Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 5 May 2024

Can you grow a Crocodile? This is how to grow an Alligator

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, Crocodile Fern

🐊 Can you grow a Crocodile? This is how to grow an Alligator...

Microsorum musifolium - Alligator Fern, or Crocodile Fern - is from Australasia.

👽 Very unusual looking, epiphytic fern with cool alligator-skin looking leaves. The strikingly shaped, light green fronds of the fern form a lovely backdrop to its stunning stiff, leathery, dark green alligator-skin foliage.

Grows to 2-3 ft in height. Grow it as a houseplant, or plant under a tree.

🌳 Perfect for shade! Likes a sheltered, semi-shaded location, with no direct sunlight.

🛒 Get your own Alligator

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Nature_Wonders

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 21 Apr 2025

The First Video of Exotic Adenium Hybrids!

Exotic Adenium Hybrids

🌸 The First Video of Exotic Adenium Hybrids!

🌸
Our Desert roses - Adeniums - were planted in March - and now, at the end of April, they're in full bloom. Just look at these colors!

🌸 Check out the varieties still in stock and grab yours before they’re gone. Some are already sold out, but you still have a chance to score amazing blooms!

🌸 Why Collect Adeniums?
· Easy to grow indoors or out
· Thrive in sun, shade, and low humidity
· Drought-tolerant, low maintenance
· Not picky about soil
· Stunning blooms and unique caudex shapes

🌸 How Many Varieties Exist?
· Over 200 hybrids at Top Tropicals
· 100+ varieties in stock now
· From doubles to red, purple, yellow, striped, dotted, rainbow, even black flowers - you'll want them all!

🌸 How to Grow a Big, Swollen Caudex


Each time you repot, raise the plant slightly to expose more of the upper roots. This encourages new root growth downward and helps form a thicker, more dramatic caudex.
· Use a well-draining mix
· Water only when dry - Adeniums love dry conditions
· Feed with Sunshine Megaflor Booster that supports both caudex and blooms
· Grow best in filtered bright light

👍 A simple trick with big results!

📚 More about Adeniums:


Why Adeniums are the most popular container plants
How to grow a happy Adenium
What is the easiest container plant with beautiful flowers
Multi-grafted Adenium with different colors of flowers on the same plant
What you need for successful growing Adeniums

🛒 Shop Adenium colors and hybrids

#Container_Garden #How_to #Shade_Garden #Adenium

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Date: 15 May 2025

Which epiphytic cactus puts out the biggest bloom show

Disocactus ackermanni - Red Orchid Cactus

❤️ Which epiphytic cactus puts out the biggest bloom show



🌺 Disocactus ackermanni, also called the Red Orchid Cactus, puts on a jaw-dropping show with huge, blazing red flowers that can reach 6 inches wide! It's a cactus that acts nothing like one - and then bursts out in flowers the size of your hand!

🌺 It blooms from Spring through Summer and steals the spotlight every time. The plant grows like a lush, green fern with flat stems that drape and cascade like a living chandelier.

🌺 It may be a cactus, but it loves water and shade - more diva than desert. Native to the tropical forests of Mexico, this epiphyte thrives in a hanging basket and turns heads wherever it grows.

🌺 Why collectors search for it? Because it's rare, eye-catching, and just plain fun to grow. No spines, no drama - just bold flowers and easy charm. This is one of those plants that visitors always ask about. If you're a collector, it's not a want – it's a need.

🛒 Get the Red Orchid Cactus everyone talks about

📚 More about exotic epiphytic cacti:


Epiphyllum oxypetalum - Queen of the Night
Pseudorhipsalis (Wittia) amazonica - Blue Flame
Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa - Orchid Cactus, Curly Locks

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

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Date: 29 Jun 2024

Its not an orchid! But it looks like orchid:

Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe

Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe

Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe

Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe

💮 It's not an orchid! But it looks like orchid: Laos Silver Stripe



💋 Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe is one of the most beautiful of all the Kaempferia Peacock Ginger cultivars. It is one of the large types.

💋 The plant has boldly striped leaves of green and silver.

💋 The flowers are orchid shaped white and purple

💋 Small, compact perennial, great for container culture. Deciduous in winter, like many others from Ginger family.

💋 Shade lover, great as exotic houseplant.

💋 This hard to find variety is a must for every Ginger collector.

🛒 Order Laos Silver Stripe

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 25 May 2025

Another Musk from Africa that came before Elon: the true Healer from Zulu

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - leaves

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - leaves

🚀 Another Musk from Africa that came before Elon: the true Healer from Zulu.

🚀 This African Musk has less hype and more goodness: it won't buy Twitter but it might cure your cough!

🚀 Musk Bush (Iboza riparia) - also called Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush, is a highly aromatic shrub with a long tradition of healing use in African herbal medicine. Its soft, velvety leaves release a sweet ginger-like scent when crushed and are packed with medicinal value.

🚀 Medicinal uses



💚 Respiratory relief: The Zulu people traditionally use Iboza as an inhalant for coughs, chest congestion, and even malaria. Crushed leaves are often inhaled or made into a steam bath to clear the lungs.

💚 Natural relaxant: Often used alongside Psychotria viridis for calming effects, this plant is prized for its gentle sedative properties.

💚 Headache and digestive aid: Inhaling the fragrance can ease headaches, and teas or infusions are used to soothe stomach aches.

🚀 Plant facts



💚 Growth: Fast-growing (up to 3 ft/year), up to 6 ft tall, with a full, bushy habit.

💚 Leaves: Bright green, heart-shaped, covered in sticky aromatic hairs.

💚 Flowers: showy mist-like white to lilac spikes hang in beautiful, fragrant dense clusters.

💚 Fragrance: Leaves are scented like ginger with a musky twist - especially fragrant after light pruning.

🚀 Growing tips



💚 Best in full sun or partial shade

💚 Likes rich, well-drained soil and regular summer water, drought tolerant once established.

💚 Prune hard after flowering to keep it compact and boost future blooms.

💚 Grows well in pots in cold climates.

🛒 Order Musk Bush - natural remedy for body and mind

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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