Native Plants in the East Tampa Area that Survive Tough Conditions

We have a lot of native plants on our property. I love volunteers that get along with other plants and are easy care. I've seen the plants survive through a lot of situations. But after the punishing winter we went through, I decided to especially note the varieties that did well with the extended freeze as well as the normal humidity, drought and sandy soil conditions that we usually have here.

I noted twelve species in five categories, which I'm recommending for any garden in this area. Most of them are available from the sources listed at the end of this article. Some of them you may already have in your garden, since they are fairly common in this area.

If you do acquire the plant, it needs to be from a central Florida source or the transplanting isn't likely to be successful, since this area has its own peculiar climate and plants grown outside don't survive the shock. The only sources I have listed, are from this area.

These are the plants that I found to be really tough:

Trees:

Laurel Oak:

This tree is a really large tree with a rounded and stately silhouette. We have one that is around 60 to 80 feet tall. It's evergreen with a temporary leaf drop in the spring as it grows in new leaves. It is a wonderful shade tree and a beautiful statement in any yard. It bears tassels in the spring and acorns in the fall. The leaves are long in a pointed oval in a glossy medium green.

The only things that can kill this tree when it's established is a lightening strike, which you can't do anything about or carpenter ants which you can take care of with termite poison. But don't use the poison on the tree if it is really damaged, or you will kill the tree. We made the mistake of doing that with a second tree we had.

This tree does well in drought, flood, swampy, sandy and cold conditions. It also can withstand hurricane winds.

This tree can be found in Virginia, Florida, Texas and Arkansas.

Live Oak:

This particular oak is a very common tree throughout Florida and California. It can also be found in Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico.

Although, when mature it can be very stately and tall, around 50 to 80 feet tall, its shape can be more angular and more funnel in shape if upright, or can also be very twisted with forking branches. It can add a certain wild look to your property.

It bears tassels in the spring and acorns in the fall. It's evergreen with a temporary leaf drop in the spring as it grows new leaves which are a glossy dark green oval in shape with a bit of individual curves and quirks in the leaves.

This oak will survive well in flood, swampy, clay, sandy, drought and cold conditions as well as hurricane
winds. Sometimes, when the tree is well mature, it can be susceptible to rot from the inside and be attacked by carpenter ants.

Red Mulberry:

This tree has a large, branching and wide open trunk system that can reach to a height of around 60 feet. It grows out new, large 2 or 3 sawtooth lobed leaves every late February to March and begins dropping them in late September to October. Their color can very from light to dark dull green. This is a wonderful shade tree. When fully mature, it can be elegant in appearance.

It produces 1-2 inch long purple-red, berry shaped fruit in March, ripening in April and May. If you don't watch for them, the birds will eat all of them before you can get any. The fruit that drops can make quite a mess for a little while. The fruit taste similar to the blackberry.

We have several on the property. They have survived just about everything. Our neighbor had a tree which acquired an interior rot, so he cut it down. It kept coming back from the root.

This species can be found in Ontario, Massachusetts, Texas, Minnesota as well as Florida.

Dwarf Palmetto:

A lot of people consider this plant to be a weed and have it torn out of their yards. However, if you exercise a tough regimen with this species, it won't overrun your yard and can become a very nice accent piece, especially in those shady spots where nothing else wants to survive except for the ferns. It is an evergreen.

This is a small tree or large shrub that can grow to around 6 feet tall. It forms in clumps with large fan shaped leaves. It produces small white blossoms on stalks arching out from the center of the plant around May and June with clusters of berries, later in the year.

The Palmetto can grow in just about any circumstance whether dry or wet, warm or cold sun or shade or humus or sand. It can be found in North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas as well as Florida.

Florida Royal Palm:

This is a very elegant and beautiful palm with its long and feathery fronds. Our largest palm is somewhere around 60 to 80 feet tall. But this variety is often 100 feet and can get up to around 130 feet tall. The trunk is a smooth pale grey with a bulge at the base. It produces sprays of white flowers on long arching branches which later produce berries during the year. Which in turn produce lots tiny trees at it base and wherever the fruit bats and birds may carry them.

Both of our palms are in xeriscape parts of our property, where we don't give them much additional watering except during a drought. They've survived drought, hurricane, flooding and freeze. They are both in very sandy soil and are doing very well. They are both in full sun. They are evergreen, except they do drop their fronds.

This particular tree is native only to Florida, especially in South Florida and the Keys.

