Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 12 Apr 2026

Easter morning with Smokey Sunshine

Easter morning with Smokey and Sunshine

Easter morning with Smokey and Sunshine

Easter morning with Smokey and Sunshine



Happy Easter to all who celebrate today - especially across Eastern Europe and Orthodox communities around the world.

Smokey and Sunshine are taking a well-earned break with coffee, sweet Easter bread, and a table full of spring color. Wishing you a day filled with peace, renewal, and quiet joy. And of course - the perfect time to plant flowers and fruit and bring new life into your garden.

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Date: 5 May 2025

🎀 Five plant gifts she'll love this Mother's Day

Q: My mother loves gardening and I am thinking to buy her a live plant to make her happy. What plant do you recommend?

A: At Top Tropicals, we have a big selection of wonderful gift plants . Below are a few suggestions for you, these plants are large, developed and ready to bloom or fruit!

1. Joy Perfume Tree

Magnolia  (Michelia)  champaca,  Joy  Perfume  Tree,  Champaka

The Champaka or Joy Perfume Tree (Magnolia champaca) - is a top choice for Southern landscapes, prized for its striking columnar shape and fragrant, fruity bubble gum-scented blooms - you won't be able to stop sticking your nose in this flower! A signature plant at Top Tropicals, it's known for producing the world's most expensive perfume, Joy. The Joy Perfume Tree blooms on and off year-round and is currently in full bloom at our farm in Sebring, FL, filling the air around with fantastic sweet scent. This tree thrives in both pots and the ground, growing bushy and full as it matures. At Top Tropicals, we have beautiful Champaka trees in all sizes, from 3-4 ft tall (ready to bloom in a year) to 6-10 ft tall (already bloomed) for local pick up or delivery.
Learn more, with a short video.

2. Tropical Raspberry Mysore

Raspberry  Mysore  Tropical,  Rubus  albescens  (niveus)

Tropical Raspberry Mysore (Rubus albescens) - is the perfect solution for those missing Northern fruit in hot climates. Unlike traditional raspberries that can't handle the heat, this fast-growing Raspberry from India thrives in humid, hot conditions and produces juicy, sweet fruit almost year-round! The clusters of purple-black fruit are packed with flavor, and the plant is perfect for large containers, producing plenty of fruit in no time. Cold-hardy to the upper 20s F, it's an easy-to-grow, fast producer. We have beautiful, fruit-ready 3 gal Raspberry bushes, ready to add a burst of sweetness to your garden!
Learn more, with a short video.

3. Fragrant Jasmine Sambac

Jasminum 
 sambac

Jasminum Sambac is widely regarded as the most fragrant jasmine, cherished by tropical gardeners and plant collectors alike. Native to India, this jasmine is the source of jasmine perfume oil and the signature ingredient in jasmine tea. With various varieties offering unique flower sizes, shapes, and growth habits, it’' perfect for both sun and shade, thriving as a container plant or indoor favorite. Its delightful fragrance fills the air, and with the help of Sunshine Pikake plant booster, you can enjoy even more blooms. Jasmine Sambac, along with Champaka, is another signature plant of Top Tropicals. Through the decades, we've collected all the available varieties in cultivation - check them out!
Learn more about Jasmine Sambac varieties, with a short video.

4. Everbearing mulberry

Mulberry  tree  Dwarf  Everbearing  (Morus 
 sp.)

The Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry (Morus sp.) - is the perfect way to enjoy fruit year-round! This beautiful, cold hardy bush produces sweet, juicy mulberries starting from the very first year - often the same season you plant it. With its dwarf habit (easily maintained at 4-6 ft), it's perfect for containers and small spaces. Cold-hardy and drought-resistant, this productive plant thrives in various climates, from USDA zones 5 to 10! The fast-growing Mulberry will provide fruit year-round, and with minimal care, it will flourish in almost any soil. Our Everbearing Mulberry bushes produce enough fruit for both birds and breakfast - we pick a handful every day!
Learn more, with a short video.

