Your Florida Guide to Shrubs
Selection, Establishment and Maintenance
by Edward F. Gilman and Robert F. Black
For each of more than 180 ornamental shrubs and shrub-like plants (some cacti, large ferns and large herbaceous perennials are included), Your Florida Guide to Shrubs provides color photographs; common and scientific names; USDA hardiness zones; size at maturity; a brief description of the flowers; whether it attracts hummingbirds and butterflies; light requirements; pH, moisture and salt tolerances; whether its native to Florida; whether its potentially invasive; and tips for use in the landscape. But this is more than just another pretty dictionary-type picture book. There are chapters on selecting and planting shrubs in the home landscape with lots of design and planning diagrams and photographs of actual Florida yards. Chapters on maintaining shrubs in the landscape include sections on watering, fertilizing, pruning and rejuvenating. Convenient appendices list shrubs that are suitable for hedges, suitable for wet soils, native to Florida, stay less than 6' tall, and shrubs that have especially showy flowers. This is a useful reference for anyone in USDA Zones 8-11 who wants to use ornamental shrubs, whether planning a new yard or adding to an existing landscape. And, it's remarkably inexpensive!
The authors are both faculty members in the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida.
