Best Shrubs for Tampa Area Homes
No matter where you live in Florida, you have a great selection of shrubs. You’ve got gorgeous flowering shrubs, shrubs that bear colorful berries, good hedges, and more. Shrubbery can help you protect your home from weather damage, add beauty to your property, and border your gardens. Since you have such a wide variety of choices, it can be hard to decide what to plant in your yard. Today we’d like to go over some of our favorite shrubs and how they can brighten up your home!
Beautyberry
If you’re looking for shrubs that are bound to do well in Florida, you can’t do any better than a native! Beautyberry is a shrub native to the Sunshine State which comes to life in the winter months. It produces countless amethyst berries. These berries attract flocks of birds, butterflies, and even a stray deer or two. You can even use the berries yourself for everything from jam to wine! If you’re going to eat them raw, make sure you only have a few, though. Beautyberry grows between three and eight feet tall and just as wide. Though it loves sunshine, this shrub can thrive anywhere.
Crown of Thorns
The crown of thorns has very sturdy, thick branches and likes to sprawl wherever it’s planted. Not only that, it’s incredibly colorful. The bright red blooms are bracts – Modified leaf structures that surround tiny yellow flowers. A good example of a bract is the poinsettia. The bright red “petals” are bracts! When it comes to blooming, this plant has a very long season. So if you’re looking for color in your yard, you can’t go wrong here. As a plus, this shrub is rather low maintenance when it comes to pruning and mending work.
Oleander
Fast-growing and low maintenance, oleander is a great shrub for Florida homeowners. It can even grow to tree size! The oleander flowers are almost all year round in central and south Florida. North Florida residents should keep them in pots and protect them during the winter. They are somewhat frost-sensitive. It’s a great choice for coastal properties, as it’s very salt and heat resistant.
Ixora
Another year-round flowering shrub, the Ixora, is a great choice. With bright clustered blooms that come in pink, red, yellow, orange, and white, you can add a lot of color to your garden. These shrubs are also evergreen and resist heat, salt, and drought very well. Growing up to 15 feet tall and about as wide, this huge shrub makes great use of space. While it does best in full sunlight, it can grow in partial shade. It prefers acidic soil and makes a great foundation or hedge.
Wax Myrtle
Another native that thrives all over and has many uses, the wax myrtle, can be planted statewide. Its name comes from the useful little berries it grows. These were once used to make candle wax but now serve mainly to attract birds to your yard. The leaves are aromatic and help the plant serve as a competent barrier, accent, or hedge.
These are only a few of the best shrub choices for Hillsborough and Tampa area residents. We’re in one of the best places in the state to grow a variety of shrubs. Some other good options include Louis Phillipe rose, plumbago, and seagrape. Further suggestions can be learned at our site.
