If you happen to love Easter Lilies, let us introduce you to a very
beautiful and hard-to-find vine... The magnificent Easter Lily Vine - Beaumontia grandiflora, is not sold at most nurseries and is not widely
grown for this very reason. We certainly feel it should be, as this woody
vine is a tremendous climber which rewards the gardener with large clusters of
white flowers resembling Easter Lilies, during early spring to late fall. The
flowers are sweetly scented and make excellent cut flowers, which last for
at least a week! An added bonus is the twining ends, which makes a very
unusual and interesting addition to floral arrangements...
Here at the nursery, our Easter Lily vines are almost ready to burst
into full bloom. We are waiting impatiently. Order yours, and have a Happy
Easter!
Seeds of Easter Lily vine also available at BOGO deal - buy 2 packs for the
price of 1 with FREE shipping!
PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Klaksa, the Bird Purrrson
Klaksa is a tiny cat. She is almost 4 years old but she weighs only 6
pounds!
Klaksa considers herself a serious hunter. She spends her days chasing
birds on neighbors' roofs. With very little success though. However she never
gives up her dream to catch a Bird of Paradise.
In the meantime, she has been only catching the Birds of Paradise from our garden. No birds were hurt in the process so
far!
Can you find a cat in the picture?
In the photo: Mini-Klaksa with her full-size buddy
Google
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Donations accepted from our website. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Over the last few weeks, we've been discussing using this time to engage
in the activities that make you happy, to do more of what you love. Of
course, for all of us at Top Tropicals, we have been singing the praises of
gardening and tropical plants for years and sharing the love with any friends and
neighbors who have expressed an interest in our activity of choice.
Do we have an affect on some people? Do we encourage them to try their hand
at gardening and experience the wonder of plants? Yesterday, we just saw it
with our own eyes. Our neighbor, to whom we once gave an Ylang Ylang tree, has consistently and politely resisted a suggestion
to try gardening herself and put some new and interesting plants in an
otherwise traditionally landscaped builders' home. Even her husband emphatically
stated that he was never going to put plants in, let alone take existing plain
boring stuff out!
What a pleasant surprise when we saw them both and their 2 young children
digging in the garden together yesterday. They replaced a whole section of
generic stock plants provided by the builder and filled the area in with loads
of colorful flowers and even topped it off with a healthy dose of new mulch!
We couldn't believe our eyes and was so happy to see the gardening "bug" made
yet another friend!
We hope our Dream Cart Offer will help someone make their dreams come
true, and this forced vacation time will be well spent on their home and
garden!
PeopleCats of the World. Cats of the Day: Hemingway's six-toed cats
If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the
mountain. For today's trip to Tropics we invited PeopleCats from the famous
Hemingway House in Key West, Florida.
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is home to approximately 40-50
polydactyl (six-toed) cats. Most cats have extra toes on their front feet and
sometimes on their back feet as well. Sometimes it looks as if they are wearing
mittens because they appear to have a thumb on their paw! All Hemingway cats
carry the polydactyl gene in their DNA, which means that the ones that have 4
and 5 toes can still mother or father six-toed kittens.
Ernest Hemingway was given a white six-toed cat by a ship’' captain and
some of the cats who live on the museum grounds are descendants of that
original cat, named Snow White. The trait can appear in any breed, Calicos,
Tabbies, Tortoise Shell. White, Black, etc. They vary in shapes, sizes, colors and
personalities.
Hemingway named all of his cats after famous people so they follow that
same tradition today. Cats are capable of learning and responding to their
names...
In the photo: Hemingway's cats on Hemingway's bed.
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Donations accepted from our website. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Lucie's tropical garden in Montreal, Canada:
"The movement of plants fascinates me!"
Our customer Lucie
Herard shared pictures of her tropical garden with us... Many of you have
beautiful gardens that you are proud of... but this one is... in Canada! Believe it
or not, before winter she digs everything up and brings it inside! Then in
Spring, she starts again every year. Dedication? Determination? Heroism! Lucie
won the Planet Bananiers photo contest for the third time.
Look at these pictures and visit Lucie's Facebook page for more photos and videos of her amazing garden.
Ask yourself: and what can I do? Is my life really that hard with mowing a
lawn once a week and blowing the leaves? You don't have to be a hero to make
something worthwhile in your life. Just take a shovel and start... one plant a
day. And you will end up living in Paradise.
Lucie reminds you: "Ornamental horticulture production activities are
now considered an essential service! Add soil in a pot, water very slightly for
the first two weeks and put closer to the window. That's all, the leaves
will start growing again!"
Tropical Paradise Contest 2020
Share with us photos of your garden. The winner of this contest will get
plants $200 worth, with FREE shipping!
PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Chief, Employee of the Month
"Can we get to normal World?"
If you visited TopTropicals Garden center, you've seen our Employee of the Month board in the office. And the picture on it... with our
Chief, who is truly an irreplaceable member of our Shipping Crew. He is
definitely the most responsible worker and reliable Chief Supervisor. This week,
while greeting customers, he asked everybody to follow these simple rules
that he established in the Nursery for everybody's safety during COVID-19 alert:
1. Yes, we are open! But If you want to browse the nursery, please call
for assistance at the gate and we will come over to help you.
2. Please NO CHILDREN on the property at this time. If you came with kids,
have them wait in your car while you are shopping. Chief can entertain
them!
3. Nursery is OPEN for browsing, limiting 2 customers at a time on the
premises.
