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dianeanddean · 6 years

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13 Florida Flowering Plants To Add Color To Your Landscape

Bringing vibrant colors into your landscape will create a more beautiful setting to enjoy. Here are 13 Florida flowering plants to add color to your landscape.

13 Florida Flowering Plants To Add Color To Your Landscape

Ahhh…color in the garden! As landscape designers and DIY gardeners, this is what we ultimately aim to achieve, right? If designed and considered properly, there could potentially be a sequence of blooming plants during the entire growing season. Adding color to the landscape doesn’t have to start and stop with just bloom color and we should always remember to include the seasonality of foliage color, fruit production and bark coloration.

There are so many options to consider that it can sometimes be overwhelming, but is sure is a lot of fun experimenting with plants to find out what the best combinations are. To provide a little inspiration, here are just a few of our Central Florida spring favorites and you might be surprised to find out that they can work in other climates outside of Florida.

Before we head down the plant rabbit hole, it has always been a personal goal to include as many regionally native plants into our landscape. Native plants have certain benefits that introduced plants do not and are incredibly simple to use! Native plants have become more commercially available than in the past and there are local nurseries that carry or specialize in native plants that are appropriate for your area. If you haven’t already, please take some time to learn about using native plants. We promise that you won’t regret it!

All the flowering plants below are actual photos we took of our backyard paradise and for your convenience we added Amazon links to order seeds, plants or bulbs if you can’t find them at your local nursery.

Central Florida Native Spring Flowering Plants

Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica)

OK, leading off is a beautiful Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica) that just happens to be native to Central Florida. Everyone is familiar with the bearded and Japanese Iris varieties, but this show off is great for wet areas and we have ours in the Rain Garden. DIYers at little further north can also look for Northern Blue Flag (Iris versicolor). They love to have moist soil or even constantly wet feet and work wonderfully in combination with softer textured plants like the Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) in this photo. When in bloom, this plant will absolutely stop you on your tracks!

Black Eyed Susans

Ah…Rudbeckias! Oops, sorry, Black Eyed Susans! When Dean first came to Central Florida, he swore that Black Eyed Susans would not be a part of his southern gardens because they are so common everywhere else. Then he came across the Florida native Rudbeckia hirta and he hasn’t been the same since!

These little rays of sunshine are different from the northern Goldstrum Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldstrum’) since it is considered an annual even in the south. If you let this plant go fully to seed, new plants will come back every year and this grouping in the Upland Garden started out as just 5 plants a couple of years ago, so hold on tight!

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohioensis)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohioensis) is a staple of the native, wildflower garden and provides a bulletproof color display in the Spring. It loves moist to wet soil and is the first plant to emerge in our Rain Garden. Spiderwort, like all flowers in the dayflower family, are considered ephemeral since the blooms/flowers only stay open one day, but there are so many of them that you may never notice!

They are also edible, but we haven’t tried munching any yet. Some varieties of Spiderwort are considered invasive, so please make sure to consult your local lists to make sure that you are picking plants appropriately.

Trumpet or Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

With one of the most prolific blooms of any native vine, Trumpet or Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is a great addition to any trellis/green wall, pergola or even chain link fence. This spring bloomer will require some support and there are a couple of different varieties available, but we like to stick to the true native since it has an amazing, red tubular bloom that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.

Trumpet Honeysuckle has a natural range all along the Eastern Seaboard as far north as Massachusetts and extends westward into Texas. This is a great vine for full sun and dry or mesic soils.

Canna (Canna sp.)

Grandma loves Canna and we know why! As one of the most versatile plants with a seemingly unending choice of varieties Canna (Canna sp.) is one of those spring blooming plants that you notice from 1/2 a mile away! We have a bed down by the fire pit that is dedicated entirely to Canna with a native Redbud tree (cercis canadensis) for accent.

These red Cannas were rescued from a neighbor that had bug up the rhizomes and put them at the curb. We also have native Cannas (Canna flaccida) planted down by the edge of our wet woodland that will bloom later on in the season in combination with Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata) for a more naturalized look.

Canna ‘Tropicanna‘ is also featured in a container planter that greets you when you come to the front door, so as you can see there are numerous opportunities to incorporate this blooming beacon into your landscape!

Coreopsis

We have a winner! Did you know that Coreopsis is the state wildflower of Florida? Yep, and we are happy to include this fine textured cutie in our landscape. Our northern friends are probably familiar with the varieties of Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’, Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ or even pink variety, Coreopsis rosea, but the native for us is Leavenworth’s Coreopsis (Coreopsis ‘Leavenworthii)

Also known commonly as Tickseed, Coreopsis in Florida is considered a short lived perennial that lasts about 3-4 seasons, but is happy to provide new plants for you by re-seeding. These low maintenance plants are happy in just about any soil and soak up all the sun can give them. They will grow between 1′-3’, so using them as a border or edging is a great spot for them in your garden!

