Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 21 Oct 2025

Cassia vs Bauhinia: which is better as an everblooming container tree?

Cassia vs Bauhinia: which is better as an everblooming container tree?

🌈 Cassia vs Bauhinia: which is better as an everblooming container tree?

🌸 Cassia (Senna) trees are very popular flowering trees - fast growing, free-flowering, relatively cold hardy, and they love the summer heat. Cassias come in several colors: yellow, orange, pink, red, and rainbow. Rainbow varieties (which are hybrids between yellow and pink cassias) are the most popular thanks to their multicolor blooms with swirls of yellow, pink, red, and orange. But while Rainbow Cassia is a spectacular flowering tree for southern gardens, is it a good choice for a container when you want color on your patio or pool deck?

🌸 Some yellow-flowering cassias make attractive bushes that bloom most of the year and stay compact, so they can be grown as container specimens:
Cassia didymobotrya- Popcorn Cassia
Senna alata - Empress Candles
Cassia fistula - Golden Shower (a compact size winter blooming tree)

🌸 When it comes to Rainbow or pink cassias such as Cassia javanica - Apple Blossom Tree or Cassia grandis- Red Cassia and other species and hybrids (Cassia marginata - Rainbow Shower Tree, Cassia roxburghii - Ceylon Senna, Cassia x nodosa - Pink Shower), these are usually more vigorous trees that may take several years to bloom. Their flowering season lasts from a few weeks to a couple of months. These trees grow moderately fast but typically need to reach about 10 feet before they start flowering.

🌸 So, the answer is: if you want rich, deep color year-round from a container tree, go with Bauhinias - Orchid Trees. Most varieties grow well in pots, stay compact, and reach blooming maturity within just one season. The following varieties are everblooming and can produce flowers for up to 10 months of the year:

Bauhinia madagascariensis - Red Dwarf Orchid Tree. Blooms from winter through fall, up to 10 months a year. The most cold-hardy of all.
Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree. A large tree in the ground, but compact in pots if trimmed. Grafted trees flower right away. Winter bloomer, cold hardy to light frost.
Bauhinia tomentosa - Yellow Orchid Tree. Flowers from Winter through Summer, cold hardy to light frost.
Bauhiniamonandra - Napoleon's Plume Orchid Tree. Almost everblooming with the longest flowering period (less cold hardy than the first three).
Bauhinia acuminata - Dwarf White Orchid Tree. Blooms from summer through winter (also less cold hardy than the first three).

🛒 Explore Cassia trees and Bauhinias (Orchid Trees)

📚 Learn more:


How to add color to your yard with Cassias
Rainbow Cassias and Why they are called "Rainbow"
Napoleons Plume - Orchid Tree that blooms in a pot
Bauhinia madagascariensis, or Red Butterfly Orchid Tree that NEVER Stops Blooming
Rare Red Orchid Tree you may never find again but everyone wants
Bauhinia acuminata, Dwarf Orchid tree - white and elegant
5 small tropical trees that bloom all summer or year around
How to grow Orchid Trees in pots

#Container_Garden #Trees #How_to

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Date: 27 Apr 2026

Rainbow plumerias - the wild side of color

Plumeria Mui Rainbow

Plumeria Mui Rainbow

Plumeria Pink Jaopraya

Plumeria Pink Jaopraya

Plumeria Sunset Symphony

Plumeria Sunset Symphony

Plumeria Dook

Plumeria Dook

Rainbow plumerias - the wild side of color. Winter dormancy tip 🌈

Some plumerias don’t follow rules - they mix, swirl, and splash colors all over the petals like a tropical sunset in motion. These “rainbow” types are the most playful and unpredictable, with every bloom looking a little different from the next.

Plumeria Plant Facts

Botanical name: Plumeria sp.
Also known as: Plumeria, Frangipani
USDA Zone: 9 - 11
Highligths Large shrub 5-10 ft tallSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunWatering: Moderate. Water when top soil feels dryYellow, orange flowersRed, crimson, vinous flowersWhite, off-white flowersPink flowersPlant attracts butterflies, hummingbirdsDeciduous plantFragrant plantSeaside, salt tolerant plant
Get personalized tips for your region


🌸 Today's featured plumerias:



 ✦ Plumeria Mui Rainbow - deep orange-red center blending into golden yellow and finishing with pink to magenta edges. Bright, fiery colors with a smooth, glowing transition.
 ✦ Plumeria Pink Jaopraya - a bold swirl of red, white, pink, and yellow all in one flower. Complex, eye-catching, and impossible to ignore.
 ✦ Plumeria Sunset Symphony - creamy ivory, golden yellow, and coral-pink tones with deeper rose edges, creating a layered sunset effect that shifts from bloom to bloom.
 ✦ Plumeria Dook - rich pink petals melting into a glowing orange and golden center. Bright, warm, and full of tropical energy that stands out from a distance.

