Like most natives, it’s not fussy, growing in full sun or partial shade. They usually bloom from spring to early summer. Its flowers are small and cream-colored, blooming in long clusters. As a tree, it can grow to 35 to 50 feet high and 20 to 30 feet across but can also be pruned into a hedge, screen, or windbreak.
#Florida tree leaf guide free
They’re not actually grapes, but feel free to munch them. This coastal plant grows grapes by the sea, producing clusters of red, grape-like fruits. Yup, Seagrape can be grown as a shrub or tree, depending on its planting site and pruning. SeagrapeĪre there native trees to plant in Central Florida? Happy in very dry conditions, it’s the host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly, so it’s a must have for your butterfly garden. Perfect for dressing up a fence, trellis, or arbor in a sunny spot, it often spreads beyond its original planting spot, so be sure to give it room to roam. This flowering vine is easy to grow, rewarding you with big stunning three- to five-inch flowers in shades of lavender or purple, with a wavy fringe. Handsome gray bark is almost white on some plants. Pale blue berries appear on female plants in the winter. Its light olive green foliage has a spicy fragrance. Need a great privacy hedge? Check out Southern Wax Myrtle, a multi-trunked evergreen shrub that grows 6-12 feet tall. If you're short on space, the dwarf Fakahatchee only grows to two to three feet tall. More butterfly news: it’s the larval food plant for the Byssus Skipper butterfly.īonus: there are both regular and dwarf varieties. It works well as an accent plant or plant it as a border. The leaves have small, sharp teeth along their edges. This native’s tall, green, grass-like foliage rises upright to form clumps between 4 and 6 feet tall and wide, offering great texture to your landscape. What’s up with all these cool native Florida plant names? And it’s the favorite food of the larvae of the rare Atala butterfly.ĭrought hardy, cold hardy, rare butterfly food - the Coontie is a keeper. It has stiff, glossy, featherlike leaves attached to a thick, short, underground stem. It looks like a small fern, about one to three feet tall. These primitive plants were common during the dinosaur age, which is a fun and impressive fact to share at your backyard parties. Native milkweeds are crucial to other important pollinators, too, including bumble bees. But milkweed is disappearing in the monarch’s spring and summer breeding areas across the U.S., which means the vibrant butterflies are in danger. Milkweed is actually the required host plant for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly, so it plays a critical role in the monarch’s life cycle. It’s a butterfly magnet.įlorida is home to more than 20 species of milkweed, and almost all of them are native Florida plants.
Love butterflies? Then you’ll love milkweed. The lighting should be as bright and sunny as you can find in your garden, to maximize this beauty’s glow. Plant several together, spaced at least 2 feet apart, for a real show. There’s also a white variety of Muhly Grass called ‘White Cloud’ with billowing white plumes. Known for its extreme drought tolerance, growing Muhly Grass is easy and requires little maintenance or upkeep. There are several types of Muhly Grass but the real show stopper is Pink Muhly, which explodes in spectacular soft, fuzzy pink flowers in the fall that glow in the sunlight.Ī fairy princess plant like this must be fussy, right? Nope. Here’s a look at some of the best native plants for Central Florida: 1. Choose the right native plants, and you offer a tasty buffet of seeds, nuts, and fruits for birds and small critters, nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies, host plants for butterfly caterpillars. Wild critters are in trouble as their natural habitats disappear. Once they’re established, native plants typically need less water than non-natives.Native plants and trees love where they live, so they grow well and they’re not at all fussy.Unlike many non-native plants, native plants are hardy and stand up better to pests and diseases.So, what are the best native plants for Central Florida? First, The Beauty of Native Florida Trees and Plants Not all native Florida plants are as much fun to say, but there are lots of other great reasons to add these sturdy, drought-tolerant, and pretty plants to your landscape.įor one thing, Pink Muhly Grass is pink. If you could plant something in your yard called Fakahatchee Grass, why wouldn’t you?
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