Dubsdread Native Plant Garden

Posted onMarch 14, 2023November 17, 2023

This demonstration garden utilizes Florida native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs. They provide vital habitat for bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects, as well as seeds, berries and insects for birds.

DID YOU KNOW? Florida native plants are adapted to thrive in our climate, conditions and soil. They need less water than other plants, and require no fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals. This saves precious water resources and keeps excess nutrients from polluting lakes, rivers and streams.

Click image to view photos from the Sept 2022 installation

The following native species were planted in the Dubsdread garden:

Nashville warbler on American beautyberry fruit

American beautyberry

American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a woody shrub found in pinelands and hammocks throughout Florida. The plant’s foliage offers cover for small wildlife. Its flowers are a nectar source for…

Maryland goldenaster, Chrysopsis mariana

Maryland goldenaster

Maryland goldenaster (Chrysopsis mariana) found in pinelands, sandhills and sandy roadsides. Native butterflies, as well as a variety of native long-tongued bees are attracted to the plant’s nectar.

Lanceleaf tickseed flower

Lanceleaf tickseed

Lanceleaf tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata) has conspicuously sunny flowers that typically bloom in spring. It attracts butterflies and other pollinators, and its seeds are eaten by birds and small wildlife.

Elliott's lovegrass, Eragrostis elliottii

Elliott’s lovegrass

Elliott’s lovegrass (Eragrostis elliottii) has tiny yet prolific seeds that provide plenty of food for invertebrates and small birds that also use the plant’s dense foliage for cover.

Firebush

Firebush (Hamelia patens var. patens) is a hardy, fast-growing and showy evergreen shrub to small tree. It produces clusters of bright orange to red tubular flowers that are filled with…

Spotted beebalm

Also known as Dotted horsemint, Spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata) is a robust, aromatic wildflower known to attract a huge variety of pollinating insects, including bees, wasps and butterflies. It blooms…

Mimosa strigillosa

Sunshine mimosa

Sunshine mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) has showy “powderpuff” flowers that bloom spring through summer, attracting mostly bees. The plant is a larval host for the Little sulphur butterfly.

Simpson’s stopper

Simpson’s stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans) has year-round blooms that attract a variety of butterflies and bees; its fruit provides food for many species of bird.

Hairyawn muhlygrass

Muhlygrass

Nothing says fall in Florida like the purple haze of Hairyawn muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) in bloom. When planted en masse, this perennial bunchgrass puts on a spectacular fall display.

Frogfruit flowers

Frogfruit

Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) is both a versatile and vital wildflower. This evergreen perennial is low-growing and creeping, often forming dense mats of green foliage.

flower flies on yellow Pityopsis flower

Narrowleaf silkgrass

Narrowleaf silkgrass (Pityopsis graminifolia) blooms late summer through early winter in sandhill, flatwoods and scrub habitats throughout the state. It has brilliant yellow flowers and silvery leaves.

Rudbeckia hirta

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) typically blooms in spring through fall. It is pollinated by a variety of insects, and its seeds are eaten by seed-eating birds.

Tropical sage flowers

Tropical sage

Tropical sage (Salvia coccinea) is a versatile perennial wildflower that no pollinator can resist, but it is particularly attractive to bees, large butterflies and hummingbirds.

Seaside goldenrod flower stalk with bees

Seaside goldenrod

The conspicuous golden blooms of Seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) are found on dunes, in tidal marshes, bogs and sandy flatwoods, along roadsides and in disturbed areas in Florida’s coastal counties…

Blue porterweed

Blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) is an excellent addition to a butterfly garden: It is a host plant for the Tropical buckeye and a nectar source for many other butterfly species.

Walter's viburnum, Viburnum obovatum

Walter’s viburnum

Walter’s viburnum (Viburnum obovatum) has showy spring flowers that pollinators love, and produce abundant fruit in summer and fall on which birds and other wildlife feast.

Swamp twinflower (Dyschoriste humistrata)

Dwarf blue-stem palmetto (Sabal minor)

Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens)

POLLINATORS NEED YOUR HELP!

Help Florida’s wildlife and environment by using native wildflowers and plants in your landscape. Click here to learn more information on planting, selecting and maintaining native plants, or check out these resources:

The garden was made possible by the Florida Wildflower Foundation in partnership with Dubsdread Golf Course and the City of Orlando.

Florida Wildflower Foundation