There are many challenges to planting a garden in Florida. Depending on where you live in the state, the summer’s heat can scorch many plants. Salt air causes many plants not to thrive. It can be challenging to find plants that grow in sandy soil, and the soil’s pH level may not be adequately balanced for most plants.
An excellent solution for many Florida gardeners is to grow plants in planters. Consider these plants that flourish in pots in Florida.
Areca Palm
The areca palm, often called the bamboo or butterfly palm grows up to 30-feet tall. Many yellow canes grow from this plant’s base. Light-green leaves often develop at the end of each cane. Yellow panicles of flowers up to 2-inches long occur in the summer. These flowers are followed by yellow-orange fruit that ripens to black in the fall.
Croton
Another excellent option for planters in Florida is crotons. This plant that can grow up to 5-feet tall is particularly loved by many for its bright red, green and yellow foliage. Each leaf can be up to 18-inches long on this plant. Especially from spring to autumn, this plant needs to be kept consistently moist.
Evolvulus
Such as many Floridians, evolvulus loves the heat. It will reward you with bright blue flowers in the heat of the summer. This plant that often grows to be about 15-inches tall is a member of the morning glory family, and its blue, bell-shaped flowers open in the morning and close at night.
Beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana)
Beautyberry earns its name with its hundreds of little flowers completely encircling the stem where new growth occurs annually. While traditionally a purple-flowering, spring-blooming plant, gardeners can also find pink and white options. This plant grows to be about 5-feet tall in the sun. Cut this plant back in the fall to about 2-feet shorter than the height you want it to be the next year as this will encourage new growth and more blooms.
Hibiscus
There are several hundred types of hibiscus, so one is probably perfect for putting in your Florida planter. Various kinds of large colorful flowers can be found on hibiscus plants, with many measuring up to 6-inches across. They also take on several different forms, including trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. If you choose a perennial, pruning it back in winter tends to create a bushier plant.
Cordyline
There are about 15 members of the cordyline family. This plant has huge leaves in a mixture of colors ranging from light pink to deepest burgundy. This plant loves the sun, but it will tolerate a little shade. You should fertilize it every two months throughout the growing season. Small flowers appear in the summer, followed by berries.
Butterfly bush (Buddleia lindleyana)
You can choose between about 140 species of butterfly bushes. While most grow to be about 2-feet high, there are butterfly bushes and trees, so be sure to check when choosing a plant for your Florida pot. Most produce many flowers on terminal spikes in the summer. Many choices have willowy leaves that are gray-green.
Bush daisy (Gamolepis)
The rounded form of the bush daisy makes it a desirable choice in many planters. This plant often grows 3-feet tall and 4-feet wide. These plants love to be consistently moist and in the sun most of the time. These plants will die back to the soil in the winter, but they will reemerge in the spring.
Periwinkle
Periwinkle is a beautiful vining plant that looks extremely lovely, flowing over a planter’s edges in the Florida sun. Tubular, phlox-like flowers that are blue appear on leaf axles in the late spring and early summer. This choice, which is often called crepe myrtle, will form mounds up to 6-inches tall.
Pentas
Often called the starflower, pentas usually put on white, star-shaped flowers in the summer and will keep putting them on until late fall. These flowers appear in rounded clusters that are about 4-inches wide. The dark-green leaves on this option can be up to 6-inches long. This plant that loves the sun often grows to be about 12-inches tall.
Coreopsis
If you are looking for a plant that will quickly forgive you if you neglect it, consider coreopsis. There are over 80 different choices available. This plant that will grow in full sun or partial shade gets to be about 14-inches tall and 18-inches wide. This plant that blooms for a long time is available in white, yellow, orange, and various other colors. While most varieties will self-sew if the birds do not eat all the seed, others spread by runners.
Gerbera
Gerbera daisies may be an excellent choice for Northern Florida planters. This flower that is available in a variety of colors produces many petals surrounding a center disk. The flower stem that grows to be about 15-inches tall is leafless. This clump-forming plant has dark-green leaves at the base that can grow up to 20-inches long.
