21 Flowers That Will Bloom All Year in Florida

Asters have almost daisy-like flowers, with up to twenty delicate petals per flower, all surrounding a brightly colored center.

There are many varieties of Aster, and you can find one suitable for almost any soil condition. They are relatively easy to grow, so long as you provide the right amount of water and sunshine for your particular variety of Aster.

Aster flowers vary by variety, with a range of colors from white and pink, to much darker hues of blue. By mixing a few different types, you can have colorful flowers bloom all year round in Florida.

Begonia

Scientific Name: Begonia

• Plant Type: Perennial in Florida (Annual in colder climates)
• Geographic Origin: Mexico and Central America
• Plant Size: 1-1.5 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Shade to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 10-11

Begonias usually bloom in the summer and fall. But, they have remarkable staying power, so you can expect to see lots of flowers bloom nearly all year round in Florida’s relatively warm weather.

The only catch is that Begonias don’t enjoy temperature swings.

So, if you get a severe cold snap in the winter, they might not make it. So, it may be advisable to plant your Begonias in containers that you can shelter inside during cool weather. But if you have them in a climate they love, begonias will reward you by blooming all season long.

Blue Daze

Scientific Name: Evolvulus glomeratus

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Eastern, Southwestern North America
• Plant Size: 0.5-1.5 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Plant Zone: 8-11

Blue Daze is a non-vining type of morning glory that blooms in the fall, spring, and summer. So, while you probably won’t get any new blooms in the depth of the winter, they’ll probably hang on for the season in Florida’s relatively warm weather.

These blue flowering shrubs are quite hardy, and you’ll get to enjoy the half-inch blue blossoms all day. They’ll close up at night and on cloudy days.

Bougainvillea

Scientific Name: Bougainvillea spp.

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: South America
• Plant Size: 15-40 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Plant Zone: 9-10

Bougainvillea is a shrub with long vines that can stretch dozens of feet, making it ideal for planting along fence lines, trellises, and walls. Or, you can train it to fill out a container. Either way, you can expect flowers to bloom all year round in Florida.

The new growth vines will develop trios of small white flowers surrounded by brightly colored bracts with various colorful hues, including pink, purple, orange, white, red, and yellow shades.

Bulbine

Scientific Name: Bulbine frutescens

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Africa, Yemen, Australia
• Plant Size: 2-5 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to light shade
• Plant Zone: 9-11

Bulbine plants are a type of succulent, and they do well with a lot of moisture, though that may also attract its most problematic nuisance insect, slugs.

There are many different varieties, but in general, Bulbine has cone-shaped buds that open to reveal six-petaled colorful flowers. Their blooming period varies by the exact cultivar you’re planting, but they tend to start blooming when other plants are going dormant.

The blooms tend to stick around for a long time, so while you won’t get new flowers every day, you will see them for the vast majority of the year.

Firespike

Scientific Name: Odontonema cuspidatum / Odontonema tubaeforme

• Plant Type: Annual / Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Central America
• Plant Size: 1.5-2 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Firespike flowers are tall spiky prominences with multiple filaments branching off the central spire. Although they’re delicate in appearance, they are relatively tough and long-lasting. Their color can range from burgundy or crimson to varying shades of red. The leaves are deep green, with pronounced ribbing and an overall sturdy appearance.

The most common bloom time for all varieties of Firespikes is in fall and summer. But, this plant grows well as an annual or perennial, so depending on the climate cycle and whether you grow them in a container or the outdoor garden, you may have blooms all year long without much difficulty.

Gerbera Daisies

Scientific Name: Gerbera jamesonii

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: Africa
• Plant Size: 1-1.5 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
• Plant Zone: 8-10

Gerbera Daisies resemble daisies with multi-petaled flowers and bright center coronas. They are tremendously colorful, with vibrant hues in colors like white, pink, orange, gold, and yellow.

You can find some varieties with variegated patterns, white-tipped petals, and still others with contrasting centers and petals.

In general, these showy flowers bloom prodigiously in the fall and summer, but they may bloom all year round in southern Florida’s warm weather. And, in areas where it gets colder, you can bring these guys inside for a spell and keep them alive for the following year. They prefer moist, but well-draining soil and overall require very little maintenance. 

Hibiscus

Scientific Name: Hibiscus spp.

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Africa, US
• Plant Size: 2-6 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Plant Zone: 4-9

There are many varieties of Hibiscus, including some hybrid species. Since there are so many varieties, Hibiscus has diverse appearances and growing preferences.

