Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 31 Jul 2025

Anthurium Collector Set

Giant  Bird's  Nest,  Long  Leaf,  and  Black  Dragon  Anthuriums  side  by 
 side,  showcasing  their  dramatic  foliage  and  size

These aren't your typical tropicals - they're collector-grade Anthuriums grown for foliage and texture. Each one brings something different, but they all thrive in the same kind of setting: shade or filtered light, warmth, and humidity. Perfect for growing in containers indoors or out.

Anthurium Black Dragon

This is the most dramatic of the trio. Upright, leathery leaves shift from dark green to nearly black depending on light. Instead of bright flowers, it produces a dark brown spadix and glowing red berries. A hybrid not found in the wild, it's grown from seed - no two are exactly alike.

  • Best for: Indoor focal plant, shaded patio, black ceramic pot
  • Height: 2–4 ft in container
  • Texture: Thick, architectural leaves
  • Highlight: Color shifts with light intensity

Grow Your Own Black Dragon

Read more about Black Dragon Anthurium

Anthurium hookeri – Giant Bird's Nest

This one's about scale. Broad, crinkled leaves with a cardboard-like texture form a bold rosette. It can get huge with time - up to 6 feet across. Perfect for gardeners who want the "instant jungle" look.

  • Best for: Shaded garden, large pots on porches
  • Height: Up to 5 ft; width even more
  • Texture: Wrinkled and leathery
  • Highlight: Bright red berries in maturity

Buy Giant Bird's Nest Anthurium

Read more about Giant Bird's Nest Anthurium

Anthurium vittariifolium – Long Leaf Anthurium

Graceful and rare, this species sends out narrow strap-like leaves that can reach 5–6 ft long. Ideal for hanging baskets or mounting. Bonus: it produces small pink fruit against deep green foliage.

  • Best for: Hanging displays, vertical planters, bright bathrooms
  • Height: Leaf length, not upright height - up to 6 ft
  • Texture: Smooth, ribbon-like
  • Highlight: Cascading growth and color contrast

Buy Long Leaf Anthurium

Read more about Long Leaf Anthurium

✅ How to Care for Anthuriums

  • Light: Bright, indirect light is best. Avoid direct sun, especially mid-day. These plants evolved in rainforest understory - think "dappled light under trees."
  • Water: Keep the soil lightly moist but not soggy. Let the top inch dry before watering. They hate wet feet.
  • Humidity: These are tropicals - they'll do fine in 50-60% humidity, but thrive at 70%+. Use pebble trays or place near other plants. Bathrooms with windows work great.
  • Soil: Use an airy mix: orchid bark + perlite + peat or coco coir. Drainage is key. Never use plain potting soil.
  • Fertilizer: Feed with SUNSHINE Robusta every 2–4 weeks during warm seasons. It's formulated for aroids and won't burn roots.
  • Potting: Use shallow, wide containers. Repot only every 2–3 years, or when roots crowd the pot. They don't like frequent disruption.
  • Temperature: Ideal: 65–85 F. Short dips to the 30s F are tolerated by mature plants, but avoid cold drafts.

Shop All Anthuriums

Date: 9 Aug 2025

Anthurium with leaves longer than you!

Anthurium vittariifolium- Long Leaf Anthurium

🍃 Anthurium with leaves longer than you!

  • 🌿 Ever seen an Anthurium with leaves longer than you are tall? Anthurium vittariifolium - Long Leaf Anthurium - is a true rainforest treasure from South America. Its strap-like leaves can reach an incredible 6 feet in length but stay only about 2 inches wide, creating elegant green ribbons that drape down like a waterfall.
  • 🌿 Grow it in a hanging basket and you’ll get a cascading curtain of foliage that instantly turns any space into a jungle hideaway.
  • 🌿 As if the leaves weren’t enough, this rare beauty produces clusters of bright pink berries that pop against the deep green leaves, adding an unexpected splash of color!
  • 🌿 It's rare, it's dramatic, and it's the kind of plant that makes people stop and ask, “What on earth is THAT?”