5. Medinilla Coral Spike

Medinilla  scortechinii  -  Orange  Coral  Spike

Rare Medinilla scortechinii - Orange Coral Spike - is a rare gem that brings a touch of the ocean to your garden! With bright orange stems bursting into star-shaped blooms, it looks like something straight from a coral reef. Compact and easy to grow, this plant stays under 2-3 ft tall, making it perfect for pots, hanging baskets, or as an epiphytic accent. The glossy dark leaves contrast beautifully with the vibrant orange panicles, and it thrives in bright shade. A must-have for collectors of unusual tropical plants, this coral spike adds a bold pop of orange wherever it grows - but hurry, it doesn't stay in stock for long!
Learn more, with a short video.

Date: 17 Sep 2021

Mango Talk: How to prune mango trees for best shape and production

by Ed Jones, the Booster Guy

...Why should you prune your mango trees? There are a few reasons.
First, a good foundation is the key to strong growth and a shapely tree.
Second, if you get your mango tree started off on the right foot with a strong foundation, it becomes much easier to keep it shaped nicely.
And third - it will be forced to produce more branches allowing for more places for fruit production...

...We received our Mango tree in late February of 2020 as a relatively small plant in 3 gal pot...
...The opening photo was taken just last week and you can see that as she grows, her shape is very nice...
...She is now about 7' tall and just as wide. She has a great foundation and a lot of branches. We also have less grass to mow. She also got her very own marker painted on a brick:

...We have also enlarged the circle of mulched area under the tree to allow it to be able to get nutrients from it's SUNSHINE Boosters Mango Tango without having to compete with the grass. This is one mistake that I see frequently in my neighborhood with all trees...

CONTINUE READING >>

Date: 9 Aug 2021

Care of Desert Roses

Q: I am looking forward to my three desert roses I just ordered from you and I am wondering how to take care of them, especially during winter time. Should I put the pots in full sun or shade? What kind of soil do they like? How often should I water them? When it gets cooler, should I bring them inside? We do have occasional frost here during winter.

A: Here are a few tips for your desert roses:

1. When received Adenium from mail-order, unpack carefully; branches are fragile. Plant in well-drained potting mix. Cactus mix will do, but we recommend special Adenium mix. If using regular acidic peat-based potting mix, you may add sea-shells on top of soil to neutralize acidity: adeniums prefer alkaline soils. Using clay pots is beneficial. Water once and do not water again until soil gets dry. Place in bright shade until new leaves sprout, then the plant can be moved to full sun.

2. Adenium is a succulent, but not a cactus. It needs watering, however let soil dry before waterings. Reduce watering during cool season and discontinue when plant gets dormant (drops all leaves in winter).

3. Bright light is the best for profuse flowering. However, adeniums look much healthier in slightly filtered light rather than in all-day full sun.

4. Fertilize and spray leaves with liquid fertilizer SUNSHINE Megaflor - Nutrition Bloom Booster. Phosphorous is responsible both for flowering and caudex development. Avoid caudex, spray over foliage only. Dry fertilizer can be used only during hot months.

5. Watch for spider mites during hot and dry season.

6. Give plants a break during winter dormant season. Keep in bright shade and reduce watering to 1-2 per month or stop watering if temperature is below 65F.

More info on growing Desert Roses:
What you need for successful growing Adeniums
Overwintering Adeniums outside of tropics
Growing Exotic Adeniums - Growing Exotic Adeniums

Date: 18 May 2021

Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster

Healthy Heliconia Leaves?

Q: I purchased a heliconia from you a couple months ago. The new growth seems to be doing fairly well, however some of the larger leaves are discoloring around the edges then drying up. It's potted in a large pot with potting soil with 3 holes in the bottom to help with drainage in partial sun under a Royal Palm facing northwest. I'm here in Ft Myers. I was previously watering it every other day with your rapid growth fertilizer 1 tbsp per gallon but I have cut that back to once or twice a week. Please let me know your thoughts.

A: Heliconias and Gingers tend to develop dry leaves if grown in pots, especially ceramic or clay pots, because soil in such pots dries out too fast. These dry leaves are not caused by fertilizer, and you can see lots of new healthy green growth. The plant overall seem to be healthy. Continue fertilizing it with liquid Sunshine Robusta that is great for all wide-leaf tropical species, promotes green, lush foliage, and do not use any additional dry fertilizers!
Another suggestion, try to move the plant in more shady spot. Right now it sits in pretty bright light, this may be OK for established plants in the ground, but potted heliconias are very sensitive to hot sun. They get leaf burn easily.