💡 Plumeria tip: winter dormancy



In cooler months, plumerias slow down and may drop all leaves. That’s normal.
During this rest period, cut watering way back and let the plant sleep.
Growth will restart when temperatures rise.

🛒 Shop Plumeria Collection and Enjoy the fragrant blooms

📚 Learn more:
· Plumeria varieties in Plant Encyclopedia
· Bold reds and ruby tones - plumerias with real intensity. Feeding tip
· Dwarf plumerias - big blooms in small spaces. Sun tip
· Plumerias that stand out: bold colors and clean contrasts. Pot size tip
· 5 striking variegated plumerias you can’t ignore. Soil tip
· Plumeria rainbow: Symbol of the Tropics
· 5 simple rules to grow a fragrant plumeria and make it bloom like the pictures
· What is the most celebrated fragrant flower?
· Thailand Plumerias
🎥 How to get endless Plumeria Blooms

#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden #How_to #Discover #PlumeriaRainbow

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Date: 19 Jul 2021

Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster - Mango Talk

Today we are introducing a new column - Mango Talk! Everybody loves Mango - the most delicious fruit in the world. Fruit experts like to talk about varieties, how to grow a Mango tree better, and the fruit bigger and sweeter. And beginners want to know more! What variety to get? How to take care of it? How to get more fruit sooner than later?
This easy-read blog from Ed Jones is about the first steps - what to do when you get your first Mango tree...
In our future publications, you will hear from Mango experts and have a tour on Mango varieties...

Fertilize your Mango trees

By Ed Jones, the Booster Guy

Ok, you finally did it. You bought your first mango tree. Now what? Well, you have to love it and feed it and trim it and love it some more. But today, lets talk about how to fertilize your mango tree. The photo above shows some very small grafted mango trees. This is probably how yours will look when you bring them home or have them delivered....

CONTINUE READING >>

The photo above is of the two trees at the beginning of this blog after just under 10 months of TLC.

Date: 3 Jun 2024

What is your favorite Mango variety? - the most Frequently Asked Question about fruit trees

Mango and cat

Mango and cat

Mango Alphonso

Mango Alphonso

Mango Maha Chinook

Mango Maha Chinook

Mango Fralan

Mango Fralan

Mango Fruit Cocktail

Mango Fruit Cocktail

Mango Nam Doc Mai

Mango Nam Doc Mai

🥭 What is your favorite Mango variety? - the most Frequently Asked Question about fruit trees.



❤️ Top 5 Favorite Mango we just love:



🥭 1. Alphonso - the best Indian cultivar in terms of sweetness and flavor. One of the rarest varieties and sought after - sweet large juice fruit. Coconut-like flavor. Shop➡️

🥭 2. Maha Chinook - Many consider it the best mango had ever tasted. Very rare mango variety from Singapore. This variety is semi-dwarf and great for pot culture. Nam Doc Mai close relative.

🥭 3. Fralan - Super reliable producer and hardy tree. Green fruit, sweet and juicy. Fralan means "Thunder" - as the fruit cracks when peeled.

🥭 4. Fruit Cocktail - Flavor is an amazing palette of different fruit, with citrus, pineapple, and guava notes.

🥭 5. Nam Doc Mai - It's not just us, everyone loves this Mango! The most popular variety: semi-dwarf and great for pot culture. Eaten green or ripe, a Thailand favorite. It is hands down the most sought after of the Asian mangoes and for good reason.

❓ What is your favorite Mango variety?
Share yours in comments! 👇

🛒 Shop Mango Trees

#Food_Forest

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 9 Jan 2026

Mango Tree for Zone 5: top 15 Condo Mango for growing in cold areas

Mango Tree for Zone 5

🥭 Mango Tree for Zone 5: top 15 Condo Mango for growing in cold areas



🥭 Can you grow a mango tree in Zone 5? Short answer - yes! The trick is - containers!
Mango trees are tropical plants but they do great in pots when you choose the right varieties.

🥭 Compact types stay short, respond well to pruning, and produce in containers.
You can grow them on a patio, balcony, even move them indoors in your condo for winter. That is why they are called condo mangoes!
During warm months, they live outside.
When cold weather hits, they come inside.

🥭 With good light, proper watering, fertilizing, and some patience, these trees can reward you with real mangoes. Not a farm harvest, but enough to enjoy and share.

🏆 Most popular Condo Mango varieties:


Baptiste
Carrie
Cogshall
Diamond
Fairchild
Ice Cream
Julie
Keitt
Lancetilla
Lemon Meringue
Mallika
Nam Doc Mai
Okrung
Pickering
Venus

🛒 Discover Condo Mango

📚 Learn more:
What are the Condo Mangos - a practical guide
Top 10 Dwarf "Condo" Mango, great for container culture
Best tropical fruit and edibles to grow in Zone 5 and anywhere outside the Tropics

#Food_Forest #How_to #Discover #Mango

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