Hardy Florida Edible Plants, Fruit Trees and Herbs

Avocado

Persea americana

Cold: Semi-tender Light: Sun Salt: Poor Soil PH: Wide Moisture: Average / Well-drained Leaves: Evergreen

15 ft height with pruning. We stock the following varieties depending on their availability: Fantastic, Lula, Brogdan, Choquette, Oro Negro and Super Hass.

Please read this informative article from the University of Florida on growing avocados. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG213 Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Barbados Cherry

Malpighia emarginata

Cold: Semi-tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Poor Soil PH: Wide Moisture: Average Leaves: Evergreen

15 ft height. Small tree or large shrub. Fruit is tasty, tart and very high in Vitamin C and also enjoyed by songbirds. Multi-colored pink flowers from late spring through fall.

Bears fruit from May to November. Cold tolerant (may freeze to ground with long term freezing temperatures in Florida, but will likely re-grow from the roots.) Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Basil, African-Blue

Ocimum kilimandsharium x basilicum

Cold: Semi-hardy Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Poor Soil: Acid Moisture: Average Leaves: Evergreen

3 ft height. Hardy flowering shrub basil. Perennial. Withstands our Florida summers. Pink flowers with a dark purple calyx.

Attractive, and tasty, for salads, drinks or garnishes. Makes a great pesto. Huge pollinator magnet. Grows easily from cuttings.

Holds well as a cut flower in a vase (can easily grow roots from cuttings in water) and has an edible flower. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Bird Pepper

Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum

Cold: Semi-tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Excellent Soil PH: Wide Moisture: Average Leaves: Evergreen

3 ft height. Long-lived annual or short-lived perennial. Small white flowers most of year. Small red-hot peppers eaten by birds and people. Native.

https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-capsicum-annuum-var-glabriusculum/

Blueberry, Darrow’s

Vaccinium darrowii

Cold: Hardy Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Poor Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Dry / Average Leaves: Evergreen

3 ft height. Attractive rainbow-colored foliage. White/pink flowers in spring attract various pollinators, especially native bees.

Edible fruit great for birds, or people in summer. Native.

Butterfly Pea

Clitoria ternatea

Cold: Semi-hardy Light: Sun / Shade Salt: - Soil: Wide Moisture: Average / Moist (well-drained) Leaves: Evergreen

Variable height, prolific climber. Cover a pergola or an archway. Hardy and adaptable. Perennial. Showy pink / blue / violet flowers all year round.

Attracts pollinators. Larval host plant for long-tailed skippers and durantes long-tailed butterflies

Used medicinally. Dried flowers used to make a bright blue or purple tea. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Cherry of the Rio Grande

Eugenia aggregata

Cold: Hardy to 25 degrees Light: Sun / Partial Shade Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Average Leaves: Evergreen

15’ height. Blooms in the summer, cherries forming 3 weeks after blooms. Fruits at 5 years of age.

Fruit tastes like cherries with a hint of banana. Attracts pollinators. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Chive, Garlic

Allium tuberosum

Cold: Hardy Light: Sun / Partial Shade Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Average / Moist Leaves: Evergreen

5 in. height. Leaves are flatter than chive leaves. Grow indoors or outdoors for year-round onion flavoring.

Use chopped leaves and young flowers to add flavor and decorative garnish to salads. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Elderberry, Southern

Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis

Cold: Hardy Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Poor Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Average / Moist Leaves: Semi-Deciduous

15 ft height. White edible flowers in flat-topped clusters bloom Spring - Summer and attract numerous pollinators.

Black fruit eaten by birds, used for pies, jellies, jams and wines. Weeping large shrub or small tree. Suckers. Native.

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

Cold: Hardy Light: Sun / Partial Shade Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Average / Moist Leaves: Evergreen

2 ft height. Perennial. Soft feathery leaves have a distinct licorice flavor. An excellent salad addition but can also be blanched and used as a cooked vegetable.

Larval food for Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies, reseeds. We usually carry Florence variety. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Passionflower 'Possum Purple'

Passiflora edulis

Cold: Semi-tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade Soil PH: Wide Moisture: Average / Moist but well-drained Leaves: Evergreen

Variable height, prolific climber. Cover a pergola or an archway. Perennial. Beautiful flower and tasty fruit. A host plant for butterflies. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Lemongrass

Cymbopogon citratus

Cold: Semi-tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Excellent Soil PH: Wide Moisture: Dry / Average / Moist Leaves: Evergreen

4 ft. height. Quick growing clump grass. Hardy. Used widely in Caribbean and Asian dishes. Good for flavoring water or making tea.

Attractive and fragrant landscape plant. Will grow back from roots/base after freeze, or after harvesting. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Moringa

Moringa oleifera

Cold: Tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Excellent Soil PH: Wide Moisture: Dry / Average / Moist Leaves: Evergreen

20 ft. height. Also known as Horseradish Tree. Pods, beans, leaves and roots are all edible.

If not trimmed, will grow very tall, best kept low for harvesting greens and tender new growth.

Fast-growing. Frost-sensitive, but will grow back after freeze. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Oregano

Origanum sp.

Cold: Semi-tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade / Shade Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Average Leaves: Evergreen

6 in. height. An essential spice of pizza as well as tomato, cheese and meat dishes. We usually grow the flavorful Greek variety. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”

Papaya

Carica papaya

Cold: Tender Light: Sun / Partial Shade Salt: Poor Soil PH: Acid Moisture: Dry / Average Leaves: Evergreen

15 ft. height. We like to grow Red Lady, a red-fleshed solo variety. Female plants are self-fruitful. Reported to be tolerant of the papaya ring spot virus.

Vigorous, productive, and begins bearing at a young age. The large fruits weigh as much as 4½ lbs. Green Papaya is cooked as a vegetable. Nectar for butterflies.

Sometimes we carry an heirloom variety of papaya that are either male or female and are of mixed origin from our neighbor, Jean, who has been growing Papaya for decades.

Her trees produce a delicious fruit. We call these Jean’s Heirloom papayas. Non-native but “Florida-friendly”