Must Have Florida Plants – Best Plants For Florida Gardening

A Yellow Flower
(Image credit: passion4nature)
Susan Albert
By Susan Albert
published

Florida gardeners are lucky enough to live in a subtropical climate, which means they can enjoy their landscaping efforts practically year-round. Plus, they can grow a lot of exotic plants that northerners can only dream about (or overwinter). The University of Florida is a great resource for ideal plants for Florida, as is the program called Florida Select. Both entities make recommendations each year for gardening success. 

Best Florida Garden Plants: What to Grow in a Florida Garden

Ideal plants can include low maintenance as well as native plants. With year-round gardening chores, it’s nice to grow plants that aren’t too demanding. 

Here are low maintenance plants recommended for Florida gardening, including natives and must-have Florida plants. Low maintenance means they do not require frequent watering, spraying, or pruning to stay healthy. Epiphytes listed below are plants that live on the trunks of trees or other living hosts but do not derive nutrients or water from the host. 

Annuals:

Epiphytes:

Fruit Trees:

Palms, Cycads:

Perennials:

Shrubs and Trees:

Vines:

Susan Albert
Susan Albert
Writer

After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in English, Susan pursued a career in communications. In addition, she wrote garden articles for magazines and authored a newspaper gardening column for many years. She contributed South-Central regional gardening columns for four years to Lowes.com. While living in Oklahoma, she served as a master gardener for 17 years.