Spend time among trees...

"...Time spent among trees is never time wasted..."
- Katrina Mayer -

One of the most impressive and massive trees in the world - Ceiba pentandra - Kapok Tree. A majestic tropical tree! The ancient Maya of Central America believed that a great Ceiba tree stood at the center of the earth... Would you like to try growing it in the center of your backyard? Considering it will take decades to grow this big...

Ficus macrophylla (Banyan). Did you know that exotic Banyan Trees are close related to Fig trees?..

GO GREEN:
April 22 - Earth Day

Every year, Top Tropicals joins in the celebration of Earth Day by planting new trees and shrubs in our garden... This is our way of making our corner of the Planet happier.

Plant your trees and shrubs today!

Macadamia: Hard Sweet Nut and Hardy Tree

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Do you know what is the most hard-shelled nut in the world? And the most useful? Most rich in nutrients? May aid weight loss? They are Macadamia nuts!...
...Macadamia nuts garner premium prices as the demand surpasses current production... ...Are you searching for a nut that you can grow in cooler subtropics like Central Florida? This is the one. It looks hopeful as a new alternative crop for Florida growers. Macadamia nuts are most delicious and popular sweet nuts that are so expensive... They can be produced and enjoyed in your garden! Macadamia is cold hardy, fast growing, tolerates all soils and very productive. It likes lots of water, will live through some flooding, as well as some drought once established. Older trees can survive cold winters with a little die back, but young trees will need to be protected from cold temperatures below 25-26F...

A Really Fig Deal for You...

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy.
Easy like Sunday Morning...

It's time for our favorite day and another Easy stroll through Top Tropicals Garden with savings of

up to 50% and MORE!

Easy Sunday Fig Deal
50% OFF

Figs are a superfood that have been associated with health and prosperity since ancient times. Linked to Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and fertility, figs are not your typical fruit. In fact, figs are technically a collection of inverted flowers!

Figs satisfy your sweet cravings and offer a variety of health benefits including:
- reduce high blood pressure
- improve digestion
- increase bone density
- they are naturally fat-free and cholesterol-free food that is an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium (Source: webmd.com).

Figs trees are easy to grow and are cold hardy subtropical fruit trees that can tolerate some hard freeze once established. They have very low water demands and require minimal care. These trees will fruit for you right away!

Beers Black
Celeste
Ischia
Lattarula Italian Honey
LSU Purple
Violette de Bordeaux Negronne
Yellow Longneck Honey

The trees are in 1 gal pots, ready to step up. They have well-developed root system, and are ready to fruit this year!

Actual plants for sale

Seven Fig Deal:
6 plants at 50% off + 1 plant FREE!

Regularly $230.65
Easy Sunday Collection price $98.85
(half price plus one plant FREE)
This is savings of $131.80 per set!
Told you, that's a really Fig Deal!

Remember, this Easy Sunday Deal expires on Tuesday, 3-15-22.

How to survive Winter in South Central Florida

A touching story

by Ed Jones, the Booster Guy

...As much of the country is still in the midst of winter, I believe the worst has passed for us here in the South Central part of Florida...
...This Winter, almost all of zone 9b and some of zone 10a had frost and many had a hard freeze...
...Now, many of us here in this part of the state enjoy growing subtropical plants and trees. There are many that grow well here and most can handle a frost or even a dip to the high 20s for a short time. Smaller and more recently planted trees and bushes are most at risk...
...At the Top Tropicals nursery here in Sebring, home to over 20,000 plants, we scrambled for several days to try to protect as many of our plants as possible. We moved smaller plants into some of our hoop houses that had propane heaters...
...After 2 weeks of moving plants in and out of protection, we were all pretty worn out; happy that everything survived and hoping that we would not have to do that again anytime soon. Slowly, things at the nursery are beginning to resemble our old normal. Seeds are being planted, cuttings are continuing to grow and grafting season will be upon us soon. We are all very happy for that...
...What to do and not to do when the freeze is coming and you have mango, avocado, and other tropical fruit trees and tender tropicals? Here is some news from the Orchard and many more coming... check it out and stay with our updates to learn more!

CONTINUE READING >>

5 most rewarding tropical fruit trees

Top Tropicals @ Garden America Radio Show

...The most popular garden radio show Garden America is featuring Top Tropicals topic "5 most practical and rewarding fruit trees for subtropical areas".

1) Jackfruit Orange Crush (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
...We recently obtained this variety and it is hands down the best Jackfruit we ever tasted. It is crunchy, sweet, aromatic, with bright orange pulp...

2) Dwarf Guava Hawaiian Rainbow (Psidium nana)
- A very small version of the favorite aromatic Guava.
- Grows only up to 5-6 ft tall with a short trunk and branching, bushy habit.

3) Yellow Pitaya, Dragon Fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus)
- This particular species of Dragon fruit is the sweetest and has great flavor unlike most pitayas
- doesn't mind regular water and rains but is also drought-tolerant

4) Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)
- Can be kept as a very compact tree, and fruits in a pot.
- Flowers and fruits right away. The plants are covered with flowers now and setting fruit.
- Very cold hardy to upper 20's, drought tolerant, fast growing

5) Macadamia Nut (Macadamia integrifolia x tetraphylla)
- The most delicious and popular sweet nuts that are usually so expensive, can be produced in your garden!
- Cold hardy, fast growing, and very productive.

