Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Date:
Butterfly Bush: Fast, Pretty, Low Maintenance...
Five unbeatable reasons to plant Butterfly Cassia
Q: I am trying to find some easy flowering shrub to screen the ugly corner of my neighbor's yard, can you suggest something fast growing and pretty?
A: One of our favorite flowering shrubs in Florida is the Cassia bicapsularis, commonly known as Scrambled Egg Bush or Butterfly Bush. It is one of the most desirable plants for the southern landscape. It has all the benefits any gardener may dream of, whether a beginner or an expert:
1. Very fast growing, can screen unwanted views and create a beautiful flowering hedge. Cassia bicapsularis is known for its rapid growth, making it an excellent choice for quickly transforming an unsightly corner into a vibrant and lush area. Its dense foliage and attractive yellow blooms add both beauty and privacy to your outdoor space.
2. Easy to grow, not fussy about soil or water, drought and flood tolerant, cold tolerant. Butterfly Bush is incredibly adaptable and resilient. It thrives in a variety of soil types, is not demanding when it comes to water, and can withstand both drought and occasional flooding. Additionally, it is cold tolerant and can withstand occasional frosts once established.
3. Blooms for many months, featuring especially in winter flowers from Fall to spring. Very pretty, large "sunny" flowers resembling bright yellow butterflies, hence the name. It is a generous bloomer, gracing your garden with vibrant yellow flowers for an extended period, particularly from fall to spring. The large, sunny blooms not only add visual appeal but also attract pollinators, enhancing the ecological balance of your garden.
4. Attracts lots of butterflies. As the common name suggests, the Butterfly Bush is a magnet for butterflies. If you enjoy the presence of these beautiful winged creatures in your garden, planting Cassia bicapsularis is an excellent way to encourage and support butterfly populations.
5. Low maintenance. Butterfly Bush can be trimmed and controlled at the desired shape if needed, but if you have room for a big bush in a full sun area - just let it go and it will form a nice dense bush without any pruning: this shrub is a low-maintenance delight. While it can be pruned and shaped according to your preferences, it also flourishes when left to grow naturally. Its ability to form a dense and attractive bush without constant pruning makes it an ideal choice for those seeking a fuss-free gardening experience.
If you're looking for a fast-growing, low-maintenance, and aesthetically pleasing solution to screen an unsightly corner, Cassia bicapsularis is an unbeatable choice. It ticks all the boxes for a beautiful and resilient flowering shrub in the southern landscape.
"...Without a doubt, Butterfly Cassia became one of my favorite plants during my visit to Florida for Christmas a few years ago. I only wish I could have taken it back home with me to Latvia. If only my windowsill hadn't already reached its greenhouse capacity!.." - Alex Butova.
To see more options for flowering shrubs, check out the reference chart Hedges with Benefits Chart.
Date:
Top 5 butterfly attractors
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,
it became a butterfly"
Chuang Tzu (Taoist philosopher)
In the photo: yesterday we watched a butterfly born on one of our Champaka trees!
Q: What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden?
A: If you love butterflies and if you enjoy
having nature around your home, then plant a butterfly garden. Florida is a perfect place to create a year round and
fully functioning butterfly garden. Caterpillars, which transform into
butterflies, require special kinds of plants to feed upon and these plants grow
extremely well in the South Florida and other subtropical areas. Below are the
top five winners that butterflies appreciate the most. Besides, remember That
all yellow flowers are attractive to them, for example Cassias. Butterflies like the Sun and everything that looks like the
Sun!
1. Calotropis
gigantea - Giant milkweed, Arka
2. Odontonema
cuspidatum - Firespike
3. Plumbago
auriculata Imperial Blue
4. Rondeletia
leucophylla - Panama Rose
5. Asclepias
curassavica - Red Milkweed, Butterfly Weed
Read more about Butterfly garden:
The Milkweed and
the Monarch, how to raise your own
Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
Plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds
In the photo: Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
Date:
NEW
VIDEO:
ABC7 Fort Myers News:
Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals
Butterfly plants... what can be more romantic and sweet in your garden!
Watch the news segment by Rachel Anderson for ABC-7: Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals.
"...Spring has sprung, and if you're looking to spruce up your
garden, Top Tropicals in Fort Myers has you covered! They have hundreds of exotic
plants, fruit trees, fragrant flowers and plants that will attract
butterflies to your garden!
If you're looking for a Mother's Day gift, plants are gifts that keep
on giving!.."
In the photo: Butterfly plants display in Top Tropicals office. Come and see our large selection of butterfly attractors in the nursery!
Subscribe to our Channel:
Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!
In the photo: Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle - a garden favorite, hardy, fast growing vine. Jasmine-sweet scented flowers attract butterflies, and hummingbirds, and berries attract birds!
