Low-maintenance landscape plants for south Florida

Common name
Scientific name

Size
(feet)

Light

Salt tolerance

Comments

White indigoberry ©

Randia aculeata  

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1.5-10

Full sun to partial shade

High

Native shrub with no outstanding features. Fragrant flowers and white berries on female plants. Main attribute is ability to grow under adverse conditions.

Buckthorn

Rhamnus spp.

15

Full sun

High

Deciduous plant with glossy, dark green, oval leaves up to 3” long. Insignificant green flowers followed by small fruit that change from red to black as they ripen. No outstanding landscape value, but well adapted to dry, infertile sites. Numerous spines make these plants useful as security screens.

Lady palm ¨

Rhapis excelsa

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5-10

Partial to full shade

None

Small, densely clumping fan palm with numerous slender, dark brown trunks bearing distinctive fibers and leaf scar patterns. Small, deeply segmented, glossy dark green leaves on thin, delicate petioles. Often used as shrub or potted plant.

Rosemary ¨

Rosemarinus officinalis

3

Full sun

High

Evergreen, woody shrub with aromatic, needle-like leaves and gray, scaly bark. Easy to propagate from cuttings. Widely used as herb or nontraditional medicine. Upright forms perform best.

Firecracker plant ¨

Russelia equisetiformis

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2-4

Full sun

High

See description in “Perennials” above.

Scrub palmetto ¨©

Sabal etonia

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3-4

Full sun

Moderate

Small, native, trunkless, shrub-like palm resembling Serenoa repens but with smooth petioles.

Dwarf blue palmetto ¨©

Sabal minor

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3-4

Partial shade

Moderate

Small, native, trunkless, shrub-like palm resembling S. etonia, but smaller and with bluish-green leaves. Can tolerate wet soils.

American elderberry ©

Sambucus canadensis

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10-15

Full sun to partial shade

Low

Native bushy, multi-stemmed, wide-spreading shrub with deciduous, compound leaves. Tiny, star-shaped, white flowers followed by shiny, blue-black fruit. Provides colorful autumn display of yellows, oranges, and reds in south Florida. Branches brittle. Forms dense thickets by suckering from roots.

Inkberry ©

Scaevola plumieri

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2-4

Full sun to partial shade

High

Native plant with succulent leaves. Insignificant, small, pink/white flowers. Spreads by underground stems. Well-suited to sandy soils at beach-front. Caution: Scaevola sericea (=S. taccada v. sericea, S. frutescens) is FLEPPC Category I invasive.

Dwarf schefflera ¨

Schefflera arboricola

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6-15

Full sun to partial shade

Moderate

Many cultivars, some with variegated foliage.  Used as specimen or informal hedge. Takes pruning well. Mealybugs and scales can be a problem. Caution: Schefflera actinophylla is FLEPPC Category I invasive.

Candle bush

Senna alata

Desert senna ¨

Senna polyphylla

12

Full sun

Low

Small tree with a beautiful cascading habit. Prefers well-drained soil. Small, yellow flowers mostly in dry season. Caution: Senna pendula is FLEPPC Category I invasive.

Saw palmetto ¨©

Serenoa repens

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3-8

Full sun to partial shade

High

Native clumping fan palm with subterranean, prostrate, or upright trunks. One of the most abundant and widely-planted palms in Florida. Green and silver forms. Spreading tendency can be problem when left uncontrolled.

Necklace-pod ¨©

Sophora tomentosa

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6

Full sun

High

Large, densely branched native shrub with natural rounded shape. Bears clusters of yellow flowers at tips of branches. Fast-growing and easily cultivated.

Blue porterweed ¨©

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

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12-36

Full sun to partial shade

Moderate

Native, small, shrubby perennial with somewhat weedy habit. Flowers highly attractive to butterflies—a ‘must’ for any butterfly garden. Name derived from traditional foamy, porter-like beverage brewed from the plant.

Pink porterweed

Stachytarpheta mutabilis

Pink porterweed ¨

Stachytarpheta speciosa

12-36

Full sun to partial shade

Moderate

Small, shrubby perennial with somewhat weedy habit. Flowers highly attractive to butterflies.

White bird-of-paradise ¨

Strelitzia nicolae

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8-20

Full sun to partial shade

Low

Named for the appearance of the spectacular flowers. Foliage dark green, banana-like. Drought tolerant once established. Relative of banana.

