Date: 20 Mar 2022
Join our Sunday Garden Party Today!
Saving on your favorite plants is Easy.
Easy like Sunday Morning...
It's time for our favorite day and another Easy stroll through Top Tropicals Garden with savings of
up to 50% and MORE!
Spring into Spring Garden Party
Local or Virtual
Spring has arrived! Spring signals new beginnings and
nature's renewal and offers a ray of hope in a world that could really use some
right now.
Today is our Spring into Spring Garden Party at our TopTropicals Garden Center in
Fort Myers, Florida. Cool vendors, Live Music, Plant Clinic and 15% off all
plants. If you can't join us live, come to this virtual party and you can Save
15% too! And more...
Check our event page for the latest pictures and take advantage of our savings available to you! 15% off all orders of $100 or more. Simply use the code GARDENPARTY at checkout and save!
For 15% off use code:
GARDENPARTY
Min order $100 excluding S/H, exp. 3-21-22.
Exclusive offer for online guests only:
50% OFF 4 rare Kalanchoe species
As a special offer for online shoppers, we offer a flash deal of easy to grow, yet rare Kalanchoe varieties, with at instant 50% OFF for one day only! On top of that, use your GARDENPARTY 15% off coupon at checkout and make it a STEAL!
Kalanchoe synsepala Magnificent - Walking Cup Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe
thyrsiflora (tetraphylla ) - Flapjacks
Kalanchoe pinnata -
Hawaiian Air Plant, Bahamas Breath Plant
Kalanchoe
daigremontiana - Mother of Thousands
Remember, this Easy Sunday Deal expires on Monday, 3-21-22.
Date: 6 Dec 2025
🌿 Bring the Jungle Inside: Winter Survival Guide Part 2.Temperature. ❄️
Smokey: Too cold. We need more heaters so the plants feel comfortable.
Sunshine: I feel comfortable.
Smokey: You are not part of my plant collection, but I am glad you are comfortable.
🌡️ TEMPERATURE: THE TROPICAL DORMANCY LINE
In Part 1 (Winter Survival Guide: Temperature) we covered the foundation: light, placement, and acclimation. That is the survival layer.
Most tropicals stop growing below 70 to 75 F. They stay green, but their engine shuts down.
Below 70F:
- Water intake drops.
- Roots slow down.
- Fertilizing becomes risky.
- Root root becomes easy.
If you WANT your plants to grow in winter, you must take care of everything: Warmth, light, humidity, water. It all works together.
- Aim for 75 F with bright light. Water lightly. No fertilizer.
- Watch out for drafts. Cold windows. Door blasts. Garage entryways. Even one gust can trigger leaf drop.
- Vents are the opposite problem: hot, dry, dusty air. That gives you crispy edges and mites. Root zone temperature matters just as much as room air. Your thermostat may say 72 F, but your pot on a tile floor may be sitting at 55 F. Fix this by elevating pots on boards or stands. Use Styrofoam. Never keep pots directly on cold tile o windowsill
- Extra winter heat: Space heaters are fine if used smartly. Do not blow hot air directly on plants. Keep heaters away from cords, trays, and water. Oil filled radiators are the safest option for plant rooms.
- Use a humidifier if you want growth or want to prevent spider mites. But do not blow mist directly onto leaves. Always place the unit lower than the plant canopy.
- Grouping helps. Put tropical plants close together to share humidity. Do not mix succulents with humidity lovers.
- Cats and dogs love to knock over lights and stands. Secure your fixtures. Trust us.
- Airflow: Light airflow is healthy. Direct fan blast is not. Still, dry corners invite mites.
- A mild night drop is OK. A big one below 55 F will stop growth completely.
A mandevilla thriving indoors with bright pink blooms and glossy green leaves.
☂️ PLACEMENT: MICROCLIMATES RULE EVERYTHING
Indoors is one big tradeoff: light but cold near windows, warm but dim away from them. The winning combo is a warm room with supplemental light.
Best zones to keep plants in winter:
- South or east windows with additional light
- Warm living spaces
- Bright bathrooms for natural humidity
Worst zones to keep plants in winter:
- Behind curtains
- Directly on windowsills
- Near heaters or vents
- Against cold exterior walls
- Dark corners without supplemental lighting
A vigorous indoor philodendron stretching across the window.
💨 ACCLIMATION
Moving a plant from outdoors to indoors is a shock. Light drops. Humidity drops. Airflow stops. Soil cools. Even healthy plants may drop some leaves for a few weeks. That is normal.
Before you bring them inside:
- Rinse foliage to remove dust and pests. We recommend Sunshine NoBug - and organic, safe solution.
- Check for ants.
