🌸 What is the most beautiful winter flowering tree for Florida snowbirds?

• 🌸 It's not a cherry blossom! It's one of the most beautiful Florida trees - Tabebuia impetiginosa - Dwarf Pink Tabebuia, Pau DArco, Taheebo. It is in full bloom now, and it's a spectacular view!
• 🌸 This tree is a Florida favorite that's sure to make your garden stand out. This beauty is a winter-spring bloomer that'll have your landscape looking fabulous with bright pink flowers and a splash of yellow in the throats.
• 🌸 These gorgeous blooms pop up before the tree even puts out new leaves.
• 🌸 Perfect for smaller yards, this compact tree brings a burst of color without taking up too much space. Plus, it's the ideal choice for snowbirds visiting Florida in winter - when you're craving some color!
• 🌸 But this Tabebuia isn't just pretty - it's also practical! This tropical beauty is cold-hardy down to the upper 20’s, making it a great fit for Central Florida.
• 🌸 It's been a prized medicinal tree for centuries! Pau DArco (Taheebo) bark is brewed to make a smooth, earthy, and subtly sweet tea that contains compounds like lapachol and quercetin, used for centuries by indigenous South American tribes. A tree that's not only lovely to look at but also useful? That’s a win-win!
• 🌸 Starts flowering in very small size - see next post ⬇️

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🤘 How easy to grow is Pigeon Pea

• 🍿 Cajanus cajan - Pigeon Pea - is a bushy perennial shrub with pretty yellow flowers and abundant production of beans!
• 🍿 It is very fast growing, free branching, easy to grow and very low maintenance plant. Cold hardy to light frost. The plant tolerates poor soils, drought tolerant, improves soil quality like many other beans. Can be grown in container
• 🍿 Provides flavorful, nutritious, and healthy super-food. The beans used in rice dishes, soups, stews, tempeh, tofu. Unripe pods eaten in curries, leaves and young shoots cooked as a vegetable. Rich source of fiber, protein, vitamins (B, C, E, K), and minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc). It has many medicinal uses.

📚 Learn more from previous posts:
What was discovered in the Pyramids
Pigeon Pea - an Ancient Superfood

🛍 Grow your own Pigeon Pea Superfood

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🚩 What are the most beautiful ornamental Banana varieties and which one should I plant?

Continued for the previous post🔼

❤️ The most popular ornamental banana varieties

• 
  🔥 Blood Leaf, Musa x sumatrana Zebrina Rojo - a striking banana variety with green leaves splashed with red, burgundy undersides, and small red fruit, thriving in containers and overwintering well in colder climates.
• 
  🔥 Musa coccinea - Scarlet Red Flowering Banana - is a rare, compact tropical banana from China and Vietnam, prized for its stunning red flower bracts with yellow blooms, glossy green leaves, and small ornamental orange fruits, making it a vibrant choice for gardens, pots, or cut arrangements.
• 
  🔥 Bordelon, Red Striped - a hardy ornamental banana variety with 10-15' tall stalks, striking red-striped leaves, and red undersides, discovered in Bordelonville, Louisiana, and capable of flowering and producing seeded fruit if protected in winter.
• 
  🔥 Banana Red Leaf, Musa x sumatrana - is a striking ornamental banana with large variegated leaves, red stems, and a solid maroon underside, growing 3-5 feet in containers or up to 8 feet in the ground, making it a stunning focal point or tropical backdrop.
• 
  🔥 Banana Siam Ruby - a striking ornamental banana with beautiful ruby-red leaves splashed with bright lime green, intensifying in color with sun exposure, thriving in hot, humid areas, and perfect for tropical backdrops or large patio containers.

📚 More about ornamental Bananas:
Musa Zebrina Rojo - Blood Leaf Banana

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🍌 What are the best varieties of edible Banana and which one should I plant?

