Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 14 Aug 2025

The sun will rise

Mr B the cat

Mr B the cat

🔥 The sun will rise

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." - Victor Hugo

🐈📸 Mr B the cat at sunset at Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Date: 14 Aug 2025

Homegrown coffee - the journey begins

Coffee tree - Coffea arabica

☕️ Homegrown coffee - the journey begins!

Coffee trees (Coffea arabica) that you saw blooming at Top Tropicals in May with fragrant, gardenia-like flowers, now in August - they are loaded with fruit! We will update on them once they turn red and ripe...

🛒 Start your own coffee harvest

📚 Learn more:

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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Date: 13 Aug 2025

🌸 Orchid Tree - Bauhinia: Winter Blooms & Year-Round Beauty

Collage showing Bauhinia blakeana with magenta flowers, Bauhinia variegata var. candida with white blooms, and Bauhinia monandra with pink speckled flowers; all suitable for gardens, with some varieties adapted to container growing if trimmed.
Bauhinia blakeana, Bauhinia variegata var. candida, and Bauhinia monandra – Orchid Trees in Bloom

Sometimes a plant stops you midwalk. Flowers so bright they almost glow, leaves shaped like butterflies — that’s a Bauhinia, the Orchid Tree. These fast growers bring color when many gardens are quiet, with some blooming in the heart of winter.

🌟 Why Grow Bauhinia?

  • Exotic blooms in colors from white to deep magenta
  • Distinctive leaves — nature’s own butterfly design
  • Many varieties flower in the cooler season
  • Fast growth, easy shaping, more blooms after pruning
  • Varieties for large yards, small gardens, and sunny patios
  • Tolerant of heat, drought, and poor soils

Bauhinia Care Tips

🌞 Outdoor

Full sun for best flowering, well-draining soil, deep watering once established. Light pruning after bloom keeps shape and encourages more flowers. Protect young plants from frost. During the growing season (Spring - Fall), apply a balanced fertilizer - like top-dress slow release fertilizer or controlled-release Green Magic. Liquid fertilizer Sunshine Boosters Megaflor can be used year around - to promote vigorous growth and abundant blooms.

🏡 Indoor / Patio

Bright sun (south window or outdoors in warm months), large pot with drainage, even moisture during growth, and a bloom-booster feed in season. Feed regularly with a balanced fertilizer controlled-release Green Magic. Liquid fertilizer Sunshine Boosters Megaflor can be used year around - to promote vigorous growth and abundant blooms. Bring indoors before frost.

🍂 Seasonal Note – Bauhinias are Deciduous

Bauhinias drop their leaves in winter — even in warm climates. This is normal and part of their rest cycle. Bare branches in the cool season will leaf out again in spring, often just as flowers begin.

📝 Quick choice guide

Shop Bauhinas

Watch videos about flowering trees

Date: 13 Aug 2025

Lilys guide to the good life

Cat Lily (Lilimon)

🌳 Lily’s guide to the good life

Lily (aka Lilimon) has officially settled into Bfarm life - and she's living it up!

She's claimed a fluffy blanket as her spot, where she purrs away while kneading it like she's making bread.

When she's not in her cozy corner, she's off exploring the indoor jungle, getting into shenanigans with the other #PeopleCats, or joining in on Catnip Parties and rolling around like the happiest cat in the world!

Life is definitely treating Lily well.

🐈📸 Cat Lily has a happy life at Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats

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Date: 13 Aug 2025

Natures weirdest flower? This ones in the running

⭐️ Nature’s weirdest flower? This one’s in the running

📱

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden
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Date: 13 Aug 2025

The bizarre bloom you cant stop staring at

Stapelia gigantea - Zulu Giant, Carrion Plant

⭐️ The bizarre bloom you cant stop staring at
  • ⭐️If there were an award for the strangest flower, the Starfish Flower - Stapelia gigantea - would be a top contender. Also known as the Zulu Giant or Carrion Plant, it produces massive blooms, sometimes 12 inches across, that look exactly like starfish. The pale ochre-yellow petals are lined with fine maroon stripes, giving the flowers a texture and color you can't ignore.
  • ⭐️ And then there's the smell!🐱

    • Its nickname Carrion Plant comes from its uncanny scent of rotting meat. While that might not sound appealing, it's a brilliant strategy for attracting its pollinators - flies - who can't resist investigating! Just like Amorphophallus - Corpse flower! 🐱
  • ⭐️The plant itself is a stunner even without flowers, with chunky, 4-angled succulent stems that sprawl sideways. In the ground, it can spread up to 24 inches wide, and in a pot, it makes a fantastic conversation piece. Despite its cactus-like appearance, it's actually a member of the Milkweed family. When it sets seed, each pod bursts to release silky parachutes that float away just like milkweed.
  • ⭐️It's bizarre, beautiful, and guaranteed to get people talking!


🛒 Add the Zulu giant to your garden

📚 Learn more:
The most bizarre flower

🎥 More video:
  • 📱
  • 📱 on TikTok


#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden
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Date: 12 Aug 2025

A chance to be better

Marco the cat

Marco the cat

🐈🐈🐈 A chance to be better

"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." - Albert Einstein

🐈📸 Marco the cat is working on self-improvement at Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Date: 12 Aug 2025

Six guava varieties that will keep you picking year-round

Tropical Guava - Psidium guajava

🍉 Six guava varieties that will keep you picking year-round
  • 🍉 Everyone loves guava! Sweet, fragrant, and packed with flavor. At TopTropicals, we have a whole guava forest, with varieties for every space and taste: Tropical Guava - Psidium guajava.
  • 🍉 Why we love Guava?

💋Fast-growing and sun-loving
  • 💋Thrives with plenty of water but handle short droughts
  • 💋Starts producing right away - no years of waiting
  • 💋Abundant fruit harvests
  • 💋Perfect for containers or small gardens

  • 🍉 What are the best Guava varieties? Our favorites are:

💋Dwarf Guava - stays under 6 feet but produces full-sized fruit.
  • 💋Honeymoon Variegated - leaves and fruit have variegated patterns, turning golden when ripe.
  • 💋Barbie Pink - pear-shaped yellow fruit with thick pink flesh, low in pectin, perfect for fresh eating or juice. Larger than Ruby Supreme and cold-hardy for a tropical fruit.
  • 💋Hong Kong (Hawaiian) - large, round fruit with smooth pink skin, sweet flavor, and few seeds. Very productive, with a spreading growth habit.
  • 💋Kilo White - huge fruit (up to 1 kilo = 2 lbs) with soft white flesh and few seeds. Great container plant, fruits even when small.
  • 💋Tikal - compact tree with yellow-skinned, pink-fleshed fruit. Fruits year-round and starts young. Great for beginners.

  • 🍉 Health boost in every bite:

    • Guava is one of the richest sources of vitamin C – even more than oranges. It’s loaded with antioxidants, fiber, potassium, and lycopene, which support immunity, heart health, and digestion.
  • 🍉 Whether you’ve got space for a tree in the yard or just a container on the patio, a guava will reward you with beauty, fragrance, and sweet fruit in no time.


🛒 Pick your guava variety

📚 Learn more:

#Food_Forest #Guava #Discover

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Date: 11 Aug 2025

Does your house fit you?

⬆️ Does your house fit you?

"My house fits me! Or I fit the house?.."

🐈📸 Matilda loves her cat tree at PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats

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Date: 11 Aug 2025

Why every garden has this one Purple Spray Tree

Tibouchina granulosa - Glory Tree or Purple Spray Tree

💜 Why every garden has this one Purple Spray Tree
  • 🟪 Tibouchina granulosa - Glory Tree or Purple Spray Tree - is the one you'll see in every Florida garden!
  • 🟪 If you love purple flowers, this one's a no-brainer. From late summer through winter, it's covered in velvety purple blooms that form giant flower sprays. The whole tree lights up with color, and it's impossible to ignore!
  • 🟪 In Highlands County, Florida (where Top Tropicals farm is), you'll see this tree in garden after garden - and everyone says the same thing: You've gotta have one!
  • 🟪 It's tropical, eye-catching, and makes any landscape feel lush and vibrant. A true gem for southern gardens.


📚 Learn more:
💋How this addictive purple took over yards in Central Florida

🛒 Everyone has one - get yours today!

#Hedges_with_benefits #Trees

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