You’ll want to water quite well without letting the soil become water-logged. Hibiscus has a high tolerance for moist to wet soil, but without allowing it to dry out a bit on occasion, mold can become an issue.

Well-established Hibiscus will bloom in summer weather, showing off their attractive flowers with four to five petals and various colors. Individual blooms last only one day, but you should see flowers bloom all year round in Florida’s warm weather. If a frost sets in, the plant will likely go dormant for a period and resume blooming when the weather is warm enough. 

Ixora

Scientific Name: Ixora spp.

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China
• Plant Size: 3-7 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 10-11

Ixora is an evergreen flowering bush with large deep green leaves and blooms of relatively large flowers that are usually some shade of red or orange. They also grow purplish or black fruits. So long as the temperature stays over about fifty degrees, Ixora plants will have blooms.

If you think there is a bit of a cold-weather pattern in the forecast, you can try to protect this plant from cold conditions with a covering, but they’re usually a little too big for that. Instead, some growers plant Ixora in a container, bringing them inside during cold snaps.

Knockout Roses

Scientific Name: Rosa “Knock Out”

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: USA
• Plant Size: 3-10 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 5-9

The garden rose is probably one of the most appealing and popular flowering plants in the world. Many varieties bloom only once or twice per season.

There are other varieties that bloom more often but are climbing roses that tend to get very big very quickly, becoming maintenance intensive. Knockout Roses are hybrids that bloom repeatedly, and are perfect for Florida’s climate.

So, in Florida’s typically warm weather, you can enjoy Knockout Rose blooms all year round without having to constantly trim dead wood or stake climbing vines to keep things colorful.

There are many different varieties of Knockout Roses, so you can also choose your favorite colors. If you like deep red flowers, try the Rosa hybrida “Radrazz,” which also performs well in humid weather.

Lantana

Scientific Name: Lantana spp.

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: West Indies, Mexico, North American tropics
• Plant Size: 1-6 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Plant Zone: 7-11

When left unchecked, Lantana can spread across your garden and maybe even your yard. It excels in tropical climates, so the warmest and most humid parts of Florida should offer a perfect habitat. It needs lots of sunshine and well-draining soil to thrive, and when it takes off, you’ll need your pruning shears to keep it from dominating your location.

There are many varieties with various flower colors like purple, lavender, orange, pink, gold, yellow, and white. Blooms stick around for a long time, showing off long, tubular flowers that also have a strong, sweet fragrance. Lantana will put on a show and show off flowers that bloom all year round in Florida’s warmest weather. Lantanas are extremely hardy and can even survive perennially in hot and arid climates.

Mexican Heather

Scientific Name: Cuphea hyssopifolia

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico
• Plant Size: 1-2 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 9-11

Mexican Heather is a small shrub that adapts well to a variety of soil conditions, so long as the ground is well-draining. It can handle Florida’s hot sun and highly humid conditions and will be just fine without watering so long as you’re not experiencing a prolonged drought. Some grow this plant as an annual because it doesn’t do well if it gets even a little cold.

But, if it stays warm enough, a garden with Mexican Heather will have lots of dainty, six-petaled flowers of pink, purple, lavender, or white throughout the year, with big bursts in fall and summer.

Night Blooming Jasmine

Scientific Name: Cestrum aurantiacum

• Plant Type: Shrub
• Geographic Origin: South America, Mexico
• Plant Size: 5-150 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Dappled sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 7-11

This woody perennial can get quite large, and though tropical in nature, you can find it in gardens in colder climates where it dies back with each frost. In these colder places, it never gets as tall.

It will bloom throughout the fall, spring, and summer, continuing into the winter if the weather stays warm enough.

The flowers arrive in clusters of bright orange or yellow and are trumpet-shaped and highly fragrant, particularly at night.

Oleander

Scientific Name: Nerium oleander

• Plant Type: Shrub
• Geographic Origin: Asia, Europe
• Plant Size: 6-20 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 8-10

Oleander shrubs are pretty sensitive to sub-freezing temperatures, so they exist primarily as houseplants in much of the country. However, in Florida, where sunshine is abundant, and the temperatures typically remain on the high side of freezing, Oleander will survive the winter months, and its blooms might stick around all year.

The flowers of this shrub vary by variety in terms of color (orange, apricot, white, pink, lilac, red, purple, salmon, or yellow). However, they are always funnel-shaped and usually two or three inches across with four or five petals.

