Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 25 Apr 2026

🎁 Mothers Day plant gift guide: something for every kind of mom

Skip the bouquet, give her something that grows

Four  potted  tropical  plants  in  bloom  -  Magnolia  Little  Gem,  Champaka, 
 Jasmine  Sambac,  and  Plumeria  -  arranged  on  gravel  in  a  garden  setting 
 against  a  light 
 fence.

Magnolia Little Gem, Champaka, Jasmine Sambac, and Plumeria

Some gifts last a few days. These don't. Right now, these plants are at their best in our nursery - full, established, and ready to impress the moment she sees them. This year, give her something that doesn’t fade. Pick a plant that will keep growing, blooming, and reminding her of you long after Mother's Day is over. Here are a few easy ways to choose the right one.

Plumeria Plant Facts

Botanical name: Plumeria sp.
Also known as: Plumeria, Frangipani
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large shrub 5-10 ft tallSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Moderate. Water when top soil feels dryYellow, orange flowersRed, crimson, vinous flowersWhite, off-white flowersPink flowersPlant attracts butterflies, hummingbirdsDeciduous plantFragrant plantSeaside, salt tolerant plant
Get personalized tips for your region

All of these grow well in containers and are beginner-friendly.

1. For moms who love fragrance - give her living perfume ✨

These are the plants people remember. Soft, rich scent that fills the garden, patio, or even a warm evening indoors.

  • Champaka Joy Perfume Tree - the legendary Joy perfume flower - rich, sweet, and unmistakably bubble gum-like.
  • Magnolia Little Gem - the classic Southern magnolia in a smaller form - big, creamy, fragrant blooms that never go out of style.
  • Wrightia religiosa - a sacred Buddhist tree - delicate white flowers with a soft jasmine fragrance that feels calm and refined.
  • href="https://toptropicals.com/store/findname/Jasminum-Sambac.htm?utm_source=mlist" >Jasmine Sambac - intensely fragrant and impossible to ignore - once you have it, you won’t want a garden without it
  • Plumeria - the iconic Aloha flower - bold color, rich perfume, and pure tropical feeling in bloom.
  • Parijat Tree Jasmine (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) - blooms at night and fills the air with a gentle, unforgettable fragrance.

🛒 Shop Perfume plants

2. For easy care and everyday enjoyment - beautiful, low maintenance choices 🌸

  • Jatropha podagrica - Buddha Belly - a quirky caudex plant with a swollen trunk and bright red flowers that shows character without needing much care.
  • Dorstenia bahiensis - Mattress Button Plant - a strange, sculptural plant with flat, button-like blooms that always gets people curious.
  • Columnea - Flying Goldfish Plant - trailing stems covered in bright orange flowers that look just like little goldfish in motion.
  • Adeniums - collectible forms in many colors - bold caudex shapes and striking blooms, easy to grow and hard to stop collecting.

🛒 Shop Indoor Garden

3. For the plant collector - rare, unusual, unforgettable 🔮

For moms who already have a garden... and still want something different.

  • Rainbow Eucalyptus - a one-of-a-kind tree with peeling bark that reveals streaks of green, orange, red, and purple like living artwork.
  • Tacca Bat Head Lily - an unforgettable plant with dark, bat-shaped flowers and long whiskers that look almost unreal.
  • Dwarf Ceiba Princess - a rare, compact silk floss tree with a sculptural trunk and soft, showy blooms that feel truly special.

🛒 Shop Rare Plants

4. For the fruit lover - grow something she can enjoy and taste 🍒

A gift that turns into harvest. Fresh fruit, right from her own garden.

Mango Plant Facts

Botanical name: Mangifera indica
Also known as: Mango
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large tree taller than 20 ftSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Moderate. Water when top soil feels dryYellow, orange flowersPink flowersEdible plantSeaside, salt tolerant plant
Get personalized tips for your region

Avocado Plant Facts

Botanical name: Persea americana, Persea gratissima
Also known as: Avocado, Alligator Pear, Aguacate, Abacate
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large tree taller than 20 ftSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Regular. Let topsoil dry slightlyEdible plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short time
Get personalized tips for your region

  • Jaboticaba - a truly unique fruit tree that produces sweet, grape-like fruit right on the trunk, turning it into a conversation piece.
  • Rose Apple - crisp, refreshing fruit with a light floral taste and a beautiful ornamental tree to match.
  • Java Plum (Jambolan) - deep purple fruit with a sweet-tart flavor, loved for both its taste and its shade tree presence.
  • Mango - the king of tropical fruit - rich, sweet, and incredibly rewarding to grow in your own garden.
  • Avocado - creamy, nutrient-rich fruit from a tree that becomes a long-term staple in the garden.
  • Eugenia cherries - Surinam Cherry, Rio Grande and Grumichama - compact trees with glossy foliage and delicious, dark cherries that are easy to grow and quick to fruit.

🛒 Shop Fruit trees and edibles

Potted  tropical  fruit  trees  including  jaboticaba,  Wax  jambu,  Java  plum,
   mango,  avocado,  and  Eugenia  cherries  arranged  in  a  nursery  setting  on 
 gravel.

