Native Plant Landscaping Guidance
Garden with purpose - create a home for Florida’s wildlife
Landscaping with Natives is Florida Smart!
Native plants are critical for supporting native birds, butterflies, and all wildlife. The right plant in the right place also helps protect our precious water resources that we rely on.
Build a Habitat
Learn more about how to welcome wildlife and pollinators.
FNPS PLANT DATABASE
Searching for Florida native plants tailored to your local conditions?
The FNPS Plant Database offers detailed information on species distributions, habitat preferences, and ecological value. It's an essential tool for gardeners, land managers, and conservation professionals alike.
How We Manage Our Landscapes Makes a Difference
The way we care for our landscapes—whether it’s a backyard garden, a city park, or a large restoration project—makes a real difference.
At FNPS, we encourage the use of native plants in home and business landscapes because they:
- Save water and protect our springs, lakes, and rivers
- Support pollinators, birds, and other wildlife
- Celebrate Florida’s natural heritage
- Create healthier, low-maintenance landscapes
Native plants are the foundation of our ecosystems. Pollinators, like butterflies and bees, rely on them, and birds depend on insects for food—especially to raise their young. Even hummingbirds, known for sipping nectar, need insects to stay healthy. Research shows that adding even small pockets of native plants can bring butterflies and birds back into neighborhoods.
Choosing native plants also helps protect water. Because they are adapted to Florida’s soils and climate, they need little or no extra fertilizer or irrigation. That means less runoff, cleaner water, and healthier springs and streams—along with lower maintenance for you.
FNPS is here to help you succeed. We offer plant selection guides, landscaping tips, and recognition programs for beautiful native landscapes. Together, we can create outdoor spaces that are vibrant, sustainable, and full of life.
Landscape Awards - Showcase the Beauty of Native Plants
From residential yards to commercial landscapes and from large-scale restoration sites to small-scale wildlife and butterfly gardens, FNPS encourages Chapters, community groups, businesses, professionals, government agencies, HOA's and individuals to nominate their own or others' landscapes for recognition of their efforts to celibrate and highlight the benefits of native plants.
Educational Materials
FNPS provides educational materials on the growing of native plants in various formats:
- Landscaping brochures
- Selected native plant profiles
- Coloring book pages for children (or adults, we don't judge!)
- Video presentations on the FNPS YouTube channel
- Demonstration Gardens throughout the state
- Good Citizen Guides
- Information on interpretive trails
- Chapter-led garden tours
- Plant highlights in our newsletter, Sabal minor
- Science-based articles, book reviews, and more in our quarterly magazine, The Palmetto
- and other plant information
Many chapter newsletters feature a native plant in a landscape setting in each issue. To receive local news from your nearby chapter, you can join FNPS and select your favorite chapter, and be automatically enrolled!
Demonstration Gardens
FNPS chapters maintain demonstration gardens across the state. In addition, many chapters work with established gardens open to the public to create and maintain native areas within those gardens. Our FNPS volunteers make a difference in planning, creating, and maintaining these gardens!
