Five Native Wildflowers Commonly Grown in Florida Gardens

My husband and I just ran into an exhibit at Ding Darling National Wildlife Reserve on Sanibel Island where a show garden of common Florida wildflowers suitable for the garden was planted. My wildflower photos feature several of the flowers from this garden along with wildflowers I found on hikes in the parks around Orlando. See my slideshow "Native Wildflowers Grown in Florida Gardens" for pictures to all wildflowers in this article.

To start learning the native plants for Florida, I purchased "A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants" by Rufino Osorio. This book is very easy to use and contains complete information about where to plant native plants and their growing habits and photographs. Unfortunately for this article, I found out it was missing many of the wildflowers that aren't in cultivation, so I was forced to hold off writing about them and in fact have tried several other wildflower books with minimal success. Here's a good list of native wildflowers commonly grown in Florida gardens and sold at local nurseries:

Florida Wildflower: Beach Sunflower, helianthus debilis

According to Mr. Osorio, there are three local varieties of sunflower. It explains why the local squirrels in my backyard knew to take sunflower seed and plant them evenly at four inch intervals in my new garden. These sunflowers don't like too much water, don't mind the local sandy soil, are drought tolerant and bloom prolifically. Planting is easy, just lay them beside the garden and let the squirrels do the work. (I am not kidding.)

Florida Wildflower: Indian Blanket, gaillardia pulchella

I was surprised that this beautiful flower grew so short, only 1-2' tall with most growing shorter than taller. Plan ahead to have this flower planted at the front of your garden. It is easy to grow, tolerates the local soil, drought tolerant and blooms well.

Florida Wildflower: Common Tickseed, coreopsis leavenworthii

I like my photograph of common tickseed because it highlights one of the problems with the plant while showing off the delicacy of the plant and the dainty flowers. It is so dainty, it is prone to invasion by other plants. Make sure when you plant it to give it plenty of space. Grows easily from seed by is perennial, growing 1-3' tall (blooms) with leaves much shorter.

Florida Wildflower: Gayfeather, liatris chapmanii, liatris garberi, liatris tenuifolia

According to Mr. Osorio, three varieties of gayfeather, a tall spike of flowers grown from a bulb (or seed) are native to Florida. Planted strategically, gayfeather can provide contrast to other flowers in the garden. It likes well drained, moist soil but like sun and the varieties grow at different heights and in different condition.

Florida Wildflower: Seaside Goldenrod and Sweet Goldenrod, solidago odora and solidago sempervirens

Florida has two native species of goldenrod, according to Mr. Osorio. I grew goldenrod in my gardens in Washington state with ease, finding they self-seeded and spread, but not overwhelmingly. They provide guaranteed long lasting color in the garden but may cause you to sneeze. The sweet goldenrod that is a local variety sounds really pleasant to smell.