🛒 Grow the 6-foot leaf Anthurium

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#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden
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Date: 2 Dec 2025

Lemon Candy Tree

🍋 Lemon Candy Tree



🟡 Garcinia edulis - Lemon Drop Mangosteen, Madrono. Tiny yellow-orange globes, golf-ball size, with clear, juicy pulp, and when you taste it, you understand the name instantly. Sweet and tart at the same time, like someone turned a lemon drop candy into a tropical fruit. Today Chiane and Ashley are going to taste the fruit and share with your their experience!

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#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

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Date: 1 Dec 2025

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⭐️ The giant star shaped bloom you wont believe is real

  • ⭐️ Stapelia gigantea, the Starfish Flower, is one of those plants you notice from across the yard and immediately walk over to investigate. The blooms are huge - often close to a foot across - and look exactly like soft, fuzzy starfish dropped right onto the plant. Pale yellow petals with fine maroon lines give it that wild, otherworldly look.

  • ⭐️ Yes, it has a scent - just enough to fool flies, which is exactly what the plant wants. They’re the pollinators, and this flower knows how to get their attention. For us humans, the real show is the size, shape, and texture. It’s a living prop straight out of a sci-fi movie.

  • ⭐️ Even without flowers, the plant itself looks cool: thick, 4-angled succulent stems that sprawl and stack into a low, sculptural mound. In the ground it can spread a couple feet wide, and in a pot it becomes the ultimate conversation piece. And despite looking like a cactus, it’s actually in the Milkweed family. When it’s happy and sets seed, the pods open to release silky little parachutes floating away on the breeze.

  • ⭐️ Strange, bold, and absolutely unforgettable - this is one plant nobody walks past without asking about it.


🛒 Get your own Zulu plant

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YouTube short videos:

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Plant Facts

Stapelia gigantea
Zulu Giant, Carrion Plant, Starfish Flower
USDA Zone: 9-11
Small plant 2-5 ftFull sunModerate waterUnusual colorPlant attracts butterflies, hummingbirds

Stapelia gigantea in Plant Encyclopedia

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden
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Date: 9 Dec 2025

What blooms for you in December: Calliandra tweedii With Love

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" in a pot

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" in a pot

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" plant in the ground

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" plant in the ground

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" flowers

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" flowers

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" flower close up

Calliandra tweedii "With Love" flower close up

💥 What blooms for you in December: Calliandra tweedii "With Love"

  • 💥 December just started and so did Calliandra tweedii "With Love" - right by TopTropicals Bfarm office. This plant always knows how to kick off winter around here. First week of December… boom, the red tassels pop open, and then it keeps going all the way through winter and into spring.
  • 💥 Calliandras are famous for being spectacular winter bloomers, but in our garden they seem to ignore the calendar and flower pretty much year-round. "With Love" grows as a many-stemmed dense shrub, kind of like a small fountain. Branches rise right from the ground, covered in tiny leaflets that gently fold at night or when you touch them.
  • 💥 And the flowers - that’s the whole show! Fine, feathery, glowing-red tassels that look almost electric in the morning sun. The bush by the office is covered in them right now - bright scarlet puffs against fresh green foliage. Most calliandras lean more pink, but this one stays true red. It makes a fantastic hedge, a bold specimen shrub, and honestly a great bonsai because of the branching structure.
  • 💥 If you want something cheerful, easy, and blooming exactly when most gardens look quiet, With Love delivers every single year.


🛒 Plant Calliandra tweedii "With Love" - Red Tassel Flower
Shop Calliandras - Powderpuffs

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Plant Facts

Calliandra tweedii, Inga pulcherrima
Red Tassel Flower
USDA Zone: 9-11
Large shrub 5-10 ft tallSemi-shadeModerate waterRed, crimson, vinous flowersSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short time

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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