Hi Kristi,
I actually live in n.e. Miss now but used to live south of N.O. before Katrina. You should be able to grow lantana easily, there are several varieties/colors, shrimp plant, of which there are yellow and shrimp colors and a new one just out, canna lillies, daylillies, hibiscus - these are all very easy to grow. And there are a multitude of annual flowers too. I love the Southern Living books - there is one about plants and one about landscaping - it takes in all the distinct regions of the south. I hope you can get on the Florida forum, as it appears to be an active one. You might just have to click on "post a follow-up" and then click on where it says you must "register." Good luck. Hope you enjoy the south. You should have 12 months of gardening. Take it easy in July and August, the best time to garden is Fall, Winter, Spring.

Hi Kristi, welcome,
Two questions: Which part of Florida? And do you have an automatic sprinkler system? The lower half of the state is frost free, so you could include tropicals. If you have automatic sprinklers you can venture away from drought tolerant plants.

Most of Florida is very sandy, which holds almost no water or nutrients, so improving the soil is the first thing to do. On a small scale just go to Homedepot/Lowes/Walmart, etc... and get bags of either soil or cow poop, then mix it into your soil, mulch is very important also. On a larger scale, many cities have brush sites, so get truck loads of free mulch from there and free horse poop from any nearby stable if available.

Some nearly indestructible flowers are Lantana (which grow wild in FL.), Plumbago, Ixoras, Jasmines, China roses, Bougainvillea, many more, but those will get you started. Good luck and enjoy.

The best time to plant here is September through March, avoid planting in the hot months as the heat and sun is too much for newly planted things.