We love educating and sharing our beautiful flowers available in our gardens.

No doubt you've heard that a well-designed garden should include plants prized for their striking foliage, as well as some that produce color and/or berries, and others that provide good structure. But let’s face it: most of us want flowers and lots of them all the time.

Florida Native Plants are a distinct advantage in the home landscape. They tend to stay where you plant them and not spread rapidly. They grow well in Florida and most importantly, once established, they do not need irrigation.

Please visit our encyclopedia for a list of native plants and their characteristics that are good alternatives to exotic plants in your landscape. Links for each plant provide additional information for your consideration.  The main sites used for this purpose are: Plant Atlas: Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, IFAS: Environmental Horticulture and EDIS, Floridata, and IRC: Institute for Regional Conservation's Natives for Your Neighborhood, with a few others mixed in when warranted.

It is important to realize that while native plant gardening can be an important source for preserving our local flora, it can also be a source for contaminating our local flora if we are not careful.  When determining what plants you would like to put in your garden, do your homework. Find out what the natural ranges are of different species and whether a species that is out of its natural range is prolific (seeds get away easily by wind or critter) or is easily contained in the garden.  Plants native to one part of the state may end up being invasive and destructive to natural habitats in another.  Find out if there are local endemic varieties or subspecies whose gene pool might get contaminated if outside sources of the species are used.  Here at Paradise Gardens we provide the knowledge to help you make educated decisions on your native plant garden.