I've never grown roses so can'r help you there. But my gardinia is growing strong, its on the northside of my house, in the ground, and gets partial shade and seems to like it. Its a grafted variety and i understand they tend to do better than others. Its in bloom now. Never had much luck with petunias nor i suppose much interest, my sister grows hers mixed in with some other annuals in a half whiskey barrel on her north face front of her house, it is shaded from some of the afternoon sun by her garage. With it being so dry i would think some good starting out plants would be some drought hardy ones, i like mexican heather and pentas...the butterflies will love the pentas. I also like purple queen and oyster plants. I also love hibiscus...i have never seen an ugly hibiscus flower and they come in so many colors.

As a generalization, both roses and gardenias need to have grafted rootstocks to do well in Florida. If they do not most roses and gardenias will do well for the first two years or so and then they start to die off.

If you look at the stems of the plants just above where they come out of the ground you can normally see the grafts.

The grafted rootstock for roses is fortuniana. I don't know much about the grafts for gardenias.

Try a high-acid plant food like Miracle-Gro Azalea, Camellia & Rhododendron Plant Food on your gardenia. I'm not clear on whether you planted it in the ground or in a container. Be careful not to over fertilize or over water if it's in a container.

Pea- thank you for your feedback! :) sucks that you mentioned you don't know much about roses! However we live in the same zone, any gardening tips and what plants have you had success with?

Samantha

Tom- thank you for your feedback! When talk of "grafts" what do you mean? Remember I am new at this lol! You live near my zone- any luck with any plants and any good advice that I need to learn for Florida gardening? Lol

Samantha

Pattybee- thank you for your advice! The two gardenias are planted on the north side of the house and is doing pretty good so far! Have you got any tips for new plant lover? lol I'm trying to learn! I need some tips on transplanting too! lol I'm open to everything! I got to get my hydrangea and two mini rose plants in their new pots!

Samantha

Love_the_yard - thank you for your feedback! I never knew about waiting 6 months for fertilizer, && thank you for the pictures! Do you have any other advice for a new plant lover? It's been a journey trying to learn this tropical climate!

samantha

Samantha, "grafted", as I used it above, means that the root system of one plant is cut off and the root system or "stock" of another plant replaces it. So, a grafted plant will have the root system of one plant and the top part of another plant placed on top of it. For roses, the root stock of a rose called "Fortuniana" is almost totally resistant to nematodes, while the root stock of most "own root" roses is not.

There are other types of grafts, but no need to get into that here.

Nematodes love the sandy soil of Florida, and will eat the roots systems of some plants unless they are grafted with resistant root stock. Roses will do well for a few years if they aren't grafted, but after that most will start to decline as the nematodes eat their roots.

There are some roses whose roots are very resistant to nematodes, such as the Florida "cracker" rose which is better named Luis Phillipe. It is an OGR (Old Garden Rose) that loves Florida soil and gets huge over time. I have one that is over ten feet tall now and very wide.

If you keep your roses in pots, as mentioned above, there isn't a need to worry about nematodes. However, roses need a lot of care normally, and when they are in pots they need a bit more care.

EDIT: KEEPS MESSING WITH MY FORMATTING/NUMBERING. This is supposed to be a single, numbered list, itemized one through six. If the numbering starts over, please ignore!

Transplanting:

1. Water: If it is a potted plant, put it in a bucket. Fill with water by putting the hose between the bucket and the pot so as to not wash soil off of the roots. Let the plant and pot soak up the water from the bottom until you see water flowing across the surface of the plant. Let the plant sit and soak for about 20-30 minutes (but no longer). Do this right before planting. If transplanting a plant already in the ground, water very, very well before digging it out.

2. New hole: Dig your new hole BEFORE taking the plant out of the pot or digging it up from its current location.

3. Trees, shrubs and ornamentals: Never plant any deeper than it is in the pot. The soil line from the pot should be level or just slightly higher than the surrounding ground soil. So after you dig your hole but before planting, set the potted plant into the hole and check the depth before planting. Make depth adjustments and then put the pot back into the hole and check again. Annuals: I always plant these deeper than the surrounding soil so that nothing is exposed to dry out. I water them in really, really well.

1. Have the hose or watering can full and ready. Gently set your plant in the hole. Do not lift by the trunk (you tear tiny roots). Turn pot on side and ease/slide the plant out gently using gravity. Put about 1/4 of backfill dirt in the hole surrounding plant. Water all the way around the circle (swimming pool). Put another 1/4 backfill and water in. Continue watering after each round of backfill until filled. Add any amendments (bone meal, blood meal, banana peels, etc) here, too - depends upon the plant.
2. Do not "pack in" or even worse, stomp your foot on top of the plant and roots. Just water in each round. You can push the soil that surrounds your plant down firmly with your hands but do not push down or stomp down directly on the plant.
3. Build a small berm with the circumference of the plant to retain water when watering in the future. Add mulch but do not take it up to the trunk of the plant. Leave/pull it back leaving some space for the tree and roots to "breathe".

