Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 18 Jun 2026

Smokey,  Sunshine,  and  their  mini-me  kittens  arrive  at  the  Top  Tropicals
    Father's  Day  Plant  Market.
Smokey: The best Father's Day gift is a plant.
Sunshine: Because it grows?
Smokey: Because every garden is a promise to the future.
Sunshine: Then we'd better choose carefully. We brought our future with us.

Father's Day Belongs in the Garden

Some gifts are forgotten by next month.

A plant is different.

A fruit tree planted today may provide fruit for decades. A flowering tree may bloom every spring long after the holiday is over. The best gardens aren't built in a single afternoon - they're built one season at a time, one generation at a time.

This Father's Day weekend, come spend the day the way it was meant to be spent: outdoors, unhurried, surrounded by growing things.

Top Tropicals is hosting our Summer Solstice Plant Market, and this is one of the best times of the year to visit the nursery. The longest days of summer bring out the flowers, the fragrance, and the fruit. Thousands of plants at their peak, in the kind of Florida light that makes everything look like it belongs on a postcard.

📅 Saturday, June 20, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
📍 13890 Orange River Blvd, Ft Myers, FL 33905
Phone: 239-689-5745, 866-897-7957
📍 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL 33875
Phone: 863-401-4004, 866-897-7957

You'll find rare fruit trees, flowering trees, fragrant plants, and collector varieties rarely available elsewhere. There will be event specials, raffle prizes, free plants with qualifying purchases, tropical music, and cold drinks. And somewhere in the shade, King, Snitch, and the rest of the PeopleCats will be doing what they always do - making themselves at home and pretending to supervise.

But the real reason to come isn't the event. It's the reminder.

Whether you're planting your first fruit tree or adding one more chapter to a garden that's been growing for years, Father's Day is a good day to remember what we're really building. Not just a yard. Something that keeps giving long after the I love you, Dad card is forgotten.

Plant something today.

Every garden is a promise to the future.

👉SEE FULL FATHER'S DAY EVENT DETAILS

Date: 17 Jun 2026

The reward for good work

🌞 The reward for good work



"The reward for good work is more work." - Tom Sachs

🐈📸 Cat Pelmen at hard work. TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Date: 17 Jun 2026

Pitaya Vietnamese Jaina White: dragon fruit beyond pink and white - A Collectors Guide

Pitaya Vietnamese Jaina White: dragon fruit beyond pink and white - A Collectors Guide

🍉 Pitaya Vietnamese Jaina White: dragon fruit beyond pink and white - A Collector's Guide



When most people picture a dragon fruit, they're probably imagining Vietnamese Jaina White.
With its bright pink skin, snow-white flesh, and spectacular night-blooming flowers, this variety has helped introduce dragon fruit to gardeners and fruit lovers around the world. While newer varieties often compete for attention with bold colors and unusual flavors, Vietnamese Jaina remains one of the most reliable and widely grown dragon fruits available.


🔸 The classic dragon fruit



Vietnamese Jaina White (Hylocereus undatus) produces the iconic dragon fruit appearance - vibrant pink skin surrounding crisp white flesh dotted with tiny black seeds.

The fruit is refreshing, mildly sweet, and easy to enjoy. Many growers describe the flavor as a blend of melon, kiwi, and pear with a subtle hint of strawberry.

Its clean, refreshing taste makes it especially popular served chilled on hot summer days.

🔸 An extraordinary cactus



Despite its tropical appearance, dragon fruit is actually a climbing cactus. Vietnamese Jaina produces vigorous fleshy stems that can reach 30 feet or more, attaching themselves to supports with aerial roots as they climb.

Given a sturdy trellis, fence, or post, the plant quickly becomes an impressive landscape feature.

🔸 Flowers that steal the show



Before the fruit arrive, the flowers put on an unforgettable display.

The enormous white blooms can reach 14 inches in length and open only at night. Their brief appearance transforms the plant into a living sculpture, attracting pollinators and delighting anyone lucky enough to see them.

Many gardeners grow dragon fruit as much for the flowers as for the harvest.

🔸 Why gardeners still love it



In a world filled with exotic hybrids and colorful new introductions, Vietnamese Jaina White remains a favorite because it does everything well. It grows vigorously, produces beautiful fruit, flowers dramatically, and offers a refreshing flavor that appeals to almost everyone.

Sometimes the most popular dragon fruit variety becomes popular for a reason - it simply works.

For gardeners looking to start their dragon fruit journey, Vietnamese Jaina White remains one of the best places to begin. 👉 More...

