S & J Nursery’s Guide to
Flowering Shrub Options and Alternatives for Gardeners
for Northeast Florida
Choosing the right plant in Florida can be a bit tricky, so for many of us we tend to stick to the tried and true and end up bored with the same looking plants that you see everywhere.
On one hand, there is a reason you see those plants everywhere. They may be easier to maintain without extensive plant knowledge, or have no major pests or diseases that can effect the life of the plant. All Very valid points for mass use of the same plants over and over.
On the other hand, it can get a bit monotonous to see the same plants everywhere. While it makes good logical sense for the landscape trade to stick with the tried and true, after all they are doing work for people who often do not wish to work in the yard or all out do not have time to mess with gardening and just want it to look as good as it can with as little help from them as they can get. The rest of us as we drive through our neighborhoods of similar looking houses and similar looking landscapes, dream of those magazine quality gardens with flowers and textures and colors with birds singing and butterflies flitting welcoming us home every day.
The trouble is, its not easy to have a landscape full of color. If it was easy of coarse everyone’s yard would look like it came straight out of the pages of Home and Garden. We can’t all be Martha Stewart and we all certainly don’t all have staff to plant the bulbs for us while we bake sugar cookies. The more specialty plants you have in a landscape, the more time and money the maintenance of that landscape will require.
I love my nearly an acre yard with a ridiculous amount of Fruit trees, that is until its time to trim those sometimes thorny things and don’t even get me started on the cost to fertilize them properly! I feel like I am always picking up a bag of Citrus / tropical plant food for one tree or another that needs help. For me, I love to garden and being outside among the plants and animals is my happy place. So, although my yard consists of a few good backbone shrubs, an overwhelming majority of my plant selections can be found on the shrub options listing below.
Adventurous gardeners, or people who enjoy the outdoors like I do may want to brighten the view a little by planting things that may be less traditional for foundation plantings in one or more of the following ways… we just have to know what to expect so that we can plan for it or be prepared for the maintenance / winter protection etc. that that little bit of ‘extra’ will require.
Here is a listing of the different things you may run into when planting that plant you fell in love with at the garden center.
- Can require special pruning techniques such as rejuvenation pruning during one or more seasons throughout the year. Or be particular about how or when they are pruned in order to look their best.
- Can require special fertilizers such as tropical plant food, acid loving food, or just need more fertilizer and healthier soils to preform the blooming function than other more typical shrubs would.
- Can be cold sensitive in our climate zone, and may be trouble free in South Mandarin or St. Augustine while completely dying off during the same winter temperatures in North Jacksonville or on the West side of
Jacksonville. And so would not be considered reliable as an evergreen shrub that is going to look good year round for all gardeners in our area.
- May go dormant in the winter and not remain evergreen during the winter months as part of its natural life cycle. While gardeners from more northern climate zones are quite used to this idea, it can be a bit off putting to Florida gardeners used to everything remaining green right through winter.
- Great hardy plants that are just underused or might not be commonly found in most nurseries or thought of when choosing foundation shrubs for the landscape but will make an excellent substitute for a woody shrub.
| Plant Name | Things to Consider Before Choosing As Landscape Plant Selection |
| Abelia Glossy | May be semi – evergreen |
| Abelia Rose Creek | Why Not? May be harder to find, beautiful blooms and foliage year round. Thesea re great plants, may need some trimming annually or semiannually |
| Abelia Francis mason | Why Not? may be semi evergreen- winter look to foliage |
| Abelia Sunshine Daydream | Why Not ? may be semi evergreen – Beautiful foliage and blooms – but can winter look to foliage during cool season |
| Abelia Silver Variegated | winter look, semi evergreen in cool season, hard to locate locally |
| Agapanthus | Perennial maintenance / division required every 3-4 years for best blooms |
| Agave | Why Not? Blooms rarely |
| Allamanda | can be cold sensitive |
| Alligator Plant | Awesome, beautiful bloom, slow growth, extremely hard to find locally |
| Alocasia | can be winter dormant depending on selection / location, blooms are unique and beautiful but not frequent and sometimes hidden within foliage |
| Aloe | can be cold sensitive depending on selection / location, blooms are spectacular and reliable annually |
| Almond Bush | winter dormant foliage |
| Bird of Paradise | can be cold sensitive depending on selection / location |
| Blueberry | special needs – acid fertilizer and soil PH |
| Bottlebrush Dwarf Macarthur | may be more difficult to locate |
| Bottlebrush Little John / Better John | can be cold sensitive depending on location, sometimes suffers a bit of cold damage on the new growth or youngest growth in cooler areas of our zone |
| Bouganvillea | can be cold sensitive depending on location, seasonal availability |
| Bush Daisy | Perennial maintenance required |
| Bromeliad | Can be cold sensitive Why Not? may be harder to find or seasonal |
| Bulbine orange | Why Not? perennial maintenance may need replaced after 5-7 years or dug and divided |
| Bulbine Yellow | Why not ? perennial maintenance may need replaced after 5-7 years or dug and divided |
| cactus Prickly Pear | Why not? – perennial maintenance required, harder to find and difficult to plant |
| Camellia | specific needs soil PH / shade |
| Canna | perennial maintenance required |
| Cast Iron | Why Not? shade needed |
| Cestrum Pink | can be cold sensitive depending on location – may be hard to locate or seasonally available |
| Cestrum Red | can be cold sensitive depending on location – may be hard to locate or seasonally available |
| Cestrum Yellow | can be cold sensitive depending on location – may be hard to locate or seasonally available |
| Cigar Plant | may be cold sensative depending on location will require yearly maintenance |
| Cleyera | Why Not? – may be hard to lovcate – slower growing |
| Colocasia | perennial plant needs – may be winter dormant – can be shorter lived/ cold sensative depending on selection and location, blooms are unique and beautiful but infrequent |
| Crinum | Why Not? |
| Daylily | Perennial maintenance needs ( will need dug and divided every few years), not all daylilly plants are created equal, cultivar must be suited to hot and humid |
| Duranta Gold Mound | can be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Duranta Purple Showers | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Euonymous | why Not ? – requires some afternoon shade |
| Farfugium | Why Not – may need afternoon shade if dry soils |
| Fatsia | Why Not / – requires shade |
| Ferns | Why not ? – requires shade – can be winter dormant depending on selection, doesnt give you blooms but gives you something just as important in your perennial beds – TEXTURE |
| Firebush | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Firecracker Red | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Firecracker yellow | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Firespike Red | may be cold sensitive depending on location – also has a rather large footprint |
| Firespike lavender | may be cold sensitive depending on location – may be harder to locate or seasonally |
| Flax Lily Dwarf Blue | Why Not? – may be harder to locate or be available seasonally |
| Flax Lily variegated | Perennial maintenance – will need to be trimmed off at grade every few years to keep it looking fantastic |
| Flowering Maple ( abutilion) | Winter Dormant |
| Gardenia | specail requirements / Soil PH/ rich moist well draining soil etc. Acid fertilizer / some shade is best |
| Ginger Alpinia pin stripe | Why Not? – can be winter dormant depending on location – |
| Ginger Alpinia zerumbet | why not? – has a large footprint so it needs alot of space expect to give it a 3-4 ft area after about its 5th year or dig and divide |
| Ginger Curcuma Siam | winter dormant – needs some shade |
| Ginger Curcuma Hidden | winter dormant – needs some shade – may be difficult to locate or seasonally available |
| Curcuma variegated petiolata | winter dormant – may be difficult to locate or seasonally available |
| Ginger Butterfly White | winter dormant – may be difficult to locate or seasonally available |
| Ginger Disney | Why Not? – may be seasonally availble or evergreen / semi evergreen depending on location |
| Ginger Edible zingiber officionale | Why Not? winter dormant |
| Ginger Pink V | Perennial maintenence – may be semi evergreen or winter dormant depending on location – may be seasonally available |
| Ginger Costus Dwarf French Kiss | – winter dormant – may be hard to locate or seasonally available |
| Ginger Costus red button | – winter dormant – may be hard to locate or seasonally available |
| Ginger Peacock | Winter dormant, still worth it gorgeous plants – its the florida hosta replacement! |
| Ginger Torch | Winter Dormant – may be seasonally available |
| Ginger Shampoo | may be winter dormant depending on location or seasonally available |
| Ginger Variegated Dr . Moy | may be winter dormant depending on location or be hard to find or seasonally available |
| Grass – Muhly Pink | Why Not? |
| Grass Muhly White | Why Not? |
| Grass , Muhly Bamboo | Why not – may be winter dormant depending on location – may be hard to find or only seasonally available |
| Grass , Red Fountain | winter dormant |
| Hydrangea | perennial can be shorter lived – requires acid Ph – winter dormant – needs shade |
| Iris African White | Perennial – will need dug and divided every few years for best results |
| Iris African Yellow | Perennial – will need dug and divided every few years for best results |
| Iris Apostle Regina | may be evergreen or semi evergreen depending on location – perennial plant may require annual maintenance and dug and divided every few years for best results |
| Iris Rocky Hunt | Winter Dormant Perennial – shorter lived plant – will need dug and divided every few years for best results |