Orange bird-of-paradise ¨

Strelitzia reginae

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3-5

Full sun to partial shade

Low

Named for spectacular flowers. Foliage gray-green, fan-like. Drought tolerant once established. Scales can be a problem.

Marmalade plant

Streptosolen jamesonii

6

Full sun

Low

Fast-growing, evergreen shrub grown for showy yellow to dark orange flowers produced winter to spring. Needs open, sunny site with excellent drainage. Sprawling growth benefits from support. Prune hard after flowering is complete.

Bay cedar ©

Suriana maritima

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6-12

Full sun

High

Native, small-leaved, evergreen shrub or small tree. Clusters of small, leathery leaves and attractive, peeling bark. Will grow in sand or on bare rock. Good choice for ocean and beach-front sites.

African milkbush

Synadenium grantii

16

Full sun

High

Large shrub to small tree. Fleshy leaves and stems, becoming woody with age. Showy clusters of red flowers. Milky latex is poisonous.

Cape honeysuckle

Tecomaria capensis

2-10

Full sun to light shade

High

Sprawling, rampant, evergreen, sometimes vine-like shrub. Compound leaves with 5-7 toothed, diamond-shaped leaflets. Clusters of brilliant red-orange to scarlet, tubular flowers. Can be pruned to shrub, trained to espalier, or grown as vine or ground-cover. Requires well-drained soil.

Tetrazygia, West Indian lilac ¨©

Tetrazygia bicolor

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6-40

Full sun to light shade

Low

Extremely ornamental, native, tropical shrub to small tree. Beautiful white and yellow flowers followed by purple-black berries, highly attractive to birds. Elegant, glossy, dark green foliage. Cannot be used as hedge, as branches die when pruned.

Limeberry

Triphasia trifolia

3-10

Full sun

Moderate

Small, glossy, trifoliate leaves. Fragrant, diminutive white flowers. Edible red berries. Well adapted to rocky, calcareous soil.

Walter’s viburnum, black haw ©

Viburnum obovatum

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12-30

Full sun to partial shade

Low

Native large shrub to small tree with attractive, pure white blossoms in spring, before leaves fully developed. Flowers followed by berries that turn from green to pink to red to purplish-black in the fall. Ideal as a hedge.

Spanish bayonet ¨

Yucca aloifolia

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5-20

Full sun or partial shade

High

Trunk-forming yucca with dangerous sharp, pointed, strap-like leaves. Trunks often topped with large, upright clusters of creamy white flowers. Spreads to form thicket.

Bear grass, Adam’s needle ©

Yucca filamentosa

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3-6

Full sun

High

Leaves, resembling long green spears edged with white threads, form basal rosette. White, bell-shaped flowers bloom in terminal spikes from the mid to late summer.

Spineless yucca ¨

Yucca elephantipes

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12-15

Full sun

High

Attractive form. Leaves with soft spines. Showy, white, fragrant blooms. Requires freely draining soil.

Spanish dagger

Yucca gloriosa

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3-4

Full sun

High

Stout, erect stem bears tufted crown of stiff, spear-like gray-green to green leaves. White, bell-shaped flowers in very long, terminal spikes—summer through fall.

Cycad ¨

Zamia amblyphyllidia

3-4

Partial shade

High

Mounding, clumping cycad with elegant leaves to 4’ and wide, paddle-shaped leaflets. Requires well-drained soil.

Florida coontie ¨©

Zamia floridana

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1-5

Full sun to shade

High

Florida’s only native cycad. Host for atala hairstreak butterfly. Comes in a variety of sizes. Narrow to wide leaflets. Separate male and female plants; both bear reddish-brown cones; male cone small, elongate; female cone larger and wider. Also known as Z. pumila, Z. integrifolia, Z. sylvatica, Z. umbrosa. Requires well-drained soil.

Cardboard palm ¨

Zamia maritima

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3-6

Full sun to partial shade

High

Medium-sized cycad with broad, stiff, cardboard-like leaflets. Commonly planted in south Florida as shrubs, specimen plants, or in large planters. Name recently changed from Z. furfuracea. Can be weedy if both male and female plants are in the same vicinity. Requires well-drained soil.