Hortus Oasis - Creative landscape design, photography and educational services.

After growing, designing with and writing about plants for over fifteen years, we have developed a number of favorites for Central Florida gardens. Here is a small selection of our favorites. Plants with the 'Florida Plant of the Year' logo have been selected by the Florida Nurserymen, Growers & Landscape Association (www.floridagardening.org ) for their exceptional performance.

Insect pests and diseases prefer weak plants. Be sure you choose the right plants for the right locations. Then keep your plants healthy with proper watering and fertilizer. A healthy two to three inch layer of organic mulch will provide adequate nutrients for most plants. Do not use harsh pesticides (which also kiill the beneficial insects) and only treat those plants that have a pest. Check our 'Favorite Garden Publications' page for numerous plant references.

This is the lovely Mona Lavender plectranthus flowering profusely on our front terrace. Read more about it below.

Aspidistra lurida 'Ginga' aka Milky Way - Speckled cast iron plant (shade loving low water use groundcover with narrow leaves and speckled white variegation)
Chionanthus virginicus - old man's-beard/fringe tree (small white flowering native tree, slow growth)
Cymbopogon citratum - lemon grass (grassy texture with edible stems used in Thai cuisine)
Hamelia patens - firebush (shrub with reddish-orange blossoms attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Low water use.)
Ilex vomitoria f. pendula - cascading yaupon holly tree (small-leaved, native holly with striking stiffly cascading branches, red berries on the female for food and shelter for songbirds. Low water use.)
Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei ‘Acoma' - Acoma crape myrtle (slightly cascading semi-dwarf tree to about ten-feet with white blossoms, no need to trim this one)
Lomandra longifolia - Spiny mat rush (finely textured grass like groundover for sun or part shade reaching about 3 feet in width and height. Low water use and not spiny at all!)
Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem' - Little Gem magnolia (small scale tree, foliage and blossoms for small spaces that blooms, blooms, blooms)
Paspalum quadrifarium - paspalum grass (southern evergreen grass with a four foot height and spread)
Plectranthus hybridus ‘Mona Lavender' – Mona Lavender (perennial to 12-16" ht with lavender splashed with purple orchid-like blooms on spikes rising six inches above dark green foliage, dark purple stems and dark purple undersides of leaves)
Trachelospermum asiaticum ‘Ang Yo' - Ang Yo dwarf Asian jasmine (groundcover with luscious variegated foliage that changes color through the seasons)
Viburnum obovatum - Walter's viburnum tree (small-leafed, native tree with profuse small white blooms in spring, sporadic blooms rest of year)
Viburnum obovatum 'Mrs Schiller's Delight' - Mrs. Schiller's Delight Walter's viburnum (a compact white flowering shrub-form of the native tree that requires little pruning)
Zamia pumila - Florida coontie (native cycad that makes a great low water use mounding groundcover in sun or shade)
Zephyranthes atamasca - atamasca lily or rain lily (a native seasonal summer rain sentinel from a bulb)