Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Are these new Christmas ornaments?
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida, fruit
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida, tree
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida, fruit
Akee, Ackee - Blighia sapida, fruit
- ⛔️ Ackee (Akee) is the national fruit of Jamaica and is known for its unique bizarre shape, resembling giant red pear.
- ⛔️ When properly prepared, its soft, creamy flesh is a key ingredient in the popular Jamaican dish, "ackee and saltfish." The fruit makes a delicious nutritious meal tasting like eggs and potatoes.
- ⛔️ The fruit is native to West Africa, but it was introduced to the Caribbean in the 18th century and has since become a symbol of Jamaican cuisine.
- ⛔️ Akee is actually a vegetable growing on a tree! Akee tree is easy to grow, undemanding, fast growing, and fruits right away. Sometimes it fruits twice a year!
📚 More prom previous posts:
Akee deliciousness
What is number one tree-grown vegetable
Grow Your Own Food: Akee
📱 How to cook perfect Akee
![How to cook perfect Akee](
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🛒 Order Akee tree
#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders #Recipes
🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Banned Jamaican fruit: why you never see fresh Akee in U.S. stores?
Akee (Blighia sapida)
Did you know that fresh Akee (Blighia sapida) is restricted for import into the U.S.?
That's the bad news.
The good news: you can grow your own Akee tree and enjoy this famous fruit right in your backyard!
The reason it's restricted is because unripe Akee (Ackee) contains toxins. Only when the pods split open naturally is the fruit safe to eat, after cooking (video). That’s why it's hard to import fresh – but easy to grow and handle at home once you know the trick.
![cooking (video).](
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Plenty of people love this fruit (it's actually a vegetable). It's the national fruit of Jamaica, and a must-have in the classic dish Akee and saltfish. Planting your own tree means you never have to miss out.
⛔️ Why grow Akee?
- ✔️Fresh fruit that you simply can’t buy in U.S. stores.
- ✔️You decide when it's ripe and safe, straight from the pod.
- ✔️A taste of Jamaica in your own garden - both food and culture in one tree.
So don't wait for the fruit that never arrives at the port. Plant your own Akee tree and enjoy the harvest tomorrow!
🛒 Plant your own Akee (Achee) tree
📚 Learn more:
![What is Akee - Jamaica's National Fruit - and how to grow it](
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▫️New Christmas ornaments? Ackee monster fruit!
📱 How to cook perfect Akee
#Food_Forest
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date:
We've SLASHED shipping costs!
In this world of ever rising prices, we've managed to slash our shipping costs to you by up to 50% in certain locations!
As prices have continued to skyrocket over the last 3-4 years, we are all feeling the pinch. At Top Tropicals we've done our very best to keep our plant prices steady and have even reduced some prices! But we don't control shipping costs and fuel surcharges and we have felt your frustration in trying to get our plants to you at reasonable shipping rates.
We've spent the last months working with our packaging and shipping suppliers and partners and have managed to slash your shipping costs by up to 50% depending on your location, on top of existing discounts and shipping specials.
You will see this shipping discount in your cart!
And remember these shipping discounts can be combined with all our plant discounts to add up to incredible savings for you!
If you haven't shopped with us for a while, we encourage you to check out our store and see for yourself the savings we now offer! Welcome back!
Date:
📅 Mark Your Calendar - Holiday Plant Market
Holiday season in Florida means sunshine, green leaves, and cats on patrol. On Saturday 12/13/25, our PeopleCats are hosting a special Holiday Plant Market at TopTropicals, 9 am to 4 pm. This is not a regular nursery day. This is the one where you grab a donut in one hand, a mango tree in the other, and try not to trip over a cat giving you a tour.
We are bringing out the best plants we grew all year: big fruit trees with real branches, flowering and fragrant beauties, rare collectors plants, and vines that are ready to take off as soon as you get them home. December is perfect planting weather in Florida, so while the rest of the country is scraping frost from windshields, you can be choosing which banana, mango, or jasmine will perfume your yard next summer.
Holiday extras: 30% OFF online prices, free plant with purchase, 5 to 10 dollar specials, mini donuts and holiday treats, iced tea and citrus water, tropical Christmas music, and raffle prizes. If there is enough ripe fruit in the morning, we will set up a tasting table too. Our PeopleCats will be on duty all day, rearranging plants, checking on visitors, and occasionally allowing themselves to be petted between tours.
Event discounts and specials are valid at both locations:
- Ft Myers Garden Center: 13890 Orange River Blvd, Ft Myers, FL 33905
- Sebring Farm: 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL 33875
Save the date, tell a friend, and plan your plant hunting route now. Come celebrate the holidays the Florida way: sunshine, rare fruit trees, happy cats, and a car full of tropical plants going home with you.
Facebook event page - Download invitation
Why this Akee taste of deliciousness always follows me?
Akee fruit, Ackee
Can't wait for the next crop this year 😼
📖 Fun Fact: Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and is a key ingredient in the traditional Jamaican dish, ackee and saltfish. However, it must be properly ripened and cooked due to its toxic properties when unripe.
