Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 16 Oct 2024

Do you love Hibiscus? This one is exceptional!

Hibiscus El Capitolio Bloody Mary

🌺 Do you love Hibiscus? This one is exceptional!

  • ❗️Looking for a show-stopper in your garden? Hibiscus El Capitolio Bloody Mary delivers with its rare, dramatic pendant flowers.
  • ❗️Picture a double layer of ruffled, vinous-red petals hanging gracefully, adding vibrant color to sunny or semi-shady spots - even seaside gardens!
  • ❗️This evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub can reach 5 to 10 feet tall with lovely arching branches, making it a true standout.
  • ❗️Thriving in USDA Zones 9-11, it's tough enough to handle moderate water, flooding, and needs well-draining soil.
  • ❗️Its crimson blooms peak in summer, bringing year-round beauty to any garden!
  • ❗️This is a large Hibiscus plant; however, it can be grown in container with some pruning.


📚 Learn more from previous posts:



🛒
Shop Hibiscus plants

#Hedges_with_benefits

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Date: 23 Nov 2024

What plant can bloom profusely in full shade in Winter

Philippine violet (Barleria cristata)

⭐️ What plant can bloom profusely in full shade in Winter

  • 🍬 Philippine violet (Barleria cristata) - is a blooming star for a shade garden! It is a cheerful, fuss-free shrub that can brighten up shady spots with its trumpet-shaped flowers.
  • 🍬 Standing about 3-4 feet tall, it fits perfectly as a hedge or can be trimmed into neat shapes for a tidy look.
  • 🍬 Its flowers, in lovely shades of lilac purple, mauve, white, or even striped, burst into clusters from November to mid-December, adding a pop of color when many plants take a rest.
  • 🍬 Each flower lasts a couple of days, only to be replaced by fresh blooms from its many buds. The fallen petals create a gorgeous purple blanket around the plant, making it a visual treat even on the ground.
  • 🍬 This plant thrives in both sun and full shade! It doesn't ask for much - just a little pruning now and then to keep it bushy and happy.
  • 🍬 Add this eye candy to your shade garden, and let these Winter flowers steal the show!
  • 🍬 Philippine violet is also a perfect exotic plant for container culture or even an indoor collection.


🛒Shop Barleria varieties

#Hedges_with_benefits #Container_Garden

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Date: 23 May 2024

Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel

Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel

🗂 Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel



Follow these tags to find your interests:

#Butterfly_Plants - Butterfly attracting plants.

#Container_Garden - Plants suitable for container garden and indoor culture.

#Fertilizers - All the truth about fertilizers, plant food supplements, and our recommendations for different types of plants.

🥭 #Food_Forest - Fruit trees, Spice plants, and Edibles.
Including: #Avocado, #Mango, #Papaya, #Guava, #Jackfruit, #Loquat

📖 #Fun_Facts - interesting plant facts and legends.

🌳 #Hedges_with_benefits - Practical approach to your landscape and how to properly select showy and useful plants for your yard.

♍️ #Horoscope - Plant Horoscopes and Cat Horoscopes. Did you know that cats also have their Zodiac signs?

🛠 #How_to - Q&A about growing plants, tropical garden lifehacks.

👀 #Nature_Wonders - Unusual, amusing, outrageous, bizarre plants...

🐈
#PeopleCats - our Favorite PeopleCats (and some PeopleDogs, too).

🌸 #Perfume_Plants - Fragrant plants and perfume trees.

✍️ #Quotes - Interesting quotes.

#Recipes - Exotic recipes for tropical fruit and edibles.

💊
#Remedies - Medicinal plants.

☁️ #Shade_Garden - Plants suitable for low light conditions.

🌼 #Tree
s - Spectacular flowering tropical trees.

🏆 #Win - Contests, Sweepstakes, and other specials.

Join and share with friends👇🏵
TopTropicals

Date: 14 Apr 2025

How to Plant a Perfume Hedge
And What Does a Champaka Tree Look Like?
Practical Growing Guide

Champaka  tree  in  landscape

Photo above: Magnolia champaka (Joy Perfume tree) in landscape. This tree was planted 3 years ago from a 7-gal pot. The tree is now 5 years old from seed and has been covered with flowers for two seasons in a row. Check out short video.