Flowering Vines:

Trumpet Vine:

The alternate name for this plant is Trumpet Creeper. Which is very appropriate since it is an equal opportunity vine. It will go up a tree or across a yard and become ground-cover.

It has a woody vine with very frilly multi-toothed and pointed leaves which are very attractive by themselves. It produces very attractive large, 2 1/2 inch trumpet shaped, deep orange-red flowers that can appear most of the year, although more profusely during the summer through in such areas as Massachusetts and Michigan.

Coral Vine:

This is often found draped over fences where it has volunteered itself. Ours is in the tops of our Live Oak trees.

This is a very attractive, delicate appearing vine that climbs and attaches itself by its tendrils which are located in the flower clusters. The flower clusters are long and delicate with sprays of tiny rosy pink flowers that tend to bloom all year, but especially during the rainy season from June to October.

The vine has heart shaped leaves and it prefers to be in the sun. It is an evergreen.

It can be found in South Carolina to Florida and as far west as Texas.

Shrub:

Florida Privet:

This shrub is extremely slow growing. It was at the front door when we acquired this property in 1987. It and another that was with it were about 5 to 6 inches tall. The other died and this one wasn't doing too well because they didn't like the constant foot traffic. When the other one died, I moved this one to a quieter area. It has very happily grown to between 4 to 5 feet tall. This specimen can grow up to 20 feet.

It has been tolerant of every other condition, including being overgrown by other plants. Our shrub is in partial shade.

As with any privet, it has many tiny dark grey green leaves which are evergreen. Its growth habit is irregular in shape.

It can be found in Georgia, south to Florida, on into the Caribbean, West Indies and Virgin Islands.

Flowers:

Swamplily:

This plant volunteered itself along one of our fences under the trees. We moved it to our sun garden. It blooms in both shade and sun. It is also tolerant to being moved and to just about any kind of treatment. Short freezes don't affect it at all. A long freeze doesn't even kill all of its leaves.

It blooms 4 inch flowers in clusters on bare green stalks above long strappy leaves. The white blooms have a similar appearance to the spider mum. They are very delicate looking as well as dramatic. It can bloom off and on through out the year, although more often during the rainy season.

The plant grows in a huge cluster of leaves and can be around 3 feet tall. It's very striking and attractive. It does well in a xeriscape or well watered area.

Spiderwort:

What a name for a plant with such pretty, blue, delicate three petal flowers with distinctive yellow stamens. This plant usually blooms a new flower daily, in the morning hours or all day if the temperature is low. The plants occur in clumps, spread by rhizomes with branching upright stems with bunches of blue blooms at the top of the stems with grass like leaves. They spread across the yard in sporadic clumps. They tend to be around 2 to 3 feet tall.

They bloom equally in shade as well as in full sun. But they do seem to prefer the areas of our yard that has a difficult time sustaining anything else. They're in both deep sand and in humus. They are in a xeriscape part of of our property. I have seen them blooming all year except during freezes, although more often during the rainy season.

This plant has a range from Massachusetts to Minnesota, and from Texas to Florida.

Erect Dayflower:

This plant is also a Spiderwort and has a similar appearance, except it is more delicate in appearance and is less likely to clump. Its leaves are a bit greyer in color and its flower is more lavender with the yellow stamens and one of the petals much smaller than the other two. It's also a bit shorter and branches out more with the flowers at the ends of the branches.

It also grows and blooms in the same areas as the Spiderwort with the same tolerance and habits.

It can be found in Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas as well as the entire Eastern United States.

Fern:

Florida or Boston Fern:

Fortunately this is easy to pull out because it can easily become a weed and overcome anything in its path. It usually grows across the ground. But I've also seen it up in trees. It hasn't found a barrier that it can't get around. It is a quick grower.

This is a very tolerant plant which can handle any kind of treatment including foot traffic. It's both in our xeriscape and watered areas. The only thing it's not real happy about is full sun, although it will tolerate partial sun. The extended freeze did kill off swaths of this fern which is coming back in those areas. In other areas it was totally untouched. Frost and short freezes don't faze it.

It makes a wonderful, attractive ground cover especially in areas where you can't get grass to grow. It tolerates all kinds of soils and water conditions.

It is often two feet to about three feet tall and looks a lot like the Boston Fern.

Additional Reading:

How to Cut and Dry Roses: Two DIY Methods

Gardening in the East Tampa Bay, Florida, Area

Guide to Garden Composting

Sources:

http://www.allnativeflora.com/

http://www.floridanativeplants.com/

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/

http://www.floridagardener.com/FLNatives/index.htm