry Jam come from? It comes from Gardenia!

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, Jasmin de Rosa is a curious small evergreen tree from South America that combines features of a fragrant flower and delicious dessert fruit which tastes like fresh Blackberry jam. Fragrant white flowers are similar to Gardenia.

This relatively hardy tropical can be grown in a container as well as in the ground. It's very сompact (4-5 ft), perfect for container culture, will fruit in a container.

Kids love the fruit! Many claim that it is even better than Blackberry preserves.

Large tubular white flowers attract nocturnal moths. Since the plant is closely related to the gardenia (Rubiaceae plant family), its flowers are sweetly fragrant.

Produces as many as 25-30 fruits at a time. Since it blooms for a few months from Summer through Winter, fruiting and flowering can be enjoyed even when other plants are dormant.

Article about Blackberry Jam Fruit formosa

Order Blackberry Jam tree

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 3 Aug 2024

How to always have your own Root Beer

Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava

How to always have your own Root Beer

  • Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava - is a close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and Piper nigrum (Black Pepper). It is very often confused with Kava-Kava, and probably has some similar medicinal effects.
  • This herb originated from Tropical America and grows also in the South Pacific.
  • Large-leaved perennial, known for its leaves, which are used for their spicy aromatic scent and flavor, some liken to root beer, others to anise-clove. It can be used for making a root beer-flavoted drink.
  • This species is easily identified by its huge leaves which can grow over a foot long in older specimens.
  • The leaves are chopped and used for flavoring, as well as used whole, as wrappings for meats, tamales, etc.


📚
Learn more about Piper plants

🛒 Grow your own Root Beer Plant

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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Date: 4 Oct 2024

How big is the Little Gem?

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia, flower

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia, flower

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia, tree

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia, tree

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia, flower

Little Gem Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia, flower

💎 How big is the Little Gem?

  • 🕊 Looking for a cold-hardy tree with majestic flowers and a scent that could make angels swoon? Meet the Little Gem Magnolia! This delightful dwarf variety of the Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia - packs all the charm without the towering height.
  • 🕊 With large, perfect white flowers that emit a divine fragrance, this beautiful columnar tree is like nature's perfume dispenser.
  • 🕊 The leaves? They’re fluffy and brown underneath, like a teddy bear wearing a velvet jacket!
  • 🕊 Though it’s called a "dwarf," don’t be fooled - Little Gem can still reach up to 8-10 feet wide if planted in the ground, offering plenty of blooms even when young.
  • 🕊 While it's slow-growing, this compact beauty is perfect for small gardens where space is precious. Ideal perfume tree for container garden.
  • 🕊 Whether it's in a container or part of your landscape, this magnolia is a total showstopper. If you're ready for a tree that blends elegance, fragrance, and manageable size, Little Gem is your new best friend!


📚 Learn more:



🛒 Order Little Gem Magnolia

#Perfume_Plants #Trees

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Date: 15 May 2024

What does a dragon taste like? Does Dragon Fruit come from a monster cactus? Learn why you need to grow your own

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya trees on trellis

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya trees on trellis

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya on trellis

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya on trellis

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya red fruit

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya red fruit

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya purple fruit

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya purple fruit

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya Yellow Parlora

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya Yellow Parlora

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya flower

Hylocereus and Selenicereus Dragon Fruit or Pitaya flower

🐲 What does a dragon taste like? Does Dragon Fruit come from a monster cactus? Learn why you need to grow your own. 🌵
  • 🔴 You may have tried a Dragon fruit from the store l, but do you know how it grows? On a cactus tree!
  • 🔴 Names: varieties of Hylocereus and Selenicereus - these fruit bearing cactus plants are also called Dragon Fruit or Pitaya.
  • 🔴 Commercially grown fruit sold in a grocery store may be tasteless. You need to grow your own good variety to have tasty, sweet, flavorful fruit!
  • 🔴 Dragon fruit comes in many varieties. Colors of flesh differ: white, pink, dark red and even purple. The outside of the fruit can be red/pink or yellow.
  • 🔴 In commercial groves, Pitayas grow like cactus trees, over a strong support - big "umbrella frames" ☂️
  • 🔴 It is an easy plant, with low water needs, takes both sun and semi-shade.
  • 🔴 Our favorite variety is Yellow Dragon Fruit Palora, (Selenicereus megalanthus). It is the sweetest and has the most flavor of all. We shared some recipes earlier.
  • 🔴 Can be grown in container with a wooden trellis. And the flower is beautiful, too!


📚 Learn more about Dragon Fruit
🍹 Recipe: What to do with a Dragon fruit?

🛒Grow your own Tasty Dragon Fruits

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Nature_Wonders

🏵 TopTropicals