💻 "If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change." - Buddha

📸 Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang, Chanel No 5 Tree

📚 Learn more: The Ylang-Ylang, Queen of the Perfume World, the Bearer of an Ideal Fragrance.

🛒Grow your own Ylang Ylang Tree

#Perfume_Plants #Quotes

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🍏 Why everyone wants the Sugar Apple?

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple - is considered by many as the most delicious tropical fruit. We introduced the Annona trees earlier.

✳️ Very small, compact tree, perfect for container or small yard, see photos from our Tropical Fruit Tree contest Winner.

✳️ Starts fruiting within 3 year from seed!

✳️ Easy to grow and undemanding

✳️ The fruit is sheer deliciousness, pulp resembling custard.

🛒 Order Sugar Apple

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

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What is the best showy shrub to plant under a shade tree?

💮 Tabernaemontana divaricata, also known as Pinwheel Jasmine or Crape Jasmine, is a true garden gem, blooming year-round to bring constant beauty to your outdoor space.

💮 This cute bush can be also shaped into a small tree.

💮 It looks beautiful beneath palms or trees.

💮 Blooms year-round with pretty, white, pinwheel-shaped flowers.

💮 Needs bright light for profuse blooming, but can tolerate shade conditions.

💮 Makes your garden look stunning all year around.

🛒Get Pinwheel Jasmine

#Hedges_with_benefits

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What happens when a gardener gets a Swiss Cheese? Swiss Cheese Plant!

🌿 Monstera x adansonii - Baby Swiss Cheese Plant - is an unusual form of Monstera with leaves that have many holes, much bigger than those in Swiss Cheese!

🌿 Makes an interesting indoor specimen, an eye stopper.

🌿 Shade lover, but can take some semi-shade too.

🌿 Can be grown outdoors in warmer climates and climbs trees or walls wherever you need a green wall.

🌿 Grows fast, very undemanding plant. Perfect when you need to fill space with greenery quickly.

🛒 Order Swiss Chees Plant

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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❤️💰 Fruit of Money and Love

Theobroma cacao, commonly known as the Chocolate Tree or Cacao Tree, is very exciting plant and a superfood as we mentioned earlier.

💥 Theobroma means "food of the gods" in Greek. "Theo" means god, and "broma" means food.

💥 The Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs were among the first to cultivate cacao, using it to make a bitter beverage called xocoatl. It was often spiced with chili peppers and used in various rituals and ceremonies.

💥 Currency: in ancient Mesoamerican cultures, cacao beans were so valuable that they were used as a form of currency. For example, 100 beans could buy a slave or a turkey.

💥 The Aztecs believed that cacao had stimulating properties and used it as an aphrodisiac. Emperor Montezuma was said to consume a large amount of cacao before visiting his harem. We can't deny that chocolate's mood-enhancing properties, combined with cultural and psychological factors, contribute to its romantic allure! ❤️

💥 A cacao pod contains 20 to 50 beans, each surrounded by a sweet, mucilaginous pulp. The pods grow directly on the trunk and larger branches of the tree, a feature known as cauliflory.

💥 After harvesting, cacao beans are fermented for several days, a critical step that develops the flavor precursors needed for chocolate production.

💥 The Cacao tree thrives in the humid, tropical regions around the equator. It can be grown as an exciting house plant.

💥 Health benefits: cacao beans are rich in antioxidants, magnesium, iron, and other minerals. They also contain flavonoids, associated with heart health benefits.

💥 There are three main varieties of cacao beans: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. Criollo is considered the highest quality but is less common due to its susceptibility to disease. Forastero is the most widely grown, known for its hardiness. Trinitario is a hybrid of the two.

💥 It takes about 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate. The beans undergo roasting, grinding, and mixing with sugar and other ingredients to produce the final chocolate product.

📚Learn more: Plants of Love - Aphrodisiacs of the plant world

🛒 Grow your own Chocolate Tree

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

🏵 TopTropicals