Yard Plants for Florida

Golden Canna

• Golden Canna (Canna flaccida) is an herbaceous perennial that can grow up to a height of 4 feet. This native Florida plant produces 3-inch wide bright yellow flowers. Golden Canna perform best in sunny areas with moist, fertile soil. They can tolerate partial shade. They are not drought tolerant.

Mistflower

• Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) is an herbaceous perennial that can grow up to a height of 2 feet. This indigenous Florida plant produces uniquely colored pinkish-purple flowers. The flat, fuzzy flower clusters can grow up to 4 inches wide. Mistflower prefers full sun to partial shade. It performs best in moist soils. Dry soil conditions lead to smaller plants with fewer blooms.

Butterfly Weed

• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a tall herbaceous perennial that can grow to a height of 2 feet. This Florida yard plant produces bright orange or red flowers during midsummer. It dies back during the winter months but slowly emerges every spring. This drought tolerant plant performs best in well-drained sandy soils. Butterfly weed thrives in full sun but can tolerate slight shade.

Indian Blanket

• Indian Blanket (Gaillardia Purcell), or blanket flower, can grow up to a height of 2 feet with a spread reaching as wide as 12 inches. This short-lived perennial has a mounding growth habit. The Indian Blanket plant produces 3-inch wide flowers that have a purplish-rose middle surrounded by copper, crimson, orange or yellow petals. The frilly Indian blanket flowers bloom during the summer. The plant thrives in full sun and tolerates heat. It requires a well-drained, sandy soil.

Carolina Jasmine

• Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is an evergreen vine that can grow up to 20 feet long when kept in a shaded area of the Florida landscape. When it is grown in full sun, this plant tends to remain compact and bushy. The highly fragrant, tubular yellow flowers bloom in late winter. While drought tolerant, it will drop its leaves during extended dry periods. This rapidly growing vine responds well to efforts to control it and train it to climb along a trellis.

Pink Muhly Grass

• Pink Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaries), or hairgrass, is a perennial ornamental grass that can grow to a height of 6 feet and a width of 5 feet. This low-maintenance native Florida plant produces delicate, billowing masses of pink blooms during the summer. Pink Muhly grass tolerates drought, excessive heat and high humidity. The plant performs well in full sun but tolerates some light shade. This ornamental grass prefers fertile, well-drained soil but tolerates poor soil conditions.