😳 Start a garden

"Life begins the day you start a garden." - Chinese proverb

🐈📸 Cat Persephone - the Guard of TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats

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👨‍� Smokey and Sunshine HIRING NOW: Customer service / sales in garden center

Sunshine: Smokey, we need plant people.
Smokey: Does your girlfriend know plants?
Sunshine: Of course. She fertilized my donuts so they would grow larger.
Smokey: Did it work?
Sunshine: Kind of. I gained three pounds.

TopTropicals.com is looking for a part-time customer service and sales team member for our Ft Myers Garden Center.

If you genuinely love plants, enjoy helping people, and don't mind getting your hands dirty in a tropical nursery environment – then working with rare tropical plants, fruit trees, and fellow plant lovers can be fun and rewarding!

💼 Responsibilities

· Help walk-in customers select plants and check out
· Answer customer questions by phone, email, social media, and message board
· Open and close office, operate cash register
· General customer service and sales support

📚 Requirements

· Genuine love for plants and willingness to learn. We will train
· Friendly, patient, and polite with customers
· Strong work ethic and reliability; punctuality is essential
· Ability to follow instructions and work efficiently
· Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs and comfortable working outdoors in Florida heat and weather
· Drug-free - background check and drug test upon employment
· Valid Florida driver's license and reliable transportation
· Must love cats - our famous "PeopleCats" helpers patrol the gardens daily

‍� Preferred qualifications

· Basic computer skills (email, office, internet). We will train
· Previous plant knowledge or nursery experience
· Sales or customer service experience

💰 Pay

· Starting pay: $18/hour depending on experience and performance
· Opportunity for growth based on performance

📅 Schedule

· Part-time to start, potential for full-time later
· Friday and Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm

📍 Location:

Top Tropicals Garden Center
13890 Orange River Blvd
Ft Myers, FL 33905

✍️ How to apply:

Please email a brief resume and a short paragraph explaining why you'd like this job.

Resume guidelines:
· Keep it brief; include job history and education
· Please avoid long descriptions of unrelated experience
· Tell us why working with plants and people interests you

🚶‍➡️ To apply in person:

You are welcome to visit our Garden Center during business hours:
Monday-Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm
To apply in person, ask for Kristi - our manager.
No phone calls please.

Thanks for applying - we hope to see you working alongside our plants, #PeopleCats, and fellow plant lovers soon.


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3 Best Trees for a "Fast-Fruit" Garden 🍒

Want fruit without the wait? These tropical powerhouses deliver a "fast-food" garden in record time.

🍓 The Top 3 Speed Demons

1. The Favorite: Papaya 🍊
If you want speed, Papaya is king. It can go from a small seedling to heavy fruit in 6-10 months. It behaves more like a giant herb than a tree: it is fast, has shallow roots, and is incredibly responsive to water and fertilizer. In warm climates, it is a plant it and watch it go legend. More details

2. The Reliable: Guava 🍉
Guava is the most forgiving fruit tree you can own. It handles heat, poor soil, and the occasional week of neglect without missing a beat. Most varieties begin producing in just 1-2 years, staying compact enough for small yards or large pots. More details

3. The Surprise: Eugenias 🍒
This family (including Surinam Cherry, Grumichama, Cherry of the Rio Grande, and Pitomba) often flies under the radar. They look like ornamental shrubs, but they establish quickly and can fruit within year two. They handle pruning beautifully, making them perfect for edible hedges. More details

🍓 The Fast-Fruit Honor Roll

🍓 Ultra-Fast (Under 1 Year)

Papaya and Banana: The heavyweight champions of speed.
Strawberry Tree (Muntingia calabura): Non-stop cotton candy berries.
Grafted Favorites: High-quality Mango, Avocado, Peach, Nectarine, and Persimmon.

🍓 Very Fast (1-2 Years)

The Berries: Mulberry (especially Everbearing), Fig, and Barbados Cherry.
The Exotics: Strawberry Guava, Loquat, and the curious Peanut Butter Tree (Bunchosia).
The Sweet Treats: Blackberry Jam Fruit (Randia formosa).

🍓 Tropical Staples (2-3 Years)

Starfruit (Carambola): A heavy producer that looks stunning in the garden.
Annona Family: Sweet Sugar Apples and creamy Atemoyas.
Macadamia Nut: A long-term investment that starts surprisingly early.

🍓 Fast Climbers and Bush Fruit

Passionfruit: Will cover a fence and fruit in a single season.
Berries: Mysore Raspberry and classic Blackberries for quick returns.

🛒 Ready to harvest? Shop the "Fast-Fruit" Collection

📚 Learn more:

· Eugenia cherries in Plant Encyclopedia
· 10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes
· Top 10 fast-fruiting trees
· 5 fast-growing fruit trees and shrubs for quick, low-effort harvests (Top Tropicals experts for Martha Stuart)

#Food_Forest #How_to #Discover

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