Q: How big does the Champaka tree grow, tall and wide? And what is the growth habit? I'm thinking of planting a perfume hedge along my property with several of these beautiful trees (8-10 trees). How far apart should I plant them and what container size should I start with? And how soon will they start blooming?

A: Magnolia champaka, or Joy Perfume tree is the most desirable perfume tree for Southern landscapes - and a Signature Plant of Top Tropicals! You can see several of these stunning trees around our B-Farm in Sebring, including the one right by the office front door.

The flowers are used to make the world's most expensive perfume, Joy - and they smell like fruity bubble gum... you won't be able to stop sticking your nose in this flower! The Joy Perfume Tree blooms on and off year-round.

The lemon-lime, light green leaves are lush, soft, and tropical-looking, with a unique and beautiful color.

The Champaka tree has a striking columnar shape and becomes very bushy and full when established - whether in a pot with a proper fertilizer program or in the ground. In Florida, mature trees can reach 20-25 ft tall, although in true tropical environments they may grow much taller. Check out short video of a mature tree. It doesn't get very wide, and if you are planning to plant several trees as a perfume hedge, you can space them as close as 10 ft apart. This tree - light green, fragrant, evergreen, fast-growing, bushy, and dense - makes the perfect perfume hedge!

Champaka trees begin flowering within 2-3 years from seed. Singing birds love this tree and often build nests in its bushy crown during spring. The tree is relatively cold-hardy and can withstand light freeze for short periods once established. Just make sure to provide regular watering.

We have beautiful Champaka trees in all sizes:

3 gal pot: 3-4 ft tall - ready to bloom within a year, can be shipped
7 gal pot: 5-6 ft tall - ready to bloom, can be shipped
15 gal pot: 7-8 ft tall - have already bloomed, pick up or delivery*
25 gal pot: 10 ft tall - have already bloomed, pick up or delivery*
* Free delivery for qualified orders - contact us for estimate

Plant Your Perfume Hedge Today!

Imagine walking along a path lined with Champaka trees - Joy -fragrant blossoms drifting through the air, lush green leaves swaying gently, and birds singing above. With just a few trees, you can create your own heavenly hedge of joy and fragrance. Let your garden bloom with elegance, beauty, and the world's most luxurious scent!

Champaka  flower

Date: 7 Nov 2024

What are the best Mulberry varieties

White Mulberry

White Mulberry

Shangri-La Mulberry

Shangri-La Mulberry

Shangri-La Mulberry

Shangri-La Mulberry

Dwarf Everbearing or Dwarf Issai Mulberry

Dwarf Everbearing or Dwarf Issai Mulberry

Pakistanu Mulberry

Pakistanu Mulberry

White Mulberry and Shangri-La Mulberry

White Mulberry and Shangri-La Mulberry

Florida Giant Mulberry

Florida Giant Mulberry

💗 What are the best Mulberry varieties



Muberries are very cold hardy (to hard freeze, up to zone 6), tough trees that take poor soils and grow well in almost any conditions once established.

💬 #Fun_Facts: Did you know that mulberries belong to the same plant family with Jackfruit?

The Best Mulberry Varieties for Your Garden:

  • 🐾 Dwarf Everbearing and Dwarf Issai - Compact, container-friendly varieties perfect for small spaces. These dwarf trees (6-10 ft tall) are disease and drought resistant, with multiple crops year-round, even from the first year! Ideal for patios and small yards..
  • 🐾 Florida Giant - A vigorous, fast-growing tree with large, heart-shaped leaves and long purple-black fruits bursting with a sweet-tart flavor. This beauty grows up to 6-10 ft per year and thrives as far north as zone 6, despite its name.
  • 🐾 Shangri-La - A modest-sized tree with giant leaves and plump, sweet-tart berries. Originally from Florida, it's heat, drought, pest, and disease-resistant. Ripens from April through summer, bringing both beauty and bounty to your garden.
  • 🐾 White Mulberry - Produces medium-sized, super-sweet white fruits without a hint of tartness. This productive tree makes a mess-free option since the fruit doesn't stain. Ideal for fresh eating or drying.


📚 Learn more about Mulberries from previous posts:


Top 10 fast-fruiting trees: #7. Mulberry
How Mulberry fruit helps with diabetes

🛒 Shop Mulberry varieties

#Food_Forest

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