Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 25 Apr 2024

Three tropical plants that help you to stay young

Longevity Spinach - Gynura

Longevity Spinach - Gynura

Amlak, Otaheite Gooseberry fruit

Amlak, Otaheite Gooseberry fruit

Noni fruit

Noni fruit

🌱 Three tropical plants that help you to stay young.
  1. Longevity Spinach - as the name suggests, this is one of the superfoods, and it lowers cholesterol. The leaves and young shoot tips can be used fresh in salads, steamed, used in stir fry, stews, and soups. Just add them at the very end. Recipes here
  2. Amlak, or Otaheite Gooseberry - fruit is a major ingredient of Chavyanprash, a popular Ayurvedic tonic. It is the richest source of vitamin C. Makes a perfect lemonade.
  3. Noni - a world-famous medicinal fruit. The noni juice works on a cellular level and rejuvenates nearly every system in the body. Large leaves, very tropical look, quick to fruit... This is a perfect tree for container and indoors. PDF: Noni's health benefits (Tropical Treasures Magazine).


⚕️ Discover more medicinal plants

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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We Grow Happiness

Date: 17 Sep 2024

The most wanted collectible fruit tree - Honey Moon Guava

Variegated guava Honey Moon

🌙 The most wanted collectible fruit tree - Honey Moon Guava.
  • 🍉 Very rare variety of Guava tree - Honey Moon - is a unique variegated guava with the sweetest fruit we ever tasted.
  • 🍉 Fruit is pear-shaped and variegated (white/green striped) outside when unripe, turning bright yellow when ripe. The flesh is pink, very aromatic, sweet and delicious, and contains only a few seeds that separate from pulp easily.
  • 🍉 This variety is resistant to insects and worms.
  • 🍉 Bushy, full tree with large, broad, variegated leaves. Surprisingly for a variegated form (which are usually slow and tender), this variegated beauty is very healthy, strong, vigorous and fasts growing.
  • 🍉 The plant flowers and fruits in small size, perfect for containers. If planted in the ground, the tree grows small to medium size (10-15 ft) with has nice, symmetrical bushy shape.
  • 🍉 Everbearing, very reliable producer, the plant constantly has fruit, buds or flowers.


🛒 Order Honey Moon Guava

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Date: 26 Aug 2024

What fruit is more sour and has more vitamin C than a lemon

Costa Rican Guava, Cas Guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum)

🍋 What fruit is more sour and has more vitamin C than a lemon

  • 🍸Costa Rican Guava, Cas Guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum) is native to Central America and known for its intensely sour taste, which makes it perfect for flavorful juices and beverages rather than eating fresh.
  • 🍸Cas Guava fruit is used in traditional Costa Rican drink "Agua de Cas," a refreshing blend of cas juice, water, and sugar.
  • 🍸Cas Guava fruit is packed with vitamin C: about four times more vitamin C than a lemon, making it an excellent immune booster. It's also rich in antioxidants, which help combat oxidative stress and reduce inflammation.
  • 🍸Cas guava tree is pretty hardy, thriving in poor soils and resisting pests and diseases.


📚 Learn more:

🛒 Order online

#Food_Forest #Guava

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Date: 4 Feb 2025

The star of the orchard

Start Fruit - Carambola Tree (Averrhoa carambola)

😛 The star of the orchard



Start Fruit
- Carambola Tree (Averrhoa carambola). Growing this tree is a fun and rewarding way to enjoy this unique and delicious fruit right at home!

📚 Learn more from previous posts:


Star Fruit from our garden
How to grow your own Carambola
Top 10 fast-fruiting trees: #8. Carambola - Starfruit
Carambola Banana Whip
Carambola tree is the Star of the orchard


🛒 Shop Star Fruit varieties

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Date: 18 Feb 2025

What cactus vine produces gooseberries

Perescia  aculeata,  Barbados  Gooseberry  fruit

Q: I've heard about a tropical gooseberry suitable for making jams but don't know its exact name. Do you have it? Gooseberry jam is my husband's favorite, but I can't find gooseberries here in Florida - too hot, maybe?

A: Yes, we do have the plant you're looking for! We've just made some delicious jam from this tropical gooseberry, and it tastes just like the northern varieties but even more flavorful! Florida's winter is the perfect season for this wonderful fruit. Right now, our plant is growing quickly and vigorously over our fence, and it's covered with fruit. Just a couple of months earlier it was full of fragrant, beautiful white flowers!

The plant in question is Perescia aculeata, commonly known as Barbados Gooseberry. It's a unique cactus with both edible leaves and fruit, making it a tropical treasure that offers beauty as well as culinary delights.

The fruit is yellow with a juicy, subacid pulp that tastes remarkably similar to traditional gooseberries. You can enjoy the fruits fresh, stewed, or transformed into jams and jellies.

The young leaves are also edible, adding a nutritious boost to your meals.

This fast-growing vining cactus prefers well-drained soil that remains moist during the summer and drier in winter, and it can be effectively grown in containers on a trellis.

Watch a short video of Barbados Gooseberry fruiting.

Perescia  aculeata,  Barbados  Gooseberry  jam

Perescia  aculeata,  Barbados  Gooseberry  flowers