‼️ Check out our previous post about Akee.
📚 More about Akee
🎥 YouTube Recipe: How to cook perfect Akee?
![🎥 YouTube Recipe: How to cook perfect Akee?](
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🛒 Grow your own Akee tree
#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders #Recipes #Fun_Facts
🏵 TopTropicals
What is number one tree-grown vegetable?
Akee fruit, Ackee
- 🔺This showy fruit is a close relative of Lychee, Longan, and Rambutan.
- 🔺 Akee tree is easy to grow, undemanding, fast growing, and fruits right away. Sometimes it fruits twice a year!
- 🔺 Akee fruit must be picked after the fruit has opened naturally so the flesh is fully exposed to light.
- 🔺 The white arils are best parboiled for a few min and then lightly fried in butter. Then they are really delicious!
📚 More about Akee
🎥 YouTube Recipe: How to cook perfect Akee?
![🎥 YouTube Recipe: How to cook perfect Akee?](
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🛒 Order Akee tree online
#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders #Recipes
TopTropicals.com
We Grow Happiness
Can you name all the fruits on this tray? One of them will stump you!
Papaya, Avocado, Egyptian guava and Cas guava, Barbados cherry, Peanut butter fruit
- This morning I walked the garden and came back with a tray of fruits! That’s the joy of living in Florida with your own tropical garden: something new is always in season.
- On today’s tray: Papaya, Avocado, Egyptian guava and Cas guava, Barbados cherry… And this little red one? Peanut butter fruit!
- At Top Tropicals, you’ll find every tropical fruit tree you can imagine. What fruits are you harvesting from your garden right now?
🛒 Explore rare tropical fruit
📚 Learn more:
- ▫️10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes
- ▫️Five best fruit trees to plant in Summer
- ▫️Top 10 fast-fruiting trees
#Food_Forest #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
One fruit on this tray always stumps people
Tropical fruit on a tray
- 🍉 Another day, another fruit tray from the garden! Even at the end of November, something is always ripening here in Florida. This tray turned out especially fun - a mix of familiar fruits and a couple that always make people guess twice!
- 🍉 Today’s harvest includes: sweet Persimmons, Star fruit, a few different dragon fruits: yellow Palora and white with red skin - this is Seoul Kitchen. There's also Cocoplum, which makes great drinks. And - ta-da! - the little showstopper of the day: Curly Locks Orchid Cactus fruit (Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa). It looks wild, but it's edible and tastes like a tiny dragon fruit.
- 🍉 If you live in Florida or any warm climate, growing your own fruit is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Tropical fruit trees are generous plants - they don’t wait for a season, they give you something month after month. Some days it’s a handful, some days it’s a whole tray, but there’s always a fresh treat waiting. Once you start growing your own food, you realize how easy and rewarding it is to fill your garden with flavor.
- 🍉 Every tray has a new surprise. Come along and see what the garden gives us next!
🛒 Explore rare tropical fruit
📚 Learn more:
- ▫️Can you name all the fruits on this tray?
- ▫️Weird cactus looks like pasta with Dragon Fruit
- ▫️Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge
- ▫️Pitaya vs Dragon fruit - what is the difference and how to grow it?
- ▫️How soon will Persimmon tree fruit?
- ▫️10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes
- ▫️Top 10 fast-fruiting trees
#Food_Forest #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date:
Mark your calendars: March 1, 2025
Spring into Green at Our Spring Plant Market!
Saturday, March 1, 9 am - 4 pm
Save the date for March 1, 2025, and join us for a vibrant celebration of nature! Bring your friends and family to explore a tropical oasis where our friendly PeopleCats are ready to help you find the perfect plants to brighten your space.
Celebrate the season of renewal and let your garden flourish with new life. We can't wait to see you there and share in the joy of spring!
Highlights of the event:
30% OFF online prices, one day only!
(excluding 15 gallon material and rare plants)
Exciting raffle prizes
Special discounts on selected plants
Complimentary gift bags for the first 25 ccustomers with an order $50+
Free plant with any purchase as a token of our appreciation
Life Music: the Famous
Event discounts valid at both locations:
Ft Myers Garden Center: 13890 Orange River, Ft Myers, FL
Sebring B-Farm: 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL
March 1, 2025 - SATURDAY - Spring Plant Market
🟢 Spring into Green at Our Spring Plant Market! Join us today, March 1, for a vibrant celebration of nature!
Bring your friends and family to explore a tropical oasis where our friendly #PeopleCats are ready to help you find the perfect plants to brighten your space.
🗓 Highlights of the event include:
- 30% OFF online prices (*excluding 15 gallon material and rare plants)
- Exciting raffle prizes
- Special discounts on selected plants
- Complimentary gift bags for the first 25 ccustomers with an order $50+
- Life Music: the Famous Hand Pan Lady! (see her previous performance at Top Tropicals)
🆓 Free plant with any purchase as a token of our appreciation
📍Event discounts and specials valid at both locations:
Ft Myers Garden Center: 13890 Orange River, Ft Myers, FL
Sebring Farm: 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL
🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals