You just can’t find a flower or plant easier to grow in Florida than old-fashioned favorite perennials. It shouldn’t take a whole lot of work to enjoy a beautiful garden, it’s just a matter of choosing the right plants. We’ve put together this list of no-fail favorite perennials for you to enjoy from spring until fall.
Obedient Plant - This fast-spreading perennial offers beautiful spikes of snapdragon-like blooms in late summer. Native to the region, if given plenty of room to roam, it will add easily-grown grace to your garden. It’s scientific name (or binomial) is Physostegia virginiana and it can grow up to 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide in full sun or part shade and moist soil. Grow with Black-eyed Susans for a stunning contrast in color and texture, in zones 4-8.
Crinum - Sometimes called a bog lily or swamp lily for its love of moist soil, this highly resilient plant yields bold clusters of pink, purple, or white fragrant flowers from spring to fall. It’s binomial is Crinum americanum and it grows best (up to 2 feet tall and wide) in full sun and moist soil. Grown with daylilies in zones 9-11, the combination yields beautiful foliage and similar clusters of flowers.
Yellow Flag Iris - With its love of wet areas, like near a water garden or pond, the Yellow Flag Iris blooms offer color in spring and the evergreen foliage adds interest the rest of the year. It’s binomial is Iris pseudacorus and it will grow up to 5 feet tall and 2 feet wide in full sun or part shade and moist soil. To add playful contrasts in shape and texture, grow it with Ranunculus in zones 5-8.
Canna - is a tropical garden classic: Its triumphant foliage and large, multi petaled flowers add distinctive summer beauty to the garden. Search out varieties such as 'Pretoria' with variegated foliage for even more landscape interest. Its binomial is Canna indica and it grows up to 7 feet tall and 2 feet wide in full sun and moist, well-drained soil. Grow it with Lantana, which acts as a great and flowery skirt at the base of the tall canna, in zones 8-11
Zones: 8-11
Phlox - Beloved by gardeners, bees, and butterflies, phlox adds showy flowers starting in early summer and continuing through the season. Many are also wonderfully fragrant, especially on warm, humid evenings. The scent can fill the yard -- or the house if you cut the flowers and bring them inside. It’s binomial is Phlox and it grows up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide in full sun or part shade and moist, well-drained soil. For a display that butterflies can’t resist, grow it with purple coneflower in zones 3-8