| Iris Louisiana | Winter Dormant Perennial – shorter lived plant – will need dug and divided every few years for best results |
| Iris Walking | may be evergreen or semi evergreen depending on location – perennial plant may require annual maintenance and dug and divided every few years for best results, you may end up with an abundance |
| Ixora | Tropical plant selection will need winter protection during frosts and freezes where temperatures will drop below 32 degrees |
| Jatropha | can be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Mandavilla | can be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Mexican Heather | Perennial plant may be cold sensative depending on location – may need sheared to grade each spring for best results |
| Mexican Petunia Florida Friendly Myan Purple/ Myan pink or Myan White | may be cold sensitive depending on location – can be agressive in moist or wet soils – will need yearly clean up and trim for best results |
| Milkweed | can be winter dormant depending on location and selection |
| Mock orange | winter dormant – needs some shade |
| Natal Plum | Why Not ? – may be harder to locate and some selections can be cold sensitive depending on location – also 5 year trial results indicate that it does not tend to bloom well in Northeast Florida |
| New zealand Tea Tree | needs excellent drainage – best used as a container plant |
| Night Blooming Jasmine | can be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Oleander | can be cold sensitive depending on location – may be hard to locate or seasonally available – sap in branches contains toxins that can be harmful to pets humans if consumed |
| Oyster Plant | can be cold sensitive depending on location -is considered invasive in tropical (not subtropical ) climate zones of south Florida |
| Papyrus Dwarf | – can be considered cold sensitive depending on location – perennial plant maintenance – dig and divide |
| Persian Shield | – may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Penta | Perennial plant maintenance – may be cold sensitive depending on selection and location |
| Philodendron Split leaf | may be cold sensitive depending on location, blooms are incredible and unique but not frequent |
| Philadendron Dwarf Zanadu | may be Cold sensitive depending on location, rarely blooms |
| Plumbago | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Porterweed | may be cold sensitive depending on variety location |
| Powderpuff Dwarf | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Powder Puff / Red / White haematocephala | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
| Powder Puff Rainbow surinamensis | may be cold sensitive depending on location |
Rose of Sharon | winter dormant |
| Russian Sage | Shorter lived than most hardy shrubs, perennial plant |
| Sambac jasmine | Why Not? Extremely fragrant and prolific blooms- may be cold sensitive depending on location and selection – may be hard to locate locally |
| Salvia Amistad | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Black and Blue | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Black and Bloom | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Bog Sage | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Indigo / mystic Spires | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia May Knight | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Mexican bush Sage | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy – may not have a long bloom season in NE Florida |
| Salvia Mystic Sires | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Riverside Sage | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Rockin Fuschia | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Tropical Sage (native coccinea) | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Wendys Wish | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia Victoria Blue | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Salvia yellow Forsythia Sage | Shorter lived perennial plant selection – may be cold sensitive depending on location, expect winter look or dormancy |
| Shrimp Plant | Why Not ? may be cold sensitive depending on location and selection, expect winter look or winter dormancy |
| Simpson Stopper | Easy care native plant selection – blooms and berries great for local pollinators and wildlife |
| Society Garlic | Why Not? – may be overlooked when thinking of shrubs |
| Stokesia | Why Not? – may be overlooked when thinking of shrubs, or seasonally available |
| Spirea Bridal Veil | Dormant in winter |
| Thryallis | Beautiful prolific blooms in summer, easy care, tends to get large, is happiest at 4-5 ft H |
| Tibouchina grandiflora | Tropical plant selection will need winter protection during frosts and freezes where temperatures will drop below 32 degrees |
| Tibouchina urvilleana | Tropical plant selection will need winter protection during frosts and freezes where temperatures will drop below 32 degrees |
| Tropical Snow Bush | Tropical plant selection will need winter protection during frosts and freezes where temperatures will drop below 32 degrees |
| Yellow Bells ( tacoma stans) | Winter dormant |
| Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ( brunfelsia ) | beautiful hardy flowering shrub, these should be in every garden |