Gardening in Florida

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in nearby Delray Beach encompasses six distinct historical garden styles, a well-regarded bonsai collection, and rotating exhibitions, and is one of Palm Beach County's most visited cultural and horticultural sites. The Deerfield Beach Arboretum, a few miles south, offers additional botanical walking trails for those drawn to native plants.

Lee County's Master Gardener program, affiliated with the University of Florida IFAS Extension, offers free gardening clinics and plant diagnostic services open to the public in Fort Myers. The nearby Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Crew Land and Water Trust lands reflect the native botanical richness of the region, and community garden plots exist within several Lee County parks.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens (4000 Morikami Park Rd., nearby Delray Beach) operates extensive formal Japanese gardens open to the public, and Palm Beach County Parks offers community garden plots at several facilities. The Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program runs public clinics and demonstration gardens.

Cape Coral's subtropical climate supports year-round container and garden growing, and the Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve connects residents to native plantings and interpretive trails. Lee County Extension's Master Gardener program offers free phone and in-person plant clinics out of the Fort Myers office, serving Cape Coral residents.

The Florida Botanical Gardens is a 150-acre Pinellas County park featuring 26 distinct garden areas with shaded trails and formal plantings that draw both casual visitors and serious gardeners. UF/IFAS Extension in Pinellas County runs the Florida-Friendly Master Gardener volunteer program, training residents in regional horticulture.

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens (4000 Morikami Park Rd) maintains six acres of curated Japanese-style gardens on smooth pathways that are wheelchair and walker accessible; seasonal horticultural programs and tea ceremonies run year-round. Palm Beach County's Master Gardener volunteers operate demonstration and community garden sites throughout the county, reachable through the UF/IFAS Extension Palm Beach County office.

Manatee Park (10901 State Road 80) and the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve maintain native plant demonstration areas and host regular guided walks led by Lee County naturalists. The UF/IFAS Lee County Extension office coordinates the Lee County Master Gardener program with community demonstration gardens, free plant clinics, and educational events throughout the year.

UF/IFAS Duval County Urban Gardening Program manages a demonstration garden on City of Jacksonville property on Superior Street, with Master Gardener hotline support Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm, at 904-255-7450. The Garden Club of Jacksonville hosts an annual Community Gardens Summit connecting dozens of neighborhood gardens across the city.

Hollis Garden on Lake Mirror is a 1.2-acre formal garden in the heart of downtown Lakeland, maintained by the City Parks department and open daily to the public free of charge. The city's Parks and Recreation department maintains Holloway Park and Nature Preserve as an urban nature space with trails alongside gardening programming.

Melbourne hosts several Brevard County Master Gardener demonstration programs operated through the University of Florida IFAS Extension office; the subtropical climate allows year-round planting of vegetables and tropicals. Brevard County Parks maintains green spaces with native-plant demonstration gardens as part of its Environmentally Endangered Lands program.

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables offers adult gardening and botany classes throughout the year, connecting participants with University of Florida/IFAS Master Gardener instructors. Miami Beach also maintains a public Botanical Garden at 2000 Convention Center Drive with free regular admission.

Naples Botanical Garden spans 170 acres at 4820 Bayshore Drive and focuses on tropical and subtropical plant conservation, with a Let's Grow program supporting school and community gardeners. The Naples Garden Club (naplesgardenclub.org) provides a community network for horticulture education, floral design, and environmental programming.

The Palm Coast Community Center hosts monthly Horticulture Workshops and an Open Art Studio among its adult and senior programming catalog; the city's parks system includes a planned Community Gardens at Lehigh Trailhead with rental plots, and the Florida Master Gardener program serves Flagler County through the UF/IFAS Extension office.

The University of Florida/IFAS Extension in Charlotte County runs a Master Gardener program that holds public plant clinics and educational workshops. Centennial Park Recreation Center, run by Charlotte County, includes an on-site community garden available to residents.

The St. Lucie County Extension Service runs a Master Gardener program with regular public workshops and a plant diagnostic clinic. The City of Port St. Lucie's parks division also supports community garden programming at Apache Park and several other neighborhood sites.

Sarasota County Parks maintains community gardens at Laurel Park and Nokomis Community Park, both listing community garden beds among their formal amenities. The University of Florida IFAS Extension in Sarasota County runs a Master Gardener program with demonstration plots and a plant clinic held at Shamrock Park Nature Center, with recurring Demonstration Garden Tours scheduled monthly.

The OM Grown Community Garden at WellCome OM Center in Spring Hill (4242 Lake in the Woods Drive) provides raised bed memberships, free monthly educational workshops on topics ranging from organic composting to fall planting, and a shared-tools environment for community gardeners; the UF/IFAS Hernando County Extension office also supports a Master Gardener volunteer program. Membership starts at $20 per month and includes irrigation, soil amendments, and access to non-GMO seed resources.

The University of Florida IFAS Extension Hillsborough County Master Gardener program supports home and community gardeners with phone clinics, workshops, and demonstration gardens; several community garden sites operate across Tampa through the city's parks system and neighborhood organizations. Tampa's subtropical climate supports year-round growing, with the fall through spring season being most productive for vegetables.

The Villages supports a network of resident garden clubs listed through the community clubs directory, and the broader central Florida region is served by UF/IFAS Extension master gardener programs in Lake, Sumter, and Marion counties that hold public plant clinics and demonstration gardens.