Date:
Attracting butterflies
Q: How to attract more butterflies to my garden?
A: Attracting butterflies to your garden can be a fun and rewarding experience. Here are some tips to help you create a butterfly-friendly environment.
1. Choose the right plants: Butterflies are attracted to nectar-producing flowers such as milkweeds, butterfly bushes. Plant lots of bright flowers, especially of yellow and pink colors like some cassias which seem to be the pleasant to butterfly's eye. Use a variety of flowers to attract different species of butterflies. This is a full list of butterfly-attracting plants.
2. Provide food for caterpillars: Butterflies lay their eggs on specific host plants that caterpillars will eat. For example, monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed. Passion flower is also a great butterfly host, but be prepared to sacrifice some leaves!
3. Provide a water source: Butterflies need a source of water to drink from. A shallow dish or birdbath with rocks in it will provide a place for butterflies to rest and drink.
4. Avoid using pesticides: Pesticides can harm butterflies and other beneficial insects. Try using natural methods to control pests in your garden, such as companion planting and hand-picking.
5. Create a sunny spot: Butterflies love warm, sunny spots. Plant your butterfly garden in an area that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight each day.
6. Add a butterfly house: A butterfly house can provide shelter for butterflies during bad weather and at night.
In the photo: Odontonema callistachyum - Lavender Butterfly Bush. Showy bright lavender flowers, butterfly attractor. Blooms in both sun or shade.
In the photo: Tecomaria capensis Apricot - Hammers Rose, Apricot Tecoma, Cape Honeysuckle. Very fast growing, it has attractive, light green foliage and frequent displays of long, tubular flowers that may be apricot or orange at the ends of the stems. Great for a privacy hedge that attracts butterflies!
Date:
Butterfly Garden from Anna Banana
Butterfly facts
1. There are approximately 20,000 different species of
butterflies, the largest of which is the Queen Alexandra
Birdwing with a wingspan of 11 inches.
2. Female butterflies can lay over 1000 eggs during their
short lifetime.
3. Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants which usually
hatch within a few days, then turning into caterpillars.
The caterpillar will then eat until it sheds it's skin
several times, called instars, finally emerging from the
chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly.
4. Butterflies are born to breed, their goal being to mate
and begin the cycle again. Most live only a few days
except the Monarch which can live up to six months.
5. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every fall and
remain there until spring when they make the return
migration.
6. Due to the continuing destruction of the rain forests,
where the largest population of butterflies are found,
their numbers are dwindling. We encourage you to plant a
butterfly garden!!
Remember:
- A sunny, less windy location is best, however, Zebras
love to float in the shade of bushes and trees.
- The more host and nectar plants you have, the more
butterflies will be attracted to your garden.
- Butterflies "puddle". They like a wet sandy area where
they congregate and sip minerals and nutrients from the
wet sand and water.
- Rocks to rest and enjoy their beautiful garden, and
don't forget a bench or hammock for yourself.
FREE butterfly garden guide from Anna Banana
For our local Florida customers, it is a perfect time now
to start a garden with plants for butterflies that will
appear first thing in Spring. Establish these plants now
for the Spring blooms that will attract the Beauty into
your garden!
Stop by our Garden Center to check out our Butterfly Plants display, or
simply call Anna Banana for a free consultation on
Butterfly Garden at 239-771-8081.
Hurry up while butterfly plants are on 4-day sale!
Date:
Privacy Hedges with Benefits
What's the numero uno question we get bombarded with at Top Tropicals Nursery? Well, it's a real head-scratcher:
Q: "...Can you recommend me a flowering privacy hedge to spice up my yard's life? My current hedge is just a green wall and I'm tired of the monthly trim routine. I need something lively, fast-growing, and unusual if possible. No plain old ixora, please!.."
A: After over two decades of being the go-to advice-givers, we thought, "Why not spill the floral beans and share our tropical wisdom?" But where to begin? The jungle of flowering ornamentals is vast, and picking the perfect shrub is like finding the missing piece of a gardening puzzle. So, in our new column "Hedges with Benefits" we're dishing on those not-so-average shrubs that'll not only prettify your patch but also bring some serious practicality. Today's lineup is -
Top Ten Winners:
Fast growing flowering shrubs
Below is the top selection of spectacular flowering shrubs that can create a nice hedge or a natural screen within just a couple of seasons.
Tithonia diversifolia - Sunflower tree.
Grows super fast to a very tall dense hedge, and starts flowering right away. Full sun, very easy, not
fussy about soil or water. Winter bloomer.
Calliandra surinamensis - Powderpuff.
Pretty pink powderpuffs almost year around! Easy to prune.
Dombeya x wallichii - Tropical Hydrangea.
You can see this beautiful bush right at Top Tropicals gate. Winter bloomer, large lush leaves and huge, pink hydrangea-like blooms. Very large and fast growing, likes water, tolerates shade.
Acalypha hispida - Cat tail, Chenille plant.
All time favorite, everblooming with red cat tails! Full sun. Easy to control.
Hibiscus variegated Snow Queen.
Popular landscape bush with unusual look, red flowers over snow white variegation, very showy! Responds well to
pruning. Full sun.
Leonotis leonurus - Lions Ears.
Winter bloomer, great for low hedges. Covered with bright orange curious flowers,
medium sized, easy to control at 3-4 ft. Full sun.
Plumbago auriculata Imperial Blue
One of the most popular Southern hedge plants, everblooming with bright blue flowers, tolerant to drought, heat, and poor soils. Can be maintained short or tall (2-6 ft).
Eranthemum pulchellum - Blue Sage, Lead Flower.
Great for shady spots, winter bloomer with dark green leaves and unusual sky-blue flowers. Can be trimmed if needed. Nice and dense.
Clerodendrum paniculatum - Pagoda Flower. Happy in the sun or shade, easy plant. Loves water.
Tibouchina lepidota - Ecuador Princess, Jules Dwarf.
Sun or shade, blooms on and off throughout the year. Beautiful Purple
Princess!
What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden?
Asclepias - Milkweed, butterfly attractor
If you love butterflies and if you enjoy having nature around your home, then plant a butterfly garden. Caterpillars, which transform into butterflies, require special kinds of plants to feed upon. Below are the top five winners that butterflies appreciate the most. Besides, remember That all yellow flowers are attractive to butterflies, for example Cassias. Butterflies like the Sun and everything that looks like the Sun! 🌞
🏆 5 best butterfly attractors:
1. Calotropis gigantea - Giant milkweed, Arka
2. Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
3. Plumbago - blue, white and red
4. Rondeletia leucophylla - Panama Rose
5. Asclepias - Milkweed
💻 Learn more:
🎥 ABC-7: Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals
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The Milkweed and the Monarch, how to raise your own
Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
Plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds
🛒 Shop butterfly plants
#Butterfly_Plants
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🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals
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Blue butterfly pea lemonade: quick-n-fun exotic recipes
Blue butterfly pea lemonade
- 🔵Blue butterfly pea flowers (Clitoria ternatea) make an excellent lemonade!
- 🔵Brew the flowers into a blue tea, add a bit of lemon juice.
- 🔵Watch the color turn purple like magic!
Blue butterfly pea lemonade
Ingredients
- 🔵 A handful of blue butterfly pea flowers (Clitoria ternatea)
- 🔵 Hot water for brewing
- 🔵 Fresh lemon juice
- 🔵 Ice cubes and lemon slices for serving
Instructions
- 🔵 Steep blue butterfly pea flowers in hot water to make deep blue tea.
- 🔵 Cool and add a splash of lemon juice — watch the color turn purple like magic!
- 🔵 Pour over ice and garnish with lemon slices.
🛒Plant Clitoria vine for blue and purple exotic drinks
#Food_Forest #Recipes
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date:
Monarch Butterflies Are In Trouble
You Can Help By Planting Milkweed
Do you want to save butterflies from extinction? This is all you need - embrace the allure of butterfly plants and become a hero for monarchs!
...Ecologists and other scientists have been warning about an 80 percent
decline in monarch populations due to habitat loss, pesticides and climate
change over the past two decades, but 2024 is a critical year. A recently
released annual survey on monarch populations reported a 59.3 percent decrease in
population from 2022.
Milkweed plants are one of the best butterfly attractors and they can grow
pretty much anywhere. It is a favorite of monarchs, according to Monarch
Watch.... (Source: blockclubchicago.org)
Join us in combating the decline of monarch populations by welcoming these graceful creatures into your garden! Discover the beauty of butterfly plants today and help preserve their habitat.
In the photo: Asclepias - favorite plant of all butterflies.
In the photo: a caterpillar of a future Monarch butterfly climbing up the Calotropis gigantea - Giant milkweed flower, one of the best host plants for Monarch butterfly.
Date:
The Milkweed and the Monarch, how to raise your own
by Ed Jones, the Booster Guy
...How to attract butterflies in your garden? What plants do butterflies
love? How to grow those plants when butterfly larvae keep eating them?...
Many gardeners ask these questions and butterfly attracting plants always
have been very popular. But did you know that you could actually turn your
garden into a little butterfly farm?...
Find out from Ed and Juvonda's butterfly mini-farm experience!
CONTINUE READING >