4. If you know what plant(s) you want, just call us directly at our
customer service desk 239-771-8081 and we can bring those plants, for your
convenience, to the office or even to the gate.
Stay connected and we will get through this, all together, and we all
will be just fine! So says Chief.
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Donations accepted from our website. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Star Anise - Illicium verum - gets its name from the star shaped fruit...
with many culinary uses. So many international dishes get their unique flavor
from this wonderful spice. Any lovers of wonderful Vietnamese noodle soup
"Pho" out there? Did you know that beautiful, aromatic spiciness in the broth
derives from this very plant? In fact, it is the signature flavor of Pho!
Not only does this spice shine in the kitchen, but it has amazing health
benefits. It contains shikimic acid, which is a vital component of the
influenza-fighting drug Tamiflu! It boasts with antioxidants and
vitamin A and C, which help to fight free radicals responsible for premature
aging and diabetes. The oil derived from this plant contains thymol, terpineol
and anethole, which is used to treat cough and flu. In addition,
drinking Star Anise tea will help digestive issues such as bloating, gas,
indigestion, constipation and nausea. It is one of the main ingredients of
Masala Chai...
PeopleCats ruling TopTropicals Kitchen. Healthy Treats for Humans
TREAT OF THE DAY: The Secret Health Booster: the Real Russian Borsh
While PeopleCats continue ruling our gardens, getting their daily treats and
helping us to survive, they suggested we share some special treats for
humans, besides exotic plants and plant boosters...
It is - our favorite Russian Borsh that we make for our TopTropicals
International team! It is the most delicious and healthy meal ever invented, for
both adults and kids. It boosts your energy, makes you feel warm, wealthy, and
happy!
This soup, along with Russian Vodka, is the secret of Russians'
Survival Mode - how to stay healthy, strong, tough, and resistant to any virus.
The recipe of the Real Russian Borsh involves very simple, inexpensive,
and easy to find ingredients. However, making it right takes a little bit of
time (which we sure have now!), since Russians like to make things
complicated and from scratch... they use whole foods!
Take your time and enjoy the process - it is a part of this secret recipe.
At the end, you will be rewarded with a healthy, tasty meal for the whole
family for the whole week! And, it is only $2 per serving!
And remember, it is spelled Borsh (not Borscht!), according to the real
Russians.
As the world's health experts race to find a cure for the novel
coronavirus, this drug have jumped to their attention - Chloroquine. It contains
alkaloid Quinine, extracted from the bark of the Cinchona, or Fever Tree.
We receive many questions from our customers if we carry this plant.
Although we do not offer it at the moment, we definitely can tell you more about
this interesting medicinal plant!
If you like gin and tonic, you will be familiar with the bitter taste of
the tonic which is provided by quinine. While it is now mainly used
to add a flavor to our favorite tipple, the Cinchona tree bark once held a
place as one of the most important drugs in history.
Cinchona was discovered in the 1630s as a treatment for malaria and, for
350 years, was the only effective cure known in Europe until synthetic
replacements were developed in the 1940s. Malaria remains today one of the deadliest
diseases known throughout the tropics, but up until the 20th century the
disease was prevalent throughout Europe, including Britain.
The Cinchona tree is native to the Eastern slopes of the Andes with a
range across Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Once the bark became an established
medicine, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, demand started to
outstrip supply. Threats of overharvesting and the desire to control the source of
this precious bark drove various competing empires to source this plant for
themselves. Understandably, the Spanish, who were in control of this area of
South America, actively tried to prevent this, but failed to establish
successful plantations themselves. A race to source and cultivate Cinchona ensued,
and eventually both the Dutch, in Indonesia, and the British, in India, founded
government controlled plantations for the mass production of quinine.
Chloroquine appears to have "broad-spectrum antiviral properties" and
effects on immune response, and to be effective against severe acute
respiratory syndrome... As the rest of the world, we are looking forward to the
research results and hope the cure will be found soon!
In the meantime, let's just have more Gin-n-Tonic!
As Americans hunker down during these unprecedented times, many of us
are thinking about our friends and neighbors (from all corners) who own and
operate the many businesses that make up our local and virtual communities.
Everybody is worried about the future, and this worry extends to small business
owners and their employees.
While there isn't a lot we can do as restrictions are put in place,
there are some steps we can take to be there for our favorite businesses.
- Carry-out and delivery is an option for many restaurants. You'll get a
break from cooking and the restaurant is still making money.
- Buy gift cards from your favorite establishment. Businesses that are closed
now will be open again and this is a great way to help these establishments
get so much needed revenue right now.
- Shop online. Even if the goods won't be available right away. It's a
great way to support a business while practicing social distancing.
- Make a donation. If your situation allows for it, consider a donation to a
business that could use it to keep their shops open and employees working.
- If you use a service provider who won't be needed or can't get to you to
provide their service (house cleaner, lawn service, therapist), consider
paying the person regardless. Your generosity could be a real game changer for
them, and you will get those services from them eventually.
- Leave good reviews. Words of support can mean a lot for business
owners, now more than ever.
It's time to rally! Together, let's support the 99.9% of businesses that
are considered as "small business" but they employ more than 47% of the
private workforce in the US!
Stay safe. Be patient and kind. There is no better time to strengthen
our bonds, to stand together, to help each other through this storm, and come
out the other side stronger. Together, we will.
TopTropicals Cat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Donations accepted from our website. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