🛒 Explore and collect Dragon Fruit varieties

📚 Learn more:

Pitaya Plant Facts

Botanical name: Hylocereus sp.
Also known as: Pitaya, Pitahaya, Dragon Fruit, Strawberry Pear
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large shrub 5-10 ft tallVine or creeper plantSemi-shadeFull sunWatering: Moderate. Water when top soil feels dryWhite, off-white flowersThorny or spinyEdible plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short timeSeaside, salt tolerant plant
Get personalized tips for your region

· Dragon fruit Hylocereus in Plant Encyclopedia
· Pitaya Tricia: dragon fruit beyond pink and white
· Pitaya "Sweet Red": dragon fruit beyond pink and white
· Pitaya Purple Haze: dragon fruit beyond pink and white
· Pitaya Hana: dragon fruit beyond pink and white
· Pitaya Eureka Red: dragon fruit beyond pink and white
· Pitaya David Bowie: Dragon Fruit Beyond Pink and White
· A Quick Guide to Dragon fruit varieties: Red, White, Yellow, Purple and more...
· What is the best Dragon fruit with red flesh?
· Planting your own Dragon Fruit plantation
· Do-It-Yourself Support Structure for Dragon Fruit
· Why you need to grow your own dragon fruit
· Do red, white and yellow Dragon fruit taste differently?

#Food_Forest #Dragon_Fruit #Discover

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Date: 16 Jun 2026

Summer is finally here!

Summer is finally here!

🌞 Summer is finally here!



"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day - is by no means a waste of time." - John Lubbock

🐈📸 Cat Thyme enjoying the warm sun rays. Thyme is a friend of TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Date: 16 Jun 2026

This Hibiscus is called President for a reason

This Hibiscus is called President for a reason

🌺 This Hibiscus is called President for a reason


By Tatiana Anderson, Top Tropicals plant expert

Almost 30 years ago, I arrived in Hawaii from a very non-tropical part of the world. Everything seemed exotic - fragrant plumerias, colorful bougainvilleas, palms swaying in the trade winds. But one plant captured my attention more than any other: Hibiscus President Red.

The flowers were enormous - literally the size of a hand. Bold, brilliant red. Impossible to ignore. It made such an impression that it became the very first tropical plant I ever bought from a nursery on Oahu.

Fast forward nearly three decades, and President Red surprised me again.

During Florida's historic February 2026 freeze, temperatures at our farm dropped to 25F for two nights, followed by nearly two weeks of unusually cold weather with temperatures lingering in the 40s. Many tropical hibiscus varieties were killed back to the ground. Some eventually returned from the roots, but looked rough for months.

President Red? It didn't blink an eye. No dieback. No visible damage. As soon as spring sunshine returned, it was growing and flowering as if nothing had happened.

I wouldn't call any tropical hibiscus "cold hardy," but President Red is clearly tougher than most. If you garden in a subtropical area where winter surprises occasionally happen, this variety has earned my respect.

And those giant, hand-sized red flowers are just as spectacular today as they were when I first saw them in Hawaii all those years ago.
👉 More...


Exciting Tropical Hibiscus varieties:
☄️ Hibiscus President Red - Giant Red Tropical Hibiscus
☄️ Hibiscus Apricot Brandy - Double Rose of Sharon
☄️ Hibiscus Double Red - Double Rose of Sharon
☄️ Hibiscus El Capitolio Tequila Sunrise
☄️ Hibiscus El Capitolio Bloody Mary
☄️ Hibiscus schizopetalus, Coral Hibiscus

🛒 Explore Hibiscus species and varieties

📚 Learn more:

Hibiscus Plant Facts

Botanical name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Also known as: Hibiscus, Chinese Rose, Japanese Rose, Tropical Hibiscus, Shoe Flower
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large shrub 5-10 ft tallSemi-shadeFull sunKeep soil moistYellow, orange flowersRed, crimson, vinous flowersBlue, lavender, purple flowersWhite, off-white flowersPink flowersPlant attracts butterflies, hummingbirdsSeaside, salt tolerant plant
Get personalized tips for your region

· Hibiscus in Plant Encyclopedia
· Many faces of hibiscus
· Much more than fancy flowers: discover the many faces of hibiscus
· Tequila Sunrise Hibiscus breaks the rules
· Hibiscus El Capitolio Bloody Mary
· How to get rid of pests on Hibiscus?
· Skeleton Hibiscus with "crazy petals" - flower will blow your mind
· How to make your Hibiscus plants thrive and bloom
· How hibiscus plant acts like a chameleon
· Why this Hibiscus is changing color?
· You need this Cotton Candy
· The Tips of Hibiscus Flowers

#Hedges_with_benefits

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