Continued for the previous post🔼

🔥 The most popular edible banana varieties:

• 
  🍌 Truly Tiny - is a compact banana variety growing 2-3 feet in pots and up to 5 feet in the ground, perfect for small spaces or container gardening, producing 4-5 inch fruit with a distinctive pineapple flavor.
• 
  🍌 Cuban Red Dacca - a vibrant tropical banana variety with reddish-purple, plump, and short bananas that are sweeter and richer in flavor than common yellow bananas, thriving in warm climates and reaching 8-15 feet tall.
• 
  🍌 Double Mahoi - is a Cavendish banana variety that typically produces a double stalk of bananas in its second year, boosting the harvest.
• 
  🍌 Dwarf Cavendish - a hardy, vigorous banana variety growing under 5-8 feet, producing large, flavorful fruit with minimal care, making it a popular backyard banana in Florida and one of the most common Cavendish types for hobbyists and container gardens.
• 
  🍌 Gran Nain - is the true Chiquita banana, growing under 5-8 feet tall and producing large bunches of fruit, making it a staple of commercial banana production.
• 
  🍌 Ice Cream (Blue Java) - a cold-tolerant hybrid of Musa balbisiana and Musa acuminata, vigorous banana growing 10-15 feet tall and producing 40-60 lb bunches of stout, bluish-skinned fruit with sweet, vanilla-flavored, cream-like flesh that can be eaten raw or cooked.
• 
  🍌 Banana Lakatan - a popular Philippine banana cultivar prized for its sweet taste, rich aroma, and firm texture, making it a top choice for dessert bananas.

🆒 Banana #Fun_Facts

• 
  🟡Bananas are rich in potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure and supports heart health.
• 🟡They provide a quick source of energy and are great for post-workout recovery.
• 🟡The fiber in bananas aids digestion and promotes gut health.
• 🟡Eat them fresh, add to smoothies, bake into breads and desserts, or use in various savory dishes.
• 🟡Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on mosquito bites can reduce itching and swelling.

Learn about ornamental Bananas in next post 🔽

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🍌 How many varieties of Bananas can I grow?

• 💛 At Top Tropicals, we have a few dozen varieties of Bananas (Musa sp.) - ranging from popular commercial and plantain types to spectacular ornamental bananas with colorful, tropical foliage.
• 💛 Banana plants are a favorite in Southern gardens, indoor plant collections, and greenhouses in cooler climates. Fast and easy to grow, they transform any space into a tropical paradise in just one season and can produce fruit for you in as little as 8–18 months after planting.
• 💛 Bananas are a powerhouse of nutrition, packed with potassium for heart health, fiber for digestion, and vitamins B6 and C for immunity. They’re a natural energy booster, great for snacks, smoothies, and even baking. Plus, their tryptophan content can improve your mood, and their low sodium helps regulate blood pressure.
• 💛 With so many delicious and unique varieties, growing different types of bananas lets you enjoy a range of flavors, textures, and uses - whether fresh, blended, or cooked - making them a must-have in any tropical or indoor garden!

Discover the most popular edible and ornamental bananas in our next post 🔽

🎥 Banana selection today at TopTropicals farm. Come over to pick the best one!

📚 More about Banana from previous posts:

• 💋Top 10 fruit you'll ever need for your health benefits: #5 Banana growing and fun facts
• 💋How to make tasty Carambola Banana Whip
• 💋Why Bananas? They are good for you and are fun to grow
• 💋Bananas help you feel fuller and enhance your mood

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👍 How Avocado trees set fruit

• 🥑 Similar to Mango trees we mentioned earlier, Avocado trees start flowering from late Winter to Spring, depending on variety. During this time, avocado trees produce small, yellow-green flowers in clusters, and the pollination process is crucial for fruit set. Avocados have both male and female flower parts, but they open at different times, requiring cross-pollination between flowers for successful fruit production. During flowering, avocado trees need warm temperatures and plenty of sunlight to encourage pollination.
• 🥑 There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. It's a guarantee! While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious.

📚 For more information on Avocado varieties, including fruit color and size, tree habit, season, and much more - check out our interactive Avocado Variety Guide. It will helps to choose the right variety for you. With its interactive tool, you can sort cultivars by fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, crop season, flower type A or B, tree habit and more.

🎥 This tiny avocado tree is covered with hundreds of flowers soon to become lots of fruit

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🔥 When does Sapodilla start fruiting and what is the best variety

• 🥨 Sapodilla or Brown Sugar fruit, is one of the most favorite tropical fruit trees. It produces juicy, brown-sugar-sweet fruit. The tree is compact, easy in cultivation and starts producing in small size.

Grafted and air-layered trees start fruiting right away.
• 🥨 Hasya - extra large, football-shaped fruit native to Mexico where it is the number one commercial cultivar grown. The fruit has a reddish hue throughout the pulp. The tree is a large upright grower, and it is a prolific producer.

Ripens from November to June.
• 🥨 Makok - the best producer, the fruit is long, pointed, and one of the best tasting in the world. It is native to Thailand. The tree is a small compact grower, perfect for limited spaces.

Ripens from May to November.
• 🥨 Molix is a football shaped large fruit native to Mexico. Similar to Hasya, darker brown, the tree has curly leaves. The pulp is exceptionally sweet with a fine pear texture.

Ripens from February to May.
• 🥨 Oxkutzcab (or Ox) - "gigantic sapodilla" - is originally from Oxkutzcab (Yucatan). Extremely large (up to 28 oz), roundish fruit with speckled, light-colored skin. Heavily productive tree.

Ripens from May to September.
• 🥨 Silas Woods is an outstanding variety with dwarf growth habit and adapts well to a container. Highly productive, producing year round, providing bright light and warmth. The branches often require support as they get very heavy loaded with fruits. The best variety for small yards and container culture.
• 🥨 Thai Browny that we mentioned in earlier post, was brought by TopTropicals from Thailand in 2005. Fruit is oval, medium size, and very sweet. The tree is a heavy producer.

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🍇 If you are missing Northern fruit that don't tolerate hot climate, plant this

🇮🇳 Tropical Raspberry Mysore (Rubus albescens x niveus) is from India. It thrives in heat!

• 🔹 Unlike common raspberries from up North that can not tolerate heat, Mysore Raspberry grows very well in hot humid climates.
• 🔹 Grows very fast into a scrambling shrub with flexible stems.
• 🔹 Blooms and fruits throughout the year.
• 🔹 The fruit turns purple black when ripe, it is very juicy and sweet.
• 🔹 One cluster may contain as many as couple dozen fruit.
• 🔹 Great for large containers and will produce large amounts of fruit.
• 🔹 Cold hardy to upper 20s F.

🛍 OrderTropical Raspberry

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🐰 What cactus vine produces gooseberries? Barbados Gooseberry!

• 
  🙂 Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry - unique cactus with edible leaves and edible fruit, fast-growing vine. It is a tropical treasure that combines beauty with edible delights.
• 
  🙂 The fruit is yellow with a juicy, subacid pulp, and has a flavor that closely resembles a gooseberry. The fruits can be enjoyed fresh, stewed, or made into jams and jellies.
• 
  🙂 The young leaves are also edible, making them a nutritious addition to your meals.
• 
  🙂 A fast growing vining cactus, the Barbados Gooseberry prefers good drainage but likes its soil to remain moist during the summer, while being kept drier in the winter.
• 
  🙂 Can be grown in container on a trellis.

📚 Learn more from previous posts:
What is Barbados Gooseberry?
A vine, a cactus, a tasty fruit, and a pretty flower

🛍 Plant Barbados Gooseberry

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🐰 What cactus vine produces gooseberries? Barbados Gooseberry!

• 🙂 Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry - unique cactus with edible leaves and edible fruit, fast-growing vine. It is a tropical treasure that combines beauty with edible delights.
• 🙂 The fruit is yellow with a juicy, subacid pulp, and has a flavor that closely resembles a gooseberry. The fruits can be enjoyed fresh, stewed, or made into jams and jellies.
• 🙂 The young leaves are also edible, making them a nutritious addition to your meals.
• 🙂 A fast growing vining cactus, the Barbados Gooseberry prefers good drainage but likes its soil to remain moist during the summer, while being kept drier in the winter.
• 🙂 Can be grown in container on a trellis.

📚 Learn more from previous posts:
What is Barbados Gooseberry?
A vine, a cactus, a tasty fruit, and a pretty flower

🛍 Plant Barbados Gooseberry

#Food_Forest #Hedges_with_benefits

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals🙂