The plants we use — and why they belong here.
The natives that rebuild ecosystems and the fruit trees that reward the yards that hold them. Every entry is written from our on-site experience across the Treasure Coast.
Fruit tree
Mango
The signature summer harvest of a South Florida edible landscape.
Fruit tree
Avocado
A serious tree that pays back for decades — pick the right variety.
Fruit tree
Lychee
A slow-to-fruit tree, but a summer luxury worth the wait.
Fruit tree
Jackfruit
The world's largest tree fruit — and it grows here.
Fruit tree
Banana
The fastest edible payoff in a Florida yard.
Fruit tree
Papaya
Fruit in 9 months from seed — no other tree does that.
Fruit tree
Carambola (Starfruit)
Two crops a year and gorgeous form — an underused tree.
Fruit tree
Tropical Guava
Tough, productive, and forgiving — a great first fruit tree.
Fruit tree
Loquat
The winter-fruiting tree — flowers in fall, ripens in spring.
Fruit tree
Mulberry
A month of daily handfuls off a tough, fast tree.
Fruit tree
Fig
Two crops of jam-sweet fruit from a compact tree.
Fruit tree
Barbados / Surinam Cherry
A hedgerow that feeds you.
Native
Firebush (Hamelia patens)
The single best hummingbird plant on the Treasure Coast.
Native
Coontie
Florida's own cycad — architectural, tough, host to an endangered butterfly.
Native
American Beautyberry
Purple berries in fall, birds in winter.
Native
Muhly Grass
The pink-cloud native grass that made mass plantings famous.
Native
Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)
Beach-native color that pollinators can't resist.
Native
Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea)
A quiet workhorse for pollinators, in sun or shade.
Native
Sea Grape
The definitive Florida coastal native — and edible.