Tropical fruit trees selection - from Jaboticaba fruiting on the trunk to Mango, Avocado, and rare Eugenia cherries - a great mix for building a productive food forest.

Mothers Day Gift Card 💌

Mother’s  Day  themed  Top  Tropicals  gift  certificate  with  a  pink 
 decorative  frame  filled  with  jasmine,  plumeria,  magnolia,  and  champaka 
 flowers,  tropical  fruits  across  the  center,  and  a  Happy  Mothers  Day  banner 
 at  the  top,  with  space  for  certificate  details  and 
 message.

Mother’s Day Top Tropicals gift certificate

Still not sure what to choose? A gift card keeps it simple. She can pick exactly what she wants, when she is ready for it. No guessing, no pressure - just something she will actually enjoy.

Get 15% extra value on gift certificates. Just mention Mother’s Day in the message field. For example, a $100 certificate becomes $115. A $50 certificate becomes $57.50.
Offer valid through 05/12/2026.
Bonus value applies to gift certificates only. Must include “Mother's Day” in the message field at checkout. Not valid on previous purchases and cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts. Offer subject to change without notice.

Date: 21 Jun 2019

The Flower of Gold

By Onika Amell, tropical plant specialist

Q: I am concentrating on adding more fragrance to my garden. I've had great success growing gardenias and I have many different varieties, but their flowers are all white, and I would like to add some colors to my garden too. Are there any gardenias available in different colors? I live in Waipio Acres, Hawaii.

A: Meet the very rare and highly fragrant, tropical Gardenia tubifera Kula or Golden gardenia. Kula flowers change color as they mature, which is a unique feature! Kula flowers start out as cream, then change to yellow and finally to a beautiful gold. In addition to the spectacular flowers, this gardenia also has beautiful, leathery, deep green foliage.
This is a slow-growing and compact plant. Like all the other members in the Gardenia family, the Golden gardenia will do best in an acidic, well-drained, and fertile soil. It will appreciate a good deal of direct sunlight but will be very happy if provided with midday and afternoon shade. As with with gardenias, the more sunlight the more flowers.
It will eventually grow into a rounded shrub if left unpruned, but also can be trained into a small tree, maintainable to a height of under 7-8 feet. Blooms will appear from spring onward. Prune after flowering, this will encourage more flowers in a few months.
Gardeners living in colder areas, do not fret. Gardenias make perfect container plants and can be grown indoors in colder climates. Just be sure to provide high light when bringing them indoors.
The fragrance and changing colors of a Gardenia Kula is unforgettable. They are most fragrant near sunset and during early evening hours. Plant them near walks and patios where their lovely fragrance can be enjoyed.
This rare tropical Gardenia is sure to be a conversation piece in any garden. Great collector's plant!

Recommended fertilizers:
Pink N Good Daily Plant Food - Flower Booster
Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster

Limited time special offer:
Instant $5 OFF Golden Gardenia!

Date: 7 Aug 2025

Blackberry Jam Fruit - the sweetest surprise

A  tuxedo  cat  making  jam  from  Blackberry  Jam  Fruit  (Randia  formosa)  while  an  orange  cat  smiles  in  a  chair,  sipping  tea  beside  a  large  flowering  Randia  plant  in  a  cozy,  sunlit  room.

Tea and Jam with the PeopleCats – A Tropical Afternoon Beneath the Randia

Meet the cats behind the jam! The tuxedo cat is none other than Google-the-cat - our beloved elder and one of the original cat-fathers of Top Tropicals PeopleCats.garden. At 18 years old, he’s still sharp, curious, and very much in charge. The orange fluffball? He represents the universal image of cat joy - and we’ve got a few real-life orange sunshine residents just like him.

Why do you include cats in a plant newsletter?

Because they’re part of the garden. Our rescued PeopleCats live among the plants, nap under the mango trees, inspect new arrivals, and occasionally steal a sunspot meant for seedlings. They’re not mascots — they’re part of our team. Sharing their presence is like showing a part of the soul of our space.🐈

Are the cat images real or AI-generated?

All our cats are real! We take lots of pictures and videos. And a few images are AI-generated illustrations inspired by our real PeopleCats.garden residents. While not literal photographs, they are creative interpretations that capture the spirit of our tropical home and its furry citizens.🐾

Are the stories about the cats true?

Mostly! The jam-making, tea-drinking, and greenhouse meetings are creative interpretations - but inspired by real personalities. We use AI scenes to bring their spirit to life. Real cats. Real plants. Imagined adventures.🐱

Watch Top Tropicals videos about PeopleCats

Shop Blackberry Jam Plants

Date: 19 Dec 2025

13 festive shrubs with bright flowers that bring color to your Winter Garden when everything else is dormant

13 festive shrubs for Winter Garden

13 festive shrubs for Winter Garden

💐 13 festive shrubs with bright flowers that bring color to your Winter Garden when everything else is dormant



Southern Living points to colorful berries as winter garden standbys. Tropical plants take it a step further, filling the cool season with real flowers, not just fruit. From vivid reds to electric blues, these plants prove winter does not have to be dull.

