Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 27 Jul 2025

Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge

Bahamas Cocoplum - Chrysobalanus icaco

🍒 Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge

  • 🍒 Most people think Cocoplum is just a boring hedge plant: Bahamas Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco). Thick, green, easy to trim - great for privacy. But hidden in all that greenery? Super-sweet plum-like fruit that are edible and very tasty! They look like small plums and come in pink, purple, or white when ripe.
  • 🍒 Cocoplum is native to Florida and has been quietly feeding people for generations, long before it became a landscaping go-to. The fruit is mild, a little sweet, and great for snacking or making into jam.
  • 🍒 Cocoplum isn't just a tasty surprise - it comes with some health perks too:

Rich in antioxidants - especially anthocyanins, which give the purple fruit its color and help fight free radicals in the body.
  • Good source of fiber - helps with digestion and keeping you full.
  • Contains vitamin C - supports your immune system and skin health.
  • Low in calories - great for snacking without guilt.
  • So when you bite into a Cocoplum, you're not just tasting Florida - you're getting a little wellness boost too.


🍯 Quick Cocoplum Jam:

  • 🔸2 cups ripe Cocoplums
  • 🔸1 cup sugar
  • 🔸1 cup water*
  • 🔸1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 🔸Mash it all up, cook on low 20-30 minutes until thick. Cool and enjoy!

*To make a delicious summer drink, add 10 cups of water and just get to boil. Let sit 2 hrs, mash up, drain fruit and cool to enjoy.

So next time you walk by a Cocoplum hedge, check for fruit. There might be a free snack waiting for you!

🛒 Get your edible hedge Cocoplum: privacy with perks

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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Date: 31 Aug 2025

Zero Sugar fruit: forget lemonade - new perfect summer drink discovered!

Costa Rican Guava, Cas Guava - Psidium friedrichsthalianum

Zero Sugar fruit: forget lemonade - new perfect summer drink discovered!

  • 🍋 Costa Rican Guava, or Cas Guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum) is the boldest fruit you can grow for refreshing drinks. Its flavor is sharp, tangy, and unforgettable - perfect for anyone who loves acidic fruit. Cas Guava has sugar at all, unless you decide to add some.
  • 🍋 The trees are super prolific - even young ones fruit heavily, and we make gallons of juice at Top Tropicals.
  • 🍋 The best part? You can freeze the fruit or boil it into a concentrate with a bit of sugar. That drink lasts in the fridge for months without going bad, thanks to Cas Guava’s natural antibacterial punch.
  • 🍋 Cas Guava juice is Costa Rica’s traditional Agua de Cas - tart, refreshing, and perfect for summer heat. And if you save enough, you’ll still be sipping it through the winter.


♨️ Agua de Cas Quick Recipe


We boiled this fruit and the drink lasted for months!
  • Boil halved fruits in water with sugar to taste
  • Simmer 5-10 minutes, let sit, then mash the softened fruit to release all the flavor
  • Strain through a colander, bottle, and refrigerate - just dilute with water when serving


✔️ Why choose Cas Guava?

  • • Packed with vitamin C - four times more than lemons - for a powerful immune boost.
  • • Rich in antioxidants to combat stress and inflammation.
  • • Hardy and low-maintenance, thriving in poor soils and resisting pests.


🛒 Grow your own Cas Guava

📚 Learn more:


#Food_Forest #Recipes #Guava

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Date: 25 Apr 2024

Top Tropicals is now in Telegram!

Cat  texting  telegram

Welcome to our new Telegram Channel!
We finally did it, and excited to connect with all of you on this amazing platform. After using Telegram for a few years for both business and personal communications, we realized it is a winner of the modern Social Media!

In Top Tropicals Telegram Channel you will find much more than on our website or Newsletter: Fun Plant Facts, Nature Wonders, Amazing Plant Videos, Gardening How-to Tips, Exotic Recipes, Contests, Sweepstakes, Give-aways and so much more. Plus, of course, your favorite PeopleCats!

Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security, it's super-fast, simple and free. You can use Telegram on all your devices at the same time - your messages sync seamlessly across any number of your phones, tablets or computers. It's perfect for sharing your comments, photos, videos, even making calls.

You can watch news, browse your interest, message to friends and colleagues, save your files, create groups, make phone calls, and the most amazing thing - Telegram works where nothing else works, no WiFi or cell service! It proved to be more reliable than any other apps and (surprise!) even works in airplane without wifi connection - proved!

The platform has its own cloud and offers limitless storage. And the last and not least - it's ad-free! Telegram is free and will stay free - no ads, no subscription fees, forever. It's a clean, clear and easy to use for all ages and applications. Try it yourself and discover how easy and pain-free it is!

Telegram is for everyone who wants fast and reliable messaging and calls.
See you in Telegram!

Date: 9 Apr 2023

Discovering the Amazing Guava Fruit Tree

Guava  fruit  collage

A Gardener's Delight:
How to grow Guava Tree, delicious recipes and more...

Imagine stepping into your garden, plucking a fresh, juicy guava off a tree, and savoring its sweet, tropical flavor. Sounds delightful, doesn't it? Guava trees are not only a wonderful addition to any garden but also offer an array of delicious and nutritious fruits. Let's explore the fascinating world of guava fruit trees, dive into the different species, and share some tasty ways to enjoy this remarkable fruit.

If you're blessed with a warm climate, find a sunny spot with well-drained soil for your tree. Water it regularly, especially during dry spells, and keep it well-fed with a balanced fertilizer. Pruning is essential for maintaining a bushy, healthy tree that'll reward you with an abundance of fruits...

Guava  tree  fruiting  in  a  pot

Date: 29 Nov 2016

December Fest on Dec 10, mark your calendars!

Topic: Edible landscape. 10:00am - 2:00pm. Agenda:

Class @ 11:00am by Robert Riefer. How to keep pests off of maturing fruit.
Class @12:00pm Super foods by Zoe Merring. Benefits of Soursop, barbados cherry, goji, moringa. Benefits and recipes.

Discounts on all edibles
Prize giveaways at 12:00pm and 2:00pm (must be present to win)

20% off After-Cyber-Monday sale! Now that everybody is done with shopping for monitors and speakers, it is time to get some happy stuff! 20% off on all fruit trees, 1 day only! Enjoy your shopping and get the plants you always wanted at a low price!