Commercial Ornamentals Program

The Commercial Ornamentals Program serves the production (wholesale) nurseries and related industries.

The nursery industry in Miami-Dade County is large and diverse. There are more than 800 nurseries in the county, and they produce everything from bedding plants to tropical foliage to tender perennials. We are the #1 Florida county in ornamentals production.

Our plants go to nurseries and garden centers all over the southern and eastern U.S.

A surprisingly large number of our palms and other tropicals end up in malls and office buildings all over the U.S., and in Canada and Europe.

Field-grown palm and shade tree production is concentrated on the marl soils in eastern Miami-Dade. Large shrubs are also produced, often inter-planted with palms and trees.

Container-grown palms, trees, shrubs, and tender perennials treated as shrubs are produced in The Redland Agricultural District on rockland, often with tropical fruit and tropical vegetable crops as neighbors.

Twenty-five to thirty half-day and all-day seminars are offered throughout the year on topics related to production and utilization of ornamental crops, many in cooperation with state, regional, county, private, and commercial organizations.

A quarterly Ornamentals Newsletter is offered, along with 6 to 12 one-page fact-sheets, and several longer publications each year.

Walk-in diagnostic and plant identification services are available at the office, and site visits are arranged as needed. Phone consultation is another way we serve the industry.

Prepared by Joe Garofalo