Its a miracle: Miracle Fruit messes with your tongue, makes lemon sweet!
Synsepalum dulcificum - Miracle Fruit
🍭 It's a miracle: Miracle Fruit messes with your tongue, makes lemon sweet!
🍋🍬Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) Miracle Fruit - is a tidy, productive pot plant with a magical surprise.
🍋🍬 Ever wish lemons tasted like candy? This little berry makes sour foods taste sweet - lemon turns into a lemon candy, vinegar into syrup, and the effect can last for hours. The secret is a natural compound that masks the sour taste buds on your tongue.
🍋🍬 Miracle fruit isn’t just a fun trick - it’s also a perfect plant for your garden. A compact, slow-growing shrub, it actually prefers pots since it likes acidic soil. Indoors or out, it can fruit almost year-round, staying a neat 3-5 ft tall in a container.
🍋🍬 Best part? You can surprise your friends with a slice of lemon before and after trying it - and just wait for their reaction!
🍋🍬 What foods did you try with Miracle fruit? How did it change the taste?
⭐️ Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata, Chanel No 5 Tree) is the tree behind the worlds most famous fragrance - Chanel No. 5. Its golden, star-like flowers drip from the branches with a scent so powerful you can smell it from yards away.
⭐️ Native to Indonesia and Southeast Asia, this tropical evergreen can reach impressive heights, yet it blooms almost year-round, covering itself in clusters of perfumed flowers. This is one of the most beautiful, fast growing and beneficial flowering trees for Southern landscapes.
⭐️The fragrance shifts as the blooms age, from green to lemon yellow to deep golden, each stage producing an intoxicating scent prized in perfumery and aromatherapy. Even without flowers, its tiered branches and glossy leaves create a striking, almost Christmas-tree effect.
⭐️For smaller spaces, a dwarf form, Cananga fruticosa, brings the same beauty and scent in patio-friendly size. Whether towering or compact, Ylang-Ylang is more than a plant - it's living perfume in your garden.
Q: I have two Mandevillas that thrived on my
balcony all summer. Now that cold weather is approaching, I've moved them
indoors to bright spots, but they're dropping and wilting leaves. How can I keep
them healthy until spring? Should I fertilize them? Can Mandevillas grow
indoors year-round?
A: First, keep in mind that the plants we call
"indoor plants" or "house plants" are all tropical. However, not all tropical
plants are suitable for indoor living. Some, especially shade-loving ones,
thrive in indoor conditions, which is why we refer to them as "house plants"
(philodendrons, monsteras, calatheas, peperomias, and many others, including
some succulents). Others are less adaptable to the lower light and humidity
typical of indoor spaces, but with a little extra care, you can overwinter them
inside and move them back outdoors in spring. Mandevillas are no exception!
Even tropical trees, including fruit trees, can tolerate a few months indoors
if given the right conditions for semi-dormancy. Below are the 10 key tips for
successfully overwintering tropical plants indoors.
1. Maximize Light: The more light, the better. There's no such
thing as too much indoor light. If windows aren't enough, use LED grow lights,
which stay cool and won't dry the air. Rotate plants every few days to
prevent uneven leaf loss.
2. Reduce Watering: Less light and cooler temperatures mean
plants need less water. Allow the soil to dry between waterings, and avoid
overwatering - combination of cold + wet is especially harmful.
3. Maintain Moderate Temperatures: Most tropicals are happy with
daytime temperatures around 75F and nights at 50-60F. In sunrooms or
greenhouses, some can handle 45F if watering is kept to a minimum.
4. Boost Humidity: Avoid placing plants near heaters or vents
that dry the air. Misting daily helps, or place pots on trays filled with water
and pebbles to raise humidity around them.
5. Monitor for Pests: Check leaves weekly to catch insect
problems early, as pests can cause serious damage or even kill the plant indoors.
6. Fertilize Smart: Use ONLY liquid, amino-acid-based fertilizers
like Sunshine Boosters throughout winter; they won't burn roots since their
dosage adjusts with reduced watering. Avoid dry, granulated, and EDTA-based
fertilizers during winter and dormancy.
7. Use Micro-Nutrients: Along with macro-elements (fertilizers),
supplement with micro-elements like Sunshine Superfood and bio-stimulants
such as Sunshine Epi to build strong plants with robust immune systems, better
able to withstand unfavorable conditions and resist diseases.
8. Hold Off on Pruning: Leaf drop and leggy growth are normal
responses to winter. Wait until spring to prune, when new growth starts, to
encourage branching and healthy foliage.
9. Don't Repot Yet: During dormancy, roots slow their growth.
Repotting too soon risks root rot. Wait until spring when new growth appears to
transplant into a larger container. Typically, roots grow in proportion to
the above-ground parts.
10. Let Them Rest: Winter is a natural resting period. Avoid
forcing growth - your plants will reward your patience with vibrant leaves and
flowers when spring returns.
🌸 Plumeria Power: The Signature Scent of the
Tropics
Q: What is the most fragrant variety of
Plumeria? Are some colors more fragrant than others? How do you keep Plumeria
blooming?
A:From Kristi, TopTropicals Flower Expert:
At Top Tropicals, we used to think yellow Plumeria was the most fragrant.
That was until we discovered multi-colored hybrids and stunning "rainbow"
varieties! These rare beauties are prized not just for their sweet, strong
fragrance but also for their dazzling mix of tropical colors.
We just received new arrivals of stunning new Plumeria varieties - but
quantities are limited, so don't wait! Choose your favorite colors and bring home the irresistible scent of the
tropics.
Plumerias are famous for their rich colors and unforgettable fragrance.
With just a few simple steps, you can grow your own blooming tree and enjoy
flowers just like in the pictures.
5
simple rules how to grow a fragrant Plumeria
1. Use well-drained soil. Choose a potting mix rich in perlite,
bark, and coconut fiber. We recommend Sunshine Abundance professional soil mix for best results.
2. Choose the right container. Use a pot just slightly larger
than the root ball to prevent water-logging. Plumeria prefers dry conditions -
water only when the soil is slightly dry.
3. Give it full sun. Plumeria needs plenty of light to bloom. If
grown indoors, place it in the brightest spot and bring it outside for
sunbathing whenever possible.
4. Let it rest in winter. Plumeria drops its leaves and goes
dormant during the cooler months. When this happens, reduce watering to a minimum
and let the plant rest until new growth begins.
5. Feed it to bloom. Plumeria is a heavy feeder and needs
fertilizer to flower well. Use a plant food high in phosphorus, like Sunsine Megaflor Bloom Booster liquid fertilizer. It's safe to use with
every watering, all year round.