Listen to Facebook-Live Show (recording):

Don't miss this one:
PodCast Premiere!

Episode 1
How to Protect Tropical plants in Winter: Q & A

Featuring Horticulturist Mark Hooten

...We are introducing our new Series: Top Tropicals Podcast. Growing tropicals and pushing the limits. Watch the first episode:

How to Protect Tropical plants in Winter

...Who doesn't like tropical beauty? Everyone wants tropical plants. But not everyone lives in a warm climate. Is it possible to grow tropicals outside of Tropics?
Top Tropicals horticulturist Mark Hooten, who is well known to many gardeners as the Garden Doc with his Saturday Plant Clinic, is answering gardeners' questions about how to prepare and protect tropical plants during winter...

Premiere scheduled:
Thursday, January 27, 8:00 AM

More about cold hardiness and cold protection:

Cold hardy tropical fruit trees
Growing Stephanotis and cold protection
Cold protection of tropical container plants
Plumeria cold protection
Ghost Cold Protection
Seven rules of cold protection for tropicals
Improving cold hardiness before winter: fertilizer and micro-elements
3D garden ideas and winter cold protection
Cold protection - winter action for your plant collection
About Cold Protection

New Video:
The Hong Kong Orchid Tree

Bauhinia blakeana

"...Edging the golf course of the club was a glorious sweep of glowing purple. Even before I was near enough to identify the trees, the rich, heady perfume which filled the air told me they were Bauhinias. The sight left me breathless and it was then I realized how difficult was the attempt I was making to describe in mere words the trees I know better how to paint..." (D. Cowen, "Flowering trees and shrubs of India")

Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree, is the most beautiful of all orchid trees, and the most wanted one. It has the largest flowers, brightly colored. Winter bloomer. These trees start flowering in very small size, when only 2-3 ft tall!
Certainly seeing flowering Bauhinia blakeana is one of the best things a plant collector will love about winter. It truly is the most beautiful orchid tree!

Read more: Bauhinias: Orchid trees with Butterfly flowers
Spectacular Hong Kong Orchid Tree - Eye Candy and "Clever Leaf"

WATCH NEW VIDEO >>

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!

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: The biggest fruit in the world

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy.
Easy like Sunday Morning...

It's time for our favorite day and another Easy stroll through Top Tropicals Garden with savings of

up to 50% and MORE!

The biggest fruit in the world...

Do you want something exceptional for your plant collection? It can be affordable: on Easy Sunday!

Jackfruit great features:
- easy to grow, likes to be watered
- relatively cold-hardy, established trees can take light frost
- can be maintained in a pot, as you can trim the tree at 6-7 ft, since the fruit is born at the base of the trunk
- starts producing within just a couple of years from planting.

Jackfruit Orange Crush

- The best variety we ever tasted -

Jackfruit Orange Crush has a dark orange, extra crunchy flesh, with a nice clean green skin, and low latex. Typically weighs about 20 lbs. We recently obtained this variety and it is hands down the best Jackfruit we ever tasted. It is crunchy, sweet, aromatic, with bright orange pulp.

Jackfruit Super Thai

- The most popular variety -

Super Thai Jackfruit is crispy, sweet, fruit is very large, over 35-50 lb on average. Thai favorite!

Both Jackfruits are large 3 gal size plants, regularly $72.95,
on Easy Sunday sale for only $43.77 each!

Combine the two and get 2 FREE plants!

Showy ornamental Ardisia elliptica - FREE!

Spectacular flowering, easy Kalanchoe daigremontiana - Mother of Thousands - FREE!

(Regularly priced at $17.95 each)

2 Jackfruit + 2 plants Collection price: Reg. $172.95 - Sale: $87.95

Remember, the Easy Sunday Deal expires on Monday January 24th.

Avocado Q & A

Sensation: Avocado 2.5 y.o seedling just bloomed!

Ed's Avocado seedling blooming at age 2.5 years old... Go figure!

Q: Can I plant a seed from a store bought avocado and expect it to bear fruit?

A: Avocados grown from seed do not always come true, meaning being the same as the avocado that produced the seed being planted. Also, avocados grown from seed will take upwards of 8 years to flower and bear fruit unless grown by Ed Jones and his witchcraft. Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy... Yes, he is also the Mango Guy, and the Booster Guy... We don't know how he does it. He grows the most beautiful fruit trees, many of them from seed and they all seem to flower within two years! (See his blogs about his Star Fruit, Olive trees, and video about Shaping Mango Trees). All we know for sure, he uses Sunshine Boosters for all his plant experiments.
As far as Avocado , we recommend a grafted variety, where a scion, or branch tip, of a known cultivar is grafted to good rootstock. These trees will usually flower right away and bear good amount of fruit within a couple of years of being planted in the ground.
It's a good chance now to get a good grafted Avocado on our special Happy Value Sale while supply lasts, for only $59.95.

Happy Value Avocados

Limited 2 trees per customer. Limited time offer, while supply lasts.

Photo above: TopTropicals Avocados 2022