05/29/2026
🌿 Although temps have been rising, these natives are still showing up looking their absolute best! Check out This Week's Best:
🫧 American Elderberry
A graceful deciduous or semi-evergreen large bush to small tree that produces adorable, fragrant white flowers from spring to fall. Although poisonous when raw, its fruit can be cooked and is often used in jams, syrups, and wine. It also has many health benefits. It's quite adaptable, tolerating flooding and moist to average soils. If you want the most flowers, plant in full sun and moist soil.
🌿 Corkystem Passionvine
This is the most common Passionvine growing in Florida and is a favorite amongst Zebra Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, and Julia butterflies. This is a versatile plant that can be trellised or allowed to grow naturally on shrubs and trees; care must be taken to ensure it doesn't smother them. Once it flowers, its fruit provides a great food source to birds.
🌊 Beach Mistflower
Looking for inconspicuous pops of delicate color? Beach Mistflower is perfect! This plant makes a great bedding plant in well-drained landscapes or as a container plant, cascading down the sides of a planter. In the warmer months, its fuzzy clusters of lavender flowers attract Skipper butterflies.
🌼 Starry Rosinflower
This plant absolutely reaches for the stars and has been seen growing to heights exceeding 4 feet. It blooms year-round in central Florida, with its heaviest blooms taking place from spring to fall. It looks best when planted in groups and allowed to grow tall above other accent plants. When the stems get thick and unattractive, cut them back, and you'll be rewarded with heavier blooms.
🌳 Sweetgum
A large, fast-growing deciduous shade tree with distinct star-shaped leaves that turn a beautiful array of colors in the fall before they drop. It produces recognizable, spiny, ball-shaped fruits with seeds inside that birds and squirrels love. Pioneers once peeled back its bark and used its resin to produce chewing gum. The one pictured is a 30 -gal size, its full size is shown in the last photo.