Pentas

Scientific Name: Pentas lanceolata

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Eastern, Southwestern North America
• Plant Size: 1.5-2 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Part sun to full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

There are perhaps a dozen varieties of the Pentas plant, which lives as a perennial outdoors in warm climates.

Its attractive flowers make it a common houseplant in cooler areas where it won’t survive the winter months. Depending on the exact variety, you’ll see blooms of yellow, pink, purple, hues of red like burgundy and crimson, and white. 

Petunias

Scientific Name: Petunia spp.

• Plant Type: Annual
• Geographic Origin: South America
• Plant Size: 0.5-1.5 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Part sun to full sun
• Plant Zone: 10-11

The Petunia plant’s name derives from the Tupi-Guarani word petun, which roughly means “worthless tobacco plant.” But, the colorful blooms of this plant make it a favorite for gardeners. There are many varieties, including some hybrids.

These hybrids have three main classifications, each with a distinct growth pattern and flower size. Grandiflora hybrids have large flowers that can be up to four inches wide. Multiflora hybrids have relatively smaller flowers but more of them. Cascading hybrids have descending stems, making them ideal for baskets or ground covering.

Typically, Petunias will only bloom once in the spring and then fade away. But in Florida’s weather, they can last all year.

Plumbago

Scientific Name: Plumbago auriculata

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: Africa
• Plant Size: 6-15 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 9-11

Plumbago has soft, delicate flowers of four or five petals. They look pretty similar to Phlox. This plant can climb trellises and fences easily, but it also works well when planted in containers or as a hedge. The tube-shaped flowers are typically blue, soft pink, or white, and about an inch to three inches.

If you plant Plumbago and don’t plan on pruning it, make sure to leave plenty of room.

Salvia

Scientific Name: Salvia spp.

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: Eastern USA
• Plant Size: 1-3.5 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 5-10

Salvia has many different varieties, meaning that you can find a range of colors, like white, red, purple, blue, or pink. The flowers are deeply-cupped, with a tubular appearance and long petals.

They need well-draining soil but tolerate occasional storm flooding well, so they should do well even in a tough hurricane season with lots of rainfall.

Salvia also has three annual blooms in cooler climates, so in Florida’s relatively warm weather, you’ll enjoy flowers all year long, and so will your area’s pollinators!

Spurred Butterfly Pea

Scientific Name: Centrosema virginianum

• Plant Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: South and North America
• Plant Size: 2-7 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 5-9

The Spurred Butterfly Pea is a perennial vine that likes to climb, but it will spread procumbent across the ground without something to latch onto.

Its flowers are usually a hue of purple, but white blooms are also possible. These flowers resemble the flapping wings of a butterfly with a pea between the halves and are typically a little bit bigger than an inch when fully spread.

In the warm Florida sun, you will see blooms throughout the warmer months and perhaps all year round. You may also see this plant with the truncated name “Butterfly Pea.”

Star Jasmine

Scientific Name: Trachelospermum jasminoides

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: Parts of Japan, Vietnam
• Plant Size: 1.5-7 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Partial shade
• Plant Zone: 7-10

This climbing plant can grow as a vine or a shrub, depending on how you plant and prune it. It does well in containers where it’s allowed to sprawl out, or you can let it grow along lattice, fences, arbors, or trellises.

It doesn’t tolerate cold weather, but it does fine even in full shade. The small white or yellow flowers are especially sweet-smelling and almost cloying, so expect to see plenty of bees stopping by for a snack.

Star Jasmine isn’t authentic Jasmine, as they are from different plant families. So, be careful when shopping, and consider using the scientific name as your reference point, so you get the right plant.

Vinca

Scientific Name: Catharanthus roseus

• Plant Type: Perennial / Annual
• Geographic Origin: Madagascar
• Plant Size: 0.5-4 feet tall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun, dappled sunlight to partial shade
• Plant Zone: 10-11

The Madagascar Periwinkle Plant is another name for C. roseus. It also goes by the names Running Myrtle, Vinca, or others. In cold areas, it’s an annual plant that dies off with the frost.

Its long-lasting blooms can stick around all year in Florida’s warm weather, as Vinca will not die off unless exposed to cold weather. So, if you’re afraid it might get too cold in your area, you can grow Vinca as a container plant and bring it inside when it’s chilly.

The plant’s flowers are dense and showy displays of yellow, pink, white, and purple tubes.