Hosta
Japanese Maple
Bearded Iris
lilacs
hollyhocks
lilies of the valley
Veggies in summer
peonies

I grow one Hosta here in NW Florida, zone 8b.
I grow T.B. Irises in my yard.
Our box stores sell Jap. maples, although I don't have one.
I have a pot of Vietnamese Hollyhocks growing in my yard.
As for vegetables, I grow Tomatoes just fine.

I can't grow Tulips. I buy the bulbs, they grow for the 1st year, then don't reappear - maybe vermine are eating them.

Also, for veggies, the growing seasons in N. Florida are NOT completely reversed the way they are in Central and S. Florida.

In most years it is just too cold to grow frost-tender vegetables in winter here in N. Florida. It's not just about protecting them from freezes. Even if you have a way protect them, in most years they don't get enough warmth to thrive in winter. So we grow vegetables like eggplants, pepper, tomatoes, okra, corn, beans, etc., from spring to fall, just like they do "Up North." We do have trouble with humidity-related diseases killing tomatoes and some other veggies in the worst of summer. Some plants won't set fruit well in the heat. But there are usually some alternatives (small or wild tomatoes, asian beans, cowpeas) that tolerate the heat. Or we replant in August for a fall crop.

Our growing season for veggies that prefer cool weather and can tolerate some frost (cabbage family veggies, root vegetables, lettuce and greens, etc.) is similar to Central and S Florida. However, we can plant some of them little earlier in fall and later into spring.

**I've attached the UF vegetable gardening guide because it lists planting dates for each crop for the different regions of the state. I suggest that it be linked to any FAQ that addresses vegetable gardening in Florida.**

And yes, as some others have mentioned, we can choose from a slightly bigger selection of deciduous fruits than Central and S. Florida. But we still can't grow most of the varieties of apples, peaches, pears, etc., that are sold in grocery stores. Even here, we need low-chill, nematode-resistant, humidity-tolerant varieties.

I do have a japanese maple growing here. It isn't exactly thriving, but it has survived four years. Maybe there should be three categories; yes it grows here, it might be possible to grow it here, and you'd better forget about it.

I was at a Nursery in Hillsborough County a few weeks back where I saw something from my childhood up north, Hostas. They were not huge leafed ones, sorry didn't catch the name, but I did buy two of them for my mom after learning they were hybrids designed for the Florida heat.

Wallisadi you are so bad, haha. We know there are some pretty good gardeners who grow all kinds of stuff here they aren't supposed to............you are hereby exempted from reading this FAQ in the future ;-)

I'm with Rita, would love to see Lilacs here in Florida.

Good luck with the list coffeemom and tina.

Darren

To add to your list of "hard or impossible to grow" would be:

Tuberous begonia
Rex begonia (outside)
Dahlia (started well, but rotted out within weeks)
scented geraniums
Thyme (it thrived early, but had issues with it during the last wetter part of the summer)

I started with 6 scented geraniums and have one left.. they just never took off here. I had them in the ground. The one surviving one I put in a pot 3 weeks ago, so hopefully it does well.

peonies
tulips

They need a certain number of chill hours in the ground and we don't get that here.