- Trim weak branches.
- Treat soil if fungus gnats are present.
Try to bring plants inside before the first cold front, not after. If you are reading this too late, do the prep now and expect a little leaf drop.
If you nail light and temperature, winter becomes simple. In the next mail-list we will cover watering, fertilizer timing, humidity, and other indoor tricks that keep tropicals happy till spring. Stay tuned.
Cat Bob is inspecting his indoor garden around the tub with a bright skylight
✔️ WINTER INDOOR FAQ: TEMPERATURE AND PLACEMENT
Q: Why are leaves dropping only on the window side?
A: Cold glass. The room may be warm, but the glass surface can be much colder.
Q: Is a cold room OK for tropicals?
A: They may survive, but they will not grow below about 65F to 75F. When nights stay below 65F for a week, many plants enter dormancy.
Q: My room feels warm. Why is my plant still not growing?
A: Check the soil temperature. Pots on cold tile can be 10 to 20F colder than the air.
Q: Can plants sit directly on the floor?
A: Not on cold tile. Always elevate them on boards, stands, or trays.
Q: Is it OK to keep plants near a heater or vent?
A: No. Vents and heaters blast hot, dry air and cause crispy leaves and mites.
Q: My plant is dropping leaves after coming indoors. Why?
A: Normal acclimation to reduced light and humidity right after the move.
Q: Can I keep plants in a bright bathroom?
A: Yes. Bathrooms can have good humidity. Just keep pots off cold tile.
Q: Do I need a humidifier?
A: Not for survival. Yes if you want better growth and fewer pests like spider mites.
Q: Do I need a grow tent?
A: No. A bright LED plus a warm room is enough for winter holding.
Q: Should I fertilize in winter?
A: Not now. Winter fertilizer rules will be covered in the next mail-list.
Q: Should I water the same as in summer?
A: No. Indoor plants need much less water in winter. Watering rules also coming soon.
📚 Learn more:
- Bring the Jungle Inside: Winter Survival Guide Part 1: Lighting
- SUNSHINE NoBug - Natural Plant Protector
- How to overwinter tropical plants indoors
- Feeding indoor plants
- Overwintering Adeniums outside of tropics
Date: 11 Mar 2026
📅 Do Not Miss: March 21 - Spring Equinox Plant Market
🍩 Saturday, March 21, 2026: 9 am - 4 pm
Smokey: You'd be perfect for a Gulf beach cafe. But gardeners don't come here for donuts.
Sunshine: Really? Then why do they come?
Smokey: Some gardeners lost plants to the freeze. Others want trees that will handle winter better. Cold-hardy avocados. Macadamia. Grumichama. And some just come for fun - to see the PeopleCats.
Sunshine: And my charm... and my donuts will make it more fun.
Read more about Smokey & Sunshine
Ft Myers Garden Center: 13890 Orange River, Ft Myers,
FL
Sebring B-Farm
: 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL
More Spring Equinox Plant Market details
🌞 Welcome to our Spring Equinox Plant Market, proudly hosted by the PeopleCats of Top Tropicals.
This one feels different.
After Florida’s record freeze, many gardens are brown, trimmed back, or missing a few old friends. We felt it too. And now - we rebuild.
The equinox marks equal day and night. More light ahead. New growth beginning.
And the PeopleCats are ready🐾.
- 🐱King is back on gate duty - inspecting every vehicle for proper plant-hauling capacity.
- 😺Paisley is rearranging freeze survivors and new arrivals like a design consultant.
- 😼Snitch is supervising recovery efforts from a comfortable chair.
- 😸Persephone is checking under tables for "hidden spring energy."
- 😻Sushi and Loki are preparing for guided garden tours - recovery edition.
This is not just a plant market. This is the spring reset.
👍 Why You Should Come
It is finally warm in Florida. After several nights of hard freeze, some plants survived - and some didn’t. This event is your chance to see real freeze champions in person.
If you lost plants, you are not alone. If you are ready to plant smarter, this is your moment.
Walk the gardens. See proven winter survivors. Discover cold-hardy fruit trees and resilient ornamentals. Get practical advice about replanting after freeze. This is rebuilding - Florida style.
♥️ What Makes This Event Special
We are featuring:
- Verified freeze survivors
- Cold-hardy fruit trees
- Tough flowering trees and shrubs
- Replacement plants for damaged landscapes
- Smart layering ideas for frost-resilient gardens
- You will see which species handled 25F with wind and multiple nights of freeze - with no protection.
Real-world test. Real results.
Cold hardy fruit favorites include:
- Cold-hardy Avocado varieties, including varieties, which are cold hardy to 15-20°F: Joey, Fantastic, Mexicola, Poncho, Brogdon and more.