Last thing - reading! There is a wealth of info from the past 20 years right here, just waiting for you. If you read and search, you can find the answers to many (most?) questions. You can spend all day and night reading old-but-very-relevant posts. Be willing to take some initiative, research and read! So much is here already.

Good luck!

Carol

Carol is right there is a lot of information on here. You can find info on most anything you might want to grow. Happy gardening

You might consider adding your zone after your name. This will enable us to give advice based on your zone. (FL has three different zones and tons of microzones within them. Different things do better in some thsn others. North goes down to Rt 40, central down to Rt 70 and south below that..

I would also add that you should take it slow buying a bunch of plants. Give yourself some time to learn how plants grow in FL.it's nothing like up north, definitely nothing like Ohio. I lived in Cinti for years.

Find yourself a really good smallish nursery, not a bix box store, and go talk to them. Same for neighbors who have lots of plants. These two should be able to give you valuable advice on what works in your area.

Keep in mind that our seasons are sort of reversed in FL from those up north. In south FL the growing season is mostly the late fall, winter and early spring. In the north where I am I plant my vegetable garden late Febr-early March and June-August most of it peters out. I replant it for a fall crop.

As for petunias, I grow a pot every year but they peter out in the summer heat. I plant a pot in March and September. It gets all morning sun, shade in afternoon.

I agree start small.

As for what works in this zone...As i said before that this being a dry year i would pick drought hardy plants to start with. Drought hardy plants tend to have small leaves and small flowers. Mexican heather, blue daze, pentas all are pretty colors for a affordable price and the big box stores like to call them annuals but in florida the are short lived perenials...you get about 3 years of decent growth and bloom then they tend to start dying.

My father planted ixoria back in the 1970’s when they built this house, is is a wonderful hedge now, it seems to attract zebra and yellow striped swallowtailed butterflies, its the best feature of the front yard. Oaks and sable palms are my foundation trees. Plumbago is super hardy and get larger than you think it would. Hibiscus does super well, the old fashioned red ones are hardier than others. I have a copper plant that usually does pretty good but this year has not spung back from winter like it normally does...i think it is too dry. Citrus of course does well. Bromeliads go crazy. I have night blooming jasmine and night blooming cereus(sp?). Lemon grass and elephant ears. Personally the best way to find what will work is to look at the plants in other peoples yard.

Hey Samantha. I'm also a recent beginner this year and live in Florida too (South Florida specifically). Two of the biggest lessons i've learned with this unpredictable Florida weather are:

1. Pay attention to water needs

2. Some plants that are marked as liking Partial to Full Sun really can't handle a full day of Florida sun

You might read articles on some plants only needing watering once a week. This won't always be true for flowering plants in Florida. The afternoon sun is harsh down here and soaks up the water quickly. Having self-watering containers are helpful, but also having soil that maintains a decent moisture balance is important too. If the soil you buy drains extremely well, because of the heat, you might have to water the plant more often than what is stated online. Also, pay attention to the forecast. We tend to have rainy summers. If it's guaranteed to rain one day and your plants are fully outdoors, then you might not want to bother watering that day. Mother Nature will handle it. On that note, if you have some potted plants that specifically have low water needs, you might wanna consider (when possible) temporarily removing them from open-air if a thunderstorm is coming. Late Spring/Summer thunderstorms in particular can last all afternoon or all night. If they get caught in the downpours, just refrain from watering them manually for awhile. You can always just check the soil a few days later to see if it's dried out enough for manual watering.

I basically learned from trial and error. My pots of Pentas, for example, which are Partial to Full Sun lovers, let me know immediately that they can't handle a full morning and afternoon of South Florida sun without lots of water. Otherwise by 5pm, they would be wilting and the petals shriveled. Then i would water them and within a half hour, they'd be upright and happy again. My apartment faces North, so i rely on the strong mid-morning and afternoon sun for my plants. To fix the situation, i just positioned the pots near my door where they get the harsher afternoon sun, but are exposed to less hours of it and the result is that i now water them less and they are blooming normally, with no wilting whatsoever. I don't have this issue with my Marigolds, Celosia, Gomphrena, or Purslane.

Also always keep in mind that caring for potted plants can differ from caring for them in-ground in Florida. With flowers like roses, i'd rather grow them in a container due to the nematode issue in Florida soil (and not having enough space for a big garden). There are only certain kinds of roses that will do well in Florida. And always remember that with in-ground planting, it's helpful to mix compost/organic soil to add the nutrients Floridian sandy soil tends to lack.

Lastly, always buy the plants adequate for your zone (for quick purchases, your local Home Depot/Walmart/Lowes will sell them) or buy seeds for flowers that will thrive in your zone. You can also purchase roots online, but always zone check. It will save you from a lot of potential hardship and disappointment. Anyway, pay attention to what your plants are telling you as they will let you know when there's a problem, and slowly make adjustments when necessary. Good luck!