🌈 1. Gloxinia sylvatica - Bolivian Sunset


This plant waits for cool weather, then suddenly lights up the shade with fire-red blooms. Flowers appear almost overnight and continue through fall and winter. It rests in summer, returns in fall, spreads gently, and makes an easy, festive ground cover that is perfect for sharing.
👉 Learn more

🌈 2. Pereskia aculeata - Barbados gooseberry


An unusual vine that surprises in cool weather with delicate, star-shaped blooms followed by tasty fruit. It flowers steadily from fall through winter, adding light, airy color to fences and trellises when most vines are quiet.
👉 Learn more

🌈 3. Mansoa alliacea - garlic vine


Best known for its garlicky scent, this vine really shines in winter. Cooler temperatures bring clusters of lavender-purple flowers that brighten fences and trellises with very little effort.
👉 Learn more

🌈 4. Dombeya wallichii - tropical hydrangea


Large pink pompom blooms hang from bare branches in winter, creating a true holiday look. Lightly fragrant and impossible to miss, it brings hydrangea-style drama to the cool season.
👉 Learn more

🌈 5. Brunfelsia pauciflora Compacta - dwarf yesterday-today-tomorrow


Compact and cheerful, this shrub opens purple flowers that fade to lavender and white. The color shift makes it look like several plants blooming at once, perfect for pots or small garden spaces.
👉 Learn more

🌈 6. Clerodendrums


Long, cascading sprays of white flowers of Clerodendrum minahassae - fountain clerodendrum - spill from the plant during the cooler months. It brightens shaded areas and adds movement when the garden slows down. Most clerodendrums bloom through Winter!
👉 Learn more

🌈 7. Tibouchina multiflora - glory bush


Soft, fuzzy purple blooms cover this shrub in winter, backed by velvety leaves that look good year-round. It adds strong color and texture during the cool season.
👉 Learn more

🌈 8. Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese hat


Bright red, orange or yellow, hat-shaped bracts surround small flowers and hold their color through the cool months. The shape alone makes this shrub a standout in winter.
👉 Learn more

🌈 9. Barleria cristata - Philippine violet


This tough shrub blooms heavily in winter with rich purple flowers. It delivers dependable color when many plants take a break. There is a golden variety too!
👉 Learn more

🌈 10. Eranthemum pulchellum - blue sage, lead flower


Few plants offer true blue in winter. Electric-blue flower spikes appear in cool weather, adding rare color with minimal care.
👉 Learn more

🌈 11. Petrea volubilis - queen's wreath


In winter, this woody vine erupts into cascading sprays of lavender star-shaped flowers. It creates a wisteria-like effect right when the garden needs it most.
👉 Learn more

🌈 12. Tabebuia varieties - dwarf golden and dwarf pink


These trees save their show for winter, blooming on bare branches. Golden forms glow yellow, while pink varieties cover themselves in soft trumpet-shaped flowers.
👉 Learn more

🌈 13. Bauhinia trees - pink butterfly and Hong Kong orchid trees


Butterfly-shaped blooms open on leafless branches, giving bauhinias their signature winter elegance. The Hong Kong orchid tree stands out with especially large, vivid flowers.
👉 Learn more

🛒 Explore Winter bloomers

📚 Learn more:


8 best flowering trees that will bloom for you in Winter
Ten shrubs you need to have for winter colors
Cassia vs Bauhinia: which is better as an everblooming container tree?

#Hedges_with_benefits #Discover

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Date: 29 Jun 2019

Variegated Shell Ginger - Alpinia zerumbet

By Onika Amell, tropical plant specialist

Q: I live in Deltona, Florida and hoping to find spreading ginger with interesting foliage to grow in a partially shaded area in my garden under a group of trees. Any suggestions?

A: Variegated ginger Alpinia zerumbet variegata is a clumping ginger valued for its beautiful variegated foliage. The dark, green leaves have striking yellow stripes. This ginger is sought-after, not only for the stunning foliage but also for its beautiful flowers. The flowers are different from other members of the ginger family and appear in drooping racemes from the ends of leafy stems rather than directly from the rhizomes. This ginger is also commonly known as Shell Ginger because the flowers resemble seashells! They are pink-tinged, fragrant and appear in summer. This evergreen perennial grows in upright clumps 3-5 feet tall. You may prune the plant to control size.
It does not tolerate drought or a hard freeze but can take a few hours or light frost (goes dormant in such case). In colder areas, rhizomes should be dug up and stored in a cool room during winter.
This ginger will love a shaded corner in your garden. Plant it in organically rich, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Keep the soil moist but not soggy, and spread a thick layer of organic mulch around the plant for moisture retention. There are no serious insect or disease problems to worry about!
This ginger can be also be grown as a house plant as long as it has bright light and humid conditions. It will grow to around 3-4 feet tall as a houseplant.

Recommended fertilizers:

Broad Leaf Plus - Ginger-Heliconia-Banana Booster
Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster

Limited time special offer:
Instant $5 off Variegated Ginger - Alpinia zerumbet