Indian blanket flower, also known as Gaillardia pulchella

Indian Blanket flower, also known as Gaillardia pulchella, is a sturdy Central Florida native that has incredibly attractive blooms that scream “FOOD” to many different types of butterflies. Much to Diane’s disdain (she thinks they look weedy before they bloom, but that is a different story), these plants re-seed themselves prolifically and are a great ground cover for sunny areas.

Besides being another Florida flowering plant to add color to your landscape they also make a great cut flower to bring in and enjoy in colorful arrangements. Tough and rugged, you can pretty much plant them anywhere in full sun and they have a great salt tolerance so they are ideal for coastal plantings.

Scarlet or Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea)

Scarlet or Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea) is another Central Florida native that is considered annual, but re-seeds at an incredible rate! Make sure to give these plants plenty of room to grow and you will be rewarded with continuous red blooms that attract numerous pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds, nut-hatches, warblers and bumblebees.

We cut these back all the way to the ground during December and January after blooming just to keep them tidy and they are a great addition to the Wildflower Garden!

Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)

Are you looking for something that is a little unusual or not well known? Well, Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) may be the plant just for you! This native vine is a prolific grower and spring bloomer that will quickly cover a trellis, pergola or fence. It loves full sun and grows in soils ranging from wet to dry and might be a little of a challenge to source, but check with native plant nurseries or a variety known as ‘Tangerine Beauty’ Crossvine.

The native range is as far north as Kentucky and covers almost all of the Southeast. It is an early nectar source for hummingbirds and can grow as tall as 50′, so give this puppy something to grow on and plenty of room!

Non-Native Flowering Plants

Shasta Daisy

Come on, you aren’t really a daisy, are you? Actually, the Shasta Daisy is part of the Chrysanthemum family (Chrysanthemum maximum or Chrysanthemum x superba)! Up north, this show off is considered a perennial, but in Central Florida we don’t expect it to get past the heat and humidity of July! We have included it as an annual in the Coneflower Garden in combination with Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea) and Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia). We’ll let it go to seed and see what happens next year, but appreciate it’s contribution to brightening up our springtime!

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) is probably one of the most distinctive plants in the garden. This is what we would consider a strong architectural plant and the showy blooms actually consist of blue petals, orange sepals that emerge from a modified leaf. In the southern garden, this plant will grow between 3′-5′ and our northern friends should consider growing this as a container plant to be able to bring it inside during cold periods or winter. If nothing else, go to the florist and grab an arrangement of freshly cut blooms to create some “wow” factor!

You might be wondering why we keep including the Botanical or Latin names of plants instead of just the Common name? Well, this plant is a great example of why. If you walk into a garden center and ask for a Bird of Paradise, you might find yourself with a Giant Bird of Paradise (Strelitizia nicoloia) which can grow over 20′ tall! Not what you expected or wanted! You don’t have to get a Master of Latin Studies to speak fluently, but you should at least write down the correct Botanical name to make sure you are getting exactly what you want.

Wax Begonias (Begonia spp.)

Yorkies planted in the garden can be great for bringing a little color to shady areas! They can whine constantly and be a little fixated, but the effort is worth it! Especially when you combine them with the versatile Wax Begonias (Begonia spp.).

If you don’t like the combination of Yorkies and Red Leaf Begonias, try Green or Bronze Leaf Wax Begonias, Dusty Millers or Impatiens (yes, not Impatients)! New varieties of Begonias can take full sun and there is even a Begonia that can grow to 3′ tall! Plant these en masse to create dramatic color displays and if you buy them in the 24 pack trays at the garden center, place two small plants in each hole to get more instant bang.

Confederate or Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

The fragrance of Confederate or Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is unmistakable and unforgettable! As we walk the dogs throughout the neighborhood in the spring, we are greeted often by the fragrance of these incredible blooms! We feature Confederate Jasmine on a green wall/trellis on the west elevation of our house. Combined with Red Mandevilla (Mandevilla x.) on the green wall. Confederate Jasmine is the true harbinger of springtime and the fragrance drifts into the house and is even stronger when sitting on the lanai!

We hope you enjoyed our backyard tour of 13 Florida flowering plants to add color to your landscape. If you haven’t visited our blog post on 4 steps to successful planting or need gardening gifts ideas we hope you find these helpful too.

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