Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 12 Jun 2023

More TikTok Reels from TopTropicals

Discover more exotic plants and fun garden happenings from our TikTok updates:

Tacca - Bat Lily

Tacca,  Bat  Lily,  Top  Tropicals  TikTok

Jasmine Belle of India

Jasmine  Sambac  Belle  of  India,  Top  Tropicals  TikTok

Dwarf Poinciana Care Instrustions

Dwarf  Poinciana  -  Top  Tropicals  TikTok

Subscribe to Top Tropicals TikTok:

Date: 4 Jan 2023

Ten steps to Happy Gardening in 2023

Beginning of the year checklist

Lagerstroemia  flowering  tree  on  crossroads

To assist our customers in creating a happy and enjoyable gardening experience this year, we consulted with our horticulturist to compile a list of ten recommended items. Here are the results...

1. A favorite. Get yourself a favorite small flowering plant that is compact, manageable, and easy. Such as Ground Orchid. Keep it in a pot or plant in the ground by the entryway where it can be seen often and enjoyed.
2. A fruit of your labor. You need at least one (or one more) fruit tree for your garden, or for container culture if you live in colder climate. Growing and especially harvesting tropical fruit will make you happy. The Winner of the last year was Cherry Lolita - an easy, compact fruit tree that can produce almost year around. Some fruit trees will fruit right away!
3. Be exclusive. A rare plant is a must for every gardener. It can be a useful gem such as Noni Tree or an unusual-looking like a Bat Lily - Tacca. Show your friends and neighbors something different they have never seen!
4. Make it cool. Finally plant that shade tree by your driveway. Yes it takes time to grow, but the sooner you plant it, the sooner you get that shade! There are some fast growing species, some only take a couple of years to the mature size.
5. Beauty. If you have an ugly fence or unwanted view in your yard, cover it with a flowering vine. Look at the beauty every day and make your life better. Replace a boring standard hedge with colorful flowering shrubs that will make you smile.
6. Scent. Add some fragrant plants to your landscape and inhale their healing magic.
7. Tropical. For a shady corner, select a showy tropical with lush foliage such as Philodendron or Monstera, or all time favorite Banana. Get a feel of tropics.
8. Happiness of giving. Buy a gift plant for someone you care about but don't know how to thank them. Live plant is the best expression of love and gratitude. If you are unsure what plant to pick, ask our Team or simply buy a Gift Certificate that will never expire - let them chose the plant they like.
9. Food for all. A set of quality liquid fertilizers is a must - try Sunshine Boosters that can be used year around. They will make your plants healthy, strong, fast growing, cold hardy and disease-resistant. You can choose formulas for different plant types from our selection, or simply buy online a Nutrition Kit of 8 bottles that will cover all your needs and save you 50% on fertilizer cost!
10. Share. Subscribe your friend to TopTropicals Newsletter so they can get a weekly Piece of Tropics in their mailbox. Cool Cat Photos come as a bonus!

Sunshine  boosters  Robusta  and  C-Cibus  with  a  bunch  of  bananas

Make sure to always have on hand at least 2 main formulas of Sunshine Boosters - Robusta for vegetative growth, and C-Cibus that will satisfy plant needs for both fruit production and profuse flowering

Date: 12 Sep 2025

What flowers do NOT attract bees?

Butterfly on a flower that doesn't attract bees

❌ What flowers do NOT attract bees?



Most tropical flowers bring in pollinators, and bees are usually first in line. But what if you’d rather avoid them? Maybe you’re allergic, or just don’t want bees buzzing around. Good news: some flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, or even flies - but not bees.
  • 👉 Quick rules:


  • ✔️ Night-blooming + strong fragrance = moths or bats, not bees.
  • ✔️ Red tubular flowers with little scent = hummingbirds or butterflies, not bees.
  • ✔️ Rotten or fermented smell = flies, not bees.
  • ✔️ Carnivorous plants = trap insects, no bee nectar.

1.

Night-blooming, fragrant - moth and bat flowers



Bees forage by day, so many night-fragrant flowers skip them.
  • Brugmansia - Angel’s Trumpet - big, hanging blooms, moth and bat pollinated.
  • Cestrum nocturnum - Night-blooming Jasmine - powerful night scent, moths only.
  • Hylocereus Dragon Fruit - huge cactus flowers, bats and moths.
  • Brunfelsia - Lady of the Night - sweet fragrance at dusk, no bee interest.

2.

Hummingbird and butterfly flowers



Bees don’t see red well. Tubular reds, oranges, and yellows usually go to birds and butterflies.
3.

🐱 Fly-pollinated oddballs



Some flowers smell bad to us but irresistible to flies.
  • Amorphophallus (Voodoo Lily) - rotting meat scent.
  • Tacca (Bat Head Lily) - spooky black flowers, fly-pollinated.
  • Stapelia (Carrion Flower) - also fly-pollinated.
  • Aristolochia (Pelican Flower) - giant, bizarre fly-traps.

4.

🌸 Specialized orchids



Not all orchids rely on bees. Many use moths, butterflies, or beetles instead.
  • Vanilla orchid - its natural bee pollinator is absent in most regions, so no bee appeal elsewhere.
  • Brassavola nodosa and others - open at night for moths, not bees.

5.

🕷 Bonus: carnivorous curiosities



Carnivorous plants don’t offer nectar. They trap insects instead, so bees stay away.

Nepenthes (Pitcher Plant) - uses pitchers of liquid to lure and digest insects.

These flowers keep the beauty, fragrance, and wildlife appeal - but without making your garden a bee hotspot.

🛒 Explore butterfly attractors

#Butterfly_Plants #How_to #Discover

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 26 Jan 2017

Aquarius Zodiac lucky plants

Aquarius - 1/22 - 2/18. Aquarius is an AIR sign ruled by odd-ball Uranus.
The water-bearer's plants will often grow in unusual places and may vary in appearance. They often have purple or blue flowers, or may have unusual colors.
The most healing and beneficial plants for Aquarius are the ones that help circulation, relax the nervous system, or promote inspiration. When Uranus was discovered, it replaced Mercury as ruler of Aquarius. Physiologically, Uranus rules the bioelectrical impulses that power the body's nervous system (nervous tension and nervous exhaustion brought on by powerful changes in the environment are related to both Mercury and Uranus). Physically, Aquarius rules the lower legs, the calves, and the ankles, and the electrical impulses that travel through the body's nervous system. The nervous system itself is ruled by Mercury, and Uranus is said to be a "higher octave" of Mercury. Since Uranus was discovered after the correspondences with plants had been established, the herbs used in Aquarius are Mercury herbs. Always difficult to pinpoint, quirky Aquarius appreciates the unusual and complex flavor of star anise. Use this star-shaped spice when you wish to bring happy surprises into your life.

Aquarius Zodiac lucky plants: Anise, Orchid, Golden rain - Koelreuteria paniculata, Bird of Paradise, Heliconia, Petrea, Mandevilla, Jasminum, Kiwi, Persimmon, Loquat, Olive, Alocasia, Colocasia, Citrus, Apple, Peppers, Gingers, Carambola, herbs spicy with an unusual flavor, White Pothos, Ivy, Shami - Prosopis cineraria, Neem, Medinilla, Sheesham Tree, Catnip, Passion fruit, Valerian, Aloe, Myrrh, Kava-kava, Cinnamon, Clove, Eucalyptus, Coffee, Cola nut, Nepenthes, Vanilla Orchid, Strongylodon - Jade vine, Tacca - Bat Lily, Eranthemums, Agapanthus, Orchid trees, Bolusanthus, Chamaedorea metallica, Clerodendrum ugandense, Clitoria, Duranta, Guaiacum, Jacaranda, Lavanda.

For other signs information, see full Plant Horoscope.

New Video: TopTropicals at TPIE show in Ft Lauderdale. Last week, your friends at Top Tropicals attended the 2017 Tropical Plant International Expo in sunny Ft. Lauderdale Florida. The Expo was an opportunity for Top Tropicals to introduce our SUNSHINE in a Bottle plant boosters as well as to bring a very rare plant Enchanted Incense to the tropical plant market!

Check out this video: TopTropicals at TPIE.

Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what's fruiting and blooming!

Date: 15 Jan 2024

Florida Starter Garden in Winter

Odontonema  Firespike

Photo above: Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree

Q: We just moved to Florida and our yard is currently just plain grass. I want to add some beautiful tropical plants, but I'm not sure where to start. Can you suggest easy-to-care-for plants that look nice in winter, preferably with flowers? Considering it's Winter time and some trees look dormant... But I can't wait to start my tropical garden!

A: Florida residents are blessed to have mild winters, and many tropical and subtropical plants enjoy this climate year around. Just be mindful of your location's specific conditions (sun-shade, wet-dry, cold sensitive or hardy). Here are some recommendations for easy-to-grow, evergreen plants that love Florida and look great even in winter. They'll establish well during cooler months, add a splash of color to your garden with their flowers, and even treat you with fruit!

Winter flowers - will bloom now!

Clerodendrum Winter Starburst
Clerodendrum Blue Butterfly
Eranthemum Blue Sage
Odontonema Firespike
Pavonia - Brazilian Candles

Odontonema  Firespike

Photo above: Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike

Fragrant Garden

Banana Magnolia
Jasminum sambac Little Duke Supreme
Vietnamese Gardenia
Nyctanthes - Parijat
Ylang Ylang vine

Gardenia  (Kailarsenia)  vietnamensis  -  Vietnamese  Gardenia

Photo above: Gardenia vietnamensis - Vietnamese Gardenia

Curious unusual trees

Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Candle Tree

Parmentiera  edulis  -  Candle  Tree,  Guahalote

Photo above: Parmentiera edulis - Candle Tree, Guahalote

Easy fruit

Noni Tree
Yellow Dragon Fruit Palora
Coffee Tree

Morinda  citrifolia  -  Noni  Tree

Photo above: Morinda citrifolia - Noni Tree

Great looking now:
for Shade and Indoor Garden

Calathea zebrina - Zebra Plant
Black Bat Head Lily
White Bat Head Lily
Medinilla
Vanilla Orchid
Reed Ground Orchid
Calathea Fuzzy Pheasant
Colocasia Mojito
Syngonium

Tacca  nivea  -  White  Bat  Head  Lily

Photo above: Tacca nivea - White Bat Head Lily