Common South Florida Landscape Plants

Palms

• With a lack of winter cold, a wider array of palms grow in South Florida gardens than in other parts of the state. Common palms seen in the southern counties include Everglades palm (Acoelorrhaphe wrightii), royal palm (Roystonea regia), cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), foxtail palm (Wodyetia bifurcata), Christmas palm (Adonidia merrillii), bismarck palm (Bismarckia nobilis), solitaire palm (Ptychosperma elegans), areca palm (Dypsis lutescens) and various species of date palms (Phoenix spp.).

Trees

• Both evergreen and winter-deciduous trees grace landscapes in South Florida. They're particularly important to provide cooling shade from the long, hot and oppressively humid summers that last from May to October. Tropical evergreen trees often seen in the region include black olive (Bucida buceras), live oak (Quercus virginiana), figs (Ficus spp.), seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera), mango (Mangifera indica), and a wide array of citrus like lemons, oranges, kumquats and grapefruits. A native deciduous tree of note is gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba) and the exotic royal poinciana (Delonix regia), which blooms in late May and June with flamboyant orange flowers. Trumpet trees (Tabebuia argentea) bear yellow flowers in spring.

Shrubs

• A mix of native and exotic shrubs grow in landscapes from Fort Myers to West Palm Beach. Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine) and yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), ixora (Ixora coccinea), Indian hawthorn (Raphiolepis indica), croton (Codiaeum variegatum), ti (Cordyline fruticosa), dwarf schefflera (Schefflera arboricola), Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), firebush (Hamelia patens), cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), peregrina (Jatropha integerrima) and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) make common greenery in both residential and commercial or public space plantings.

Cycads

• Cycads, which look like ferny palms, grow like mounded or clumping shrubs. The three most common cycads seen in South Florida are the sago (Cycas revoluta), coontie (Zamia pumila) and cardboard palm (Zamia furfuracea).

Perennials

• Fully herbaceous plants lacking any woody stems also grow in South Florida's primarily frost-free environment. Bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae), star cluster (Pentas lanceolata), beach sunflower (Helianthus debilis), snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) and various species or cultivars of bromeliads are popular. Perennial grasses, most notably St. Augustine grass, is the dominate turf grown in South Florida.