Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 13 May 2025

What flower smells like lemons?

Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant, Chinese Rice Flower

💐 What flower smells like lemons?

  • 🍋 Aglaia odorata, also known as Chinese Perfume Plant or Chinese Rice Flower, is in full bloom at TopTropicals, filling the air with its pleasant lemony fragrance virtually year-round!
  • 🍋 This tough, low-maintenance plant adds a touch of enchanted magic and delightful scent to your garden.
  • 🍋 Beyond its beauty, Aglaia boasts medicinal properties thanks to compounds like odorine and odorinol.
  • 🍋 It grows into a dense bush without the need for pruning, making it the perfect, cold-tolerant tropical hedge.


🛒
Get ever-blooming, fragrant delight - Aglaia

📚 Learn more:


Replacing a boring hedge witth Chinese Rice Flower: lemony fragrance year around

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #Remedies

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Date: 13 May 2025

This is why Tibouchina is called the Eyelash Flower

Tibouchina Peace Baby - Eyelash Flower

👀 This is why Tibouchina is called the Eyelash Flower



👀 Tibouchina is often called the Eyelash Flower because of the long, delicate, and hair-like stamens that protrude from its vibrant flowers. These stamens resemble eyelashes, giving the flower its unique and eye-catching appearance.

📸🕊The stunning Tibouchina Peace Baby, a new selection bred in Queensland, Australia, now making waves globally! This compact beauty stands out with its large, clear white flowers and vibrant purple stamens that bloom throughout the warmer months, bringing gorgeous color to your garden. The blooms are so abundant, they often cover the foliage completely! Perfect for pots and containers, this easy-to-grow variety is ideal for adding a splash of beauty to any space.

📚 More Tibouchinas in previous posts:



🛒 Shop Tibouchinas

#Hedges_with_benefits #Fun_Facts

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Date: 11 May 2025

Why we planted a whole field of this Dragon Fruit: how to get your own Dragon Fruit plantation

Dragon fruit plantation

🌵🌵🌵 Why we planted a whole field of this Dragon Fruit: how to get your own Dragon Fruit plantation
  • 💛 Do you like Dragon Fruit? Our favorite variety is Parlora.
  • 💛 It's a yellow Pitaya cactus from Ecuador, and hands down the most flavorful dragon fruit out there. While most varieties are pretty but kind of bland, this one is sweet, juicy, and packed with flavor.
  • 💛 We love it so much at Top Tropicals, we planted a whole plantation! All it takes is a simple trellis – just a few posts and some chicken wire - and you can grow your own and enjoy this delicious fruit year-round.


📚 Learn more:



🛒Grow your own Tasty Dragon Fruits

#Food_Forest #How_to #Dragon_Fruit

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Date: 10 May 2025

In Loving Memory of Mr B

Mr B, the Founder of the B-Farm

❤️ In Loving Memory of Mr. B: Grateful for the Love You Left Behind!



"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." - A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Sound on 🔈 More: #SingingCats

🐈 PeopleCats.Garden 
#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Date: 8 May 2025

What to plant in a shady spot? Unusual variegated flowers of Lavender Ice!

Thunbergia erecta Lavender Ice - Lavender Lace

☂️ What to plant in a shady spot? Unusual variegated flowers of Lavender Ice!

  • 💜 Thunbergia erecta Lavender Ice, or Lavender Lace, is a unique, rare variety of King's Mantle with stunning lavender-off-white variegated flowers.
  • 💜 Unlike many variegated plants, this one is vigorous and easy to grow. It can be used as a showy garden specimen or a low-growing hedge, and it responds well to pruning, which encourages more blooms.
  • 💜 This plant thrives in filtered light and will grow larger, darker leaves in shade. It reaches a height of 5-7 feet and has a dense habit, making it perfect for creating a hedge.
  • 💜 Lavender Ice attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with its profusion of flowers
  • 💜 For healthy growth, keep the soil consistently moist, but not soggy, and mulch around the base to retain moisture. If growing in a pot, frequent watering is key.
  • 💜 It's hardy enough to withstand temperatures as low as 30F for short periods. Ideal for USDA Zones 9-11, this plant can also be grown in pots in colder climates.


🛒Bring home rare Lavender Ice!

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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