- Macadamia Nut Trees
- Eugenia Cherries, including Rio Grande and Grumichama
- Gin Berry and Jaboticaba
- Loquat and Cattley Guava
- Peaches and Pomegranates
🌸 Cold hardy subtropical flowering trees including:
- Bauhinias and Tabebuias
- Mexican Bird of Paradise - Caesalpinia mexicana
- Jacaranda and Magnolia
🎉Event Highlights
- 30% OFF online prices
- FREE plants with purchase
- $5-10 specials
- Exciting raffle prizes
🌳Don't just mow - grow!
Start your food forest, beat rising prices, and plant a future your family will thank you for.
Date: 20 Jul 2016
Forget the gym and get to gardening?
Calories Burned Gardening
Fun workout? We never have enough time to go to the gym or do an exercise so it's good to know that just doing something that you love can give you a workout. We all know that when we are out in the garden it gives us a bit of exercise but we do not realize how much exactly. Working out in the yard is a healthy hobby for many reasons, the high number of calories burned gardening being one of them. When you do this kind of physical labor, you carry out a wide variety of movements that most definitely burn calories, and may even tone. The best part about it in terms of physical activity is that if you enjoy yard work at all, you aren't watching the clock or counting down the minutes until you are done (the way that many people do while they are on a treadmill). You can easily spend a whole afternoon or an entire day working without feeling as though you are putting yourself through a mentally grueling workout. Finding physical activities that you enjoy are key to maintaining a healthy weight throughout your lifetime, and this hobby is a perfect example of that scenario for many people.
Research says that three hours of gardening can have the same effect as an intense 1-hour gym session. The study was carried out with a group of 100 gardeners who were asked to monitor the amount of time spent doing a series of common gardening tasks over a four week period. Gardening tasks that were monitored included weeding, digging, mowing the lawn, hedge trimming, trimming shrubs and trees, raking, planting shrubs, and moving garden waste using a wheel barrow. Here are some facts and numbers:
- Just doing half an hour weeding can burn up to 150 calories and tasks that handle heavy electrical equipment such as hedge trimming will give you a good workout burning 400 calories per hour.
- Spending a day or five hours each week in the garden will burn up to around 700 calories
- Over a gardening season that works out at 18,772 calories per year, equivalent to running seven marathons
- The gardening hobby could help burn a million calories over a lifetime.
Calories burned with only 1 hour of:
340 cal - Chopping wood, splitting logs, gardening with heavy power tools, tilling a garden, chain saw. Mowing lawn, walk, hand mower. Shoveling by hand.
272 cal - Carrying, loading or stacking wood, loading/unloading or carrying lumber, digging, spading, filling garden, composting, laying crushed rock or sod. Clearing land, hauling branches, wheelbarrow chores.
238 cal - Operating blower, walking. Planting seedlings, shrubs, trees, trimming shrubs or trees, manual cutter. Weeding, cultivating garden.
224 cal - Raking lawn, sacking grass and leaves
136 cal - Picking fruit off trees, picking up yard, picking flowers or vegetables. Walking, gathering gardening tools.
102 cal - Walking, applying fertilizer or seeding a lawn
34 cal - Watering lawn or garden, standing or walking
Sources: DailyMail, CalorieLab, FitnessBlender
Date: 20 Dec 2024
Paws, Claws, and Garden Flaws: How Cats Help in the Garden
🌳 Paws, Claws, and Garden Flaws: How Cats Help in the Garden
😨 Pest Control (Sort of): Cats love to chase bugs, mice, and lizards, though they rarely catch them. Mostly, they just keep pests entertained until they die of laughter or exhaustion.
😎 Quality Control Inspectors: Every freshly dug hole, bag of soil, or new plant needs a thorough inspection. Expect your cat to sit on it, sniff it, or bat at it like a professional.
💩 Fertilizer Experts: Got a sandy patch? Your cat will "fertilize" it for free - just don't ask what they're burying.
🚽 Weed Prevention: Cats help stop weed growth by rolling around and flattening anything remotely green and edible. Who needs grass when you have a furry steamroller?
🐈 Scarecrows on Demand: No bird or squirrel will dare stick around when your cat strikes their ultimate "hunting pose". Bonus: the pose is 90% napping 😴
Mood Boosters: Cats are pros at reminding you to take a break. Just try to resist when they flop dramatically onto your tools or demand belly rubs mid-planting.
🐈 Your garden may not be more productive, but it'll definitely be more entertaining with a cat around!
Share your cats in comments!
📸 🐈🐈🐈👇
🔠 More #PeopleCats in our Garden:
PeopleCats.Garden
🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals