Date: 23 May 2025
What fruit can reduce your blood pressure?
Q: Can you recommend trees which fruit are beneficial for balancing blood pressure? I have limited space, so I want to be selective and grow a food forest that truly supports my health.
A: You don't need to spend $$$ on doctors and medications to stay healthy and young. By eating right and adding a few powerful plants and fruits to your diet, you can naturally keep your blood pressure in check. If you plant them today - you can harvest your own medicine tomorrow. And don't forget - gardening itself is therapeutic! It keeps you active, reduces stress, and helps your whole body stay in balance.
💚 Top ten tropical fruit that help reduce blood pressure:
🍈 Jackfruit - Contains potassium and magnesium, which help relax blood vessels and regulate blood pressure.
🍉 Guava - Rich in potassium and fiber, supports vascular health and may help lower blood pressure.
🍊 Papaya - High in potassium and antioxidants, promoting healthy blood pressure.
🍌 Banana - Well-known for its high potassium content, which helps counteract sodium and lower blood pressure.
🍍 Pineapple - Contains potassium and bromelain, which may support circulation and reduce inflammation.
🍅 Persimmon - High in fiber and antioxidants, which can contribute to better heart and vascular function.
🍇 Mulberry - Contains resveratrol and other antioxidants linked to heart health and blood pressure support.
Tamarind - Rich in potassium and fiber, may help regulate blood pressure and support arterial health.
🍑 Loquat - Contains potassium, aiding in fluid balance and blood pressure control.
🍒 Tropical Cherry (Eugenia) - Contains antioxidants and supports healthy circulation.
Date: 13 Sep 2025
🌸 Meet the Most Colorful Ground Orchids
Ground Orchids – Spathoglottis, Phaius, Arundina, Epidendrum
- Chinese Nun Ground Orchid (Phaius tankervilleae)
- Yokohama Ground orchid Kate (Bletilla striata x formosana)
- Tropical Punch, Sorbet Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata)
- Bamboo Orchid (Arundina graminifolia)
- Snow Angel, Coconut Cloud Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis alba)
- Orange Reed Ground Orchid (Epidendrum radicans Sunrise)
- Lemon Kiss, Sorbet Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis chrysanta)
- Pink Reed Ground Orchid, Violet Queen (Epidendrum radicans Fuchsia)
- Lavender Reed Ground Orchid (Epidendrum elongatum x radicans)
- Red Raspberry Reed Ground Orchid (Epidendrum radicans Red Glow)
Orchids have a mystique that sets them apart — elegant, exotic, almost unreal in their perfection. But let’s be honest, not everyone has luck with the fancy ones that cling to trees or need greenhouse tricks.
Ground orchids are different. They grow in regular garden soil, bloom in sun or shade, and come in all sorts of shapes and colors. They’re the orchids you don’t have to fuss over.
Nun Orchid (Phaius tankervilleae) – Ever wonder why it’s called the Nun Orchid? The flowers really do look like the white veil and brown habit nuns used to wear. The plants send up spikes 3–4 ft tall with 10–20 fragrant blooms that open one after another for weeks. I like them best tucked under trees where they just keep spreading year after year.
Spathoglottis – The nonstop bloomer – If you want flowers that just don’t quit, this one’s it. Spathoglottis clumps up and throws spikes of purple, pink, or yellow that last for weeks, then keep coming back through the summer. In warm spots they’ll bloom almost year-round. Honestly, it’s one of the easiest orchids you’ll ever grow.
💲 Special Offer – 20% off Ground Orchids!
Get 20% OFF ground orchids with code
ORCHID2025
Min order $100. Excluding S/H, valid online only, cannot be combined with other offers.
Hurry, offer expires September 17, 2025!
Date: 7 Jan 2019
Three interesting varieties of Avocado
Q: I intend to gift three avocados, at least one type A and one type B, to a friend who lives in an area where the temperature never goes below 25F. The idea is to give them a ripening season as long as possible. Which combinations do you suggest, and which are the A and B?
A: When talking about "A" type and "B" type in Avocados, we are referring to the flowers. An avocado will produce both male and female flowers on the same plant. "A" type means that the flowers are female in the morning and male at afternoon. "B" type means that the flowers are male in the morning and female in the afternoon. If you plant to start a commercial growth, then it's important to create a proper mix of both types. However, in hot and humid climate a single tree produces flowers of both types, so it is NOT necessary to have both A- and B- types planted together in the backyard. Even a single tree produces enough fruit for a home gardener.
It is also important to know that while there are "more cold hardy" avocados (hardy to as low as 15F), it refers to a full grown established tree. Young trees still need protection from the cold until they are bigger and more established. One can not expect a small tree planted in June to survive the first winter with a hard freeze. It'll take a few years until the tree is strong enough.
These a few rare varieties that may be of your interest.
Poncho Avocado
Very cold hardy variety. Produces medium to large green fruit. It
survived temperatures around 10F near San Antonio, Texas (Zone 8b). Mature trees
can take temperatures down to 15F for short period of time without significant
damage.
Anise Avocado
This avocado has strongly scented leaves that smell like Anise. Very
rare variety. Fruit is of excellent quality, creamy and buttery.
Catalina Avocado
Catalina is a very nice mid-season pear-shaped fruit that is especially
rich and creamy. It is an extremely popular variety in South Florida in the
Cuban Community. The Story of this variety says...
...Catalina is an amazing avocado floated across from Cuba, 60 years
ago just before Fidel Castro took over the Island Nation. Wise Cubans jumped
into the ocean to escape the Castro regime and tossed in some favorite scions
for us to enjoy here in the States. We owe a great debt to poor old Don Miguel
Cruz de la Santa Maria Espinoza Sanchez Alvarez Jr. who sadly was lost at
sea. His amazing scion wood, wrapped in cellophane and aluminum foil floated
over, washing ashore on Miami Beach. His shiny little package was miraculously
picked up on the shoreline and immediately grafted and cared for by keen-eyed
avocado lovers in Miami...
So be sure to think about this story every time you eat a Catalina!
These three Avocados will provide you with fruit ripening during the whole warm season. See more information on avocado varieties and the most cold hardy cultivars.
Check out our full selection of avocado varieties. They are 15% OFF today!
Date: 1 Jan 2019
Top Tropicals New Year Resolutions
We take this opportunity to extend our grateful thanks to all visitors and friends of our garden and website. The entire Top Tropicals team wishing you a Happy New Year with Happy New Plants!
In 2019, Top Tropicals plans include (but are not limited to):
- improved design of the website, online store and shopping cart
- many new introductions of rare flowering plants including Red Jade
Vine, lots of new Adeniums
- rare fruit trees, including Mangosteen, Nutmeg, Clove and more
- extended selection of rare tropical seeds
- many new videos of rare tropical plants
- free and discounted shipping
Stay informed with our Newsletter updates!
New Year Resolutions for Gardeners in 2019
January is the month to plan and dream about your yard and garden. Grow
your garden a few steps at a time each year: pick a few resolutions for 2019
and plan accordingly. Next year, a few more, and so on until you build the
garden of your dreams.
This winter, resolve to:
- Hang a bird feeder.
- Order seeds of some rare plants so you can have an early start.
- Prune a tree into an espalier - it's a perfect time before Spring.
- Ask your grandparents what they grew in their gardens.
- Build a raised bed for succulents.
- If you live in a warm climate, plant a fruit tree or two.
- Start a compost pile.
- Plant a palm tree.
- Try some plant boosters to improve your plants hardiness.
- Chose Flowering trees, shrubs and vines suitable for areas in your garden that still have room...
- Install a rain barrel.
- Eat outside as often as possible.
- Show a child how to plant a tree.
- Provide a water source for bees and butterflies. They are not only
cool, but also pollinators that will help to set fruit and seeds!
- Call TopTropicals for garden advise - what to plant, where to plant,
and how not to kill it!
- Plant a berry-bearing tree or shrubs to feed the birds. Mulberry, Blackberry, Tropicals Cherries - are always good choices. They are 15% OFF now
Date: 29 Nov 2018
Mangosteen fever
Mangosteen availability. Yesterday we received 6 Mangosteen trees from Hawaii - on the photo Anna Banana is holding one of these very much wanted trees. We had 378 customers on a waiting list for this amazing fruit tree. After we sent wishlist notifications, the plants were all sold within a couple hours for $349.95 each on "first come, first serve" basis. We even over-sold one... our shopping cart could not catch up with so many requests! We also had 12 smaller size (1 gal pot) plants, and most were also sold right away. As of now, only 3 plants left.
We know many people want this tree, and we apologize that we had only a few. We are searching all our sources around the world for these plants and seeds to supply the Mangosteen for you!
ATTENTION to all Mangosteen seekers! Please re-submit your request for Mangosteen using our Wishlist form. We will find more plants for you, as well as will grow them from seeds. Be on top of our Mail-list news and make sure to re-submit a wish-list request for this plant, since your original request was removed as soon as notification was sent.
You may follow the BUY button below, and if all plants sold out, simply click on a link "Notify me when available". We will notify you as soon as we have the Mangosteen back in stock!