Florida-Friendly Landscaping for Pollinators: Growing a Garden with a Purpose
Join us as we share real stories from local gardeners transforming their yards into Florida-Friendly Landscaping for pollinators. Discover practical tips, successes, and lessons learned for creating gardens that are beautiful, sustainable, and easier to maintain in Florida. Discovery & Challenge As a former Master Gardener Volunteer in Miami-Dade County (2011–2015), Jennifer discovered the joy and impact of pollinator-friendly spaces. When she purchased her home in Hollywood, the yard was mostly bare turf. Over time, Jennifer transformed her yard into a productive landscape featuring fruits and vegetables, plus host plants and nectar sources for butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
Learning Florida-Friendly™ Principles
Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ is a UF/IFAS program that promotes low-impact, science-based yard practices using the right plant in the right place, efficient irrigation, and reduced chemical inputs. By choosing native and Florida-adapted plants, limiting pesticide use, and providing nectar and habitat, Florida-Friendly Landscaping for pollinators offers year-round food and shelter for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.
Did you know that an estimated 70% of global crop production depends on animal pollinators? Tracking who visits your yard—bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficial insects—can help you see how your landscape is making a difference.
Jennifer’s yard is a living example. Blooming natives and Florida-friendly plants such as porterweed, a perennial flowering shrub; frogfruit, a low-growing perennial groundcover; salvia, typically used as a perennial or long-blooming bedding plant; and coreopsis, a perennial wildflower often massed in beds, provide dependable nectar through the seasons.
Host plants like corkystem passionflower, a native vining perennial, support complete butterfly life cycles, while shallow water sources, leaf litter, and small twig piles offer nesting and shelter sites. The result is a vibrant backyard where butterflies and bees thrive, supporting local biodiversity right outside her door.
My Landscape Transformation Jennifer’s Why “I imagine a world where neighbors adopt Florida-Friendly practices, letting bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies travel yard to yard without poison or toxins.” Jennifer’s Landscape Poem Butterflies swirled around us as we sat under the cassia tree, As if feeling the warmth of our bodies. The fountain trickled and gurgled, Speaking nature’s language. Palms swayed and rustled in the wind, caressing our ears. Monarch caterpillars chewed the leaves of a milkweed, Gaining strength before our eyes. Worms secretly wove through the soil, performing their alchemy. Large green oblong fruit hung from a nearby papaya tree, tempting our taste buds. And I said… I am home. – Jennifer S. Take the Next Step Ready to transform your yard with Florida-Friendly Landscaping for pollinators? https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/about-ffl/9-principles/principle-5-attract-wildlife/Take the Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Pledge to save water, protect wildlife, and reduce pollution.
Stories from the Yard celebrates Broward County residents creating sustainable landscapes using Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles. Whether you are new to FFL gardening or a seasoned grower, the pledge connects you to a community working together for a greener Florida.
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