Native Florida Plants: Low Maintenance Landscaping and Gardening

by Robert G. Haehle, Joan Brookwell

Many counties in Florida now require that new commercial landscapes contain a percentage of native plants. Native landscapes are easier to maintain, use less water and thrive without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Native Florida Plants describes every type of regional flora―-from seaside foliage and wildflowers to grassy meadows, shrubs, vines, and aquatic gardens―-in 301 profiles and accompanying color photographs.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Reference

408 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Laina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to use as a native plant identification guide for Floridians due to the fact that every single plant included is accompanied by a color photograph!

When I have a new volunteer sprout up in my garden I like to leave it for awhile to find out what it is. I have had gained some great new natives this way! But, identification can be very difficult, even if you use identification websites where you select the leaf type, flower color, etc. This book is great because you can just flip through the pages looking for your plant.

Plant entries include common name, scientific name, height, light requirements, description, native range, habitat, propagation method and a paragraph commenting on the plant and its recommended use in a native landscape. All the important things you need to know in a half-page, concise entry! And, did I mention the half-page full color photograph? Yay!

[Mskychick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures and descriptions are fabulous.
This book is very heavily weighted toward South FL, though. The needs of the gardeners in rest of the state are not as lucrative, clearly.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this book 3 stars instead of 4 because the pictures were of very bad quality. They were very dark and had to see the detail. The explanations were good but I really wanted to see some pictures. Many books on plants don't have enough pictures of what is being discussed. This one did but they were of no use. I was reading on an ebook on a tablet so that may have made a difference in how the pictures came across.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because half the photos are pretty dark... needs to be a bit clearer.

[Laura Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best guide to native plants of Florida I have seen.