August in Northeast Florida is not exactly an easy month for the landscape. A good landscape is planned for the season, not just the install day.
Long days, intense heat, high humidity, and unpredictable summer thunderstorms can put plants—and the people caring for them—to the test. But while some plants struggle through the hottest part of the year, others are hitting their stride.
From hummingbird-friendly Firebush to Rain Lilies that seem to appear overnight following a summer storm, August offers plenty of color if the right plants are growing in the right places.
Here are ten plants you may see blooming around Jacksonville and Northeast Florida this August.
1. Firebush
Firebush is almost tailor-made for a Florida summer.
Its clusters of orange-red tubular flowers provide color during some of our hottest months while also attracting hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators.
Once established, Firebush can become a substantial shrub, particularly in sunny locations. It works well in informal landscapes, pollinator gardens and areas where a larger flowering shrub can be allowed some room to grow.
Florida’s native Firebush is particularly well suited to our climate.
Landscape tip: Give Firebush plenty of sunlight for better flowering and enough space to develop naturally. Excessive shearing can reduce its flowers and take away from its naturally attractive form.
2. Pentas
If butterflies seem to be constantly visiting a particular patch of flowers, there is a good chance Pentas are involved.
Their clusters of small, star-shaped flowers are available in shades of red, pink, lavender and white, providing dependable summer color when many traditional flowering plants are struggling.
Pentas can work especially well in mass plantings, mixed beds and pollinator gardens.
Landscape tip: Pentas generally perform best with good sunlight and well-drained soil. Keep an eye on irrigation during extended dry periods, but avoid keeping the soil continuously saturated.
3. Blue Daze
Sometimes a landscape doesn’t need another large shrub. It just needs a little color closer to the ground.
Blue Daze provides distinctive blue flowers over low-growing silvery-green foliage and handles Florida heat remarkably well.
It can be particularly effective along bed edges, around hardscapes, in containers or anywhere a low-growing flowering plant is needed.
The flowers typically open during the morning and may close later in the day, so don’t be surprised if the display changes as the afternoon progresses.
Landscape tip: Blue Daze appreciates plenty of sun and good drainage. Too much shade can result in fewer flowers and a less compact plant.
4. Lantana
There is a reason Lantana appears so frequently in Florida landscapes.
It likes heat.
Flower clusters can include yellow, orange, pink, red, purple and combinations of several colors, depending on the variety. Butterflies are frequent visitors, making Lantana useful when both summer color and pollinator activity are priorities.
Once established, many varieties also have relatively modest water requirements.
Landscape tip: Know which Lantana you’re planting. Florida has native species as well as nonnative varieties, and some nonnative forms have invasive concerns. Plant selection matters.
5. Porterweed
If attracting butterflies is part of the landscape plan, Porterweed deserves consideration.
Its long flower spikes produce small flowers that are regularly visited by butterflies and other pollinators. The blue-purple flowers also provide a different color and texture from many of the reds, oranges and yellows common in summer landscapes.
As with Lantana, however, plant selection is important because native and nonnative Porterweeds are available in Florida.
Landscape tip: If supporting Florida wildlife is the goal, ask specifically about native Porterweed rather than assuming every plant sold under the name is the same.
6. Plumbago
Few landscape plants produce a blue quite like Plumbago.
Clusters of powder-blue flowers stand out against light green foliage and can continue appearing throughout the warm season.
Plumbago works well as an informal flowering shrub, foundation planting or mass planting where it has enough room to develop its naturally loose form.
It also provides another benefit: Plumbago is a host plant for the Cassius blue butterfly.
Landscape tip: Avoid trying to maintain Plumbago as an extremely tight, heavily sheared hedge. Allowing some natural growth generally creates a softer appearance and provides more room for flowering.
7. Crape Myrtle
August color isn’t limited to flower beds.
Crape Myrtles are among the most recognizable summer-flowering trees in Northeast Florida, producing large clusters of flowers in shades ranging from white and pink to red and purple.
Depending on the cultivar, Crape Myrtles can range considerably in mature size. That makes choosing the right variety particularly important.
A tree that naturally grows to 20 or 25 feet shouldn’t be planted where the landscape design requires something half that size.
Landscape tip: Choose a cultivar based on its mature size rather than relying on severe annual pruning to keep an oversized tree small. Proper plant selection can help avoid the aggressive topping commonly referred to as “crape murder.”
8. Crinum Lily
For a more dramatic Florida landscape look, it’s hard to overlook Crinum Lilies.
Large strappy leaves create a substantial mass of foliage, while tall flower stalks rise above the plant carrying clusters of lily-like blooms.
Depending on the variety, flowers may be white, pink or striped.
Crinums work especially well where the landscape has enough room for their bold foliage and larger scale.
Landscape tip: Think about mature size before planting. Crinums can become substantial plants, so squeezing them into a narrow foundation bed may create unnecessary maintenance later.
9. Rain Lily
Sometimes the most interesting flowers in an August landscape arrive immediately after the rain.
Rain Lilies often send up delicate pink, white or yellow flowers following periods of rainfall—making Florida’s summer storm season part of the show.
They’re considerably smaller than many of the other plants on this list, which makes them useful along borders, walkways or in naturalized groupings where numerous bulbs can create a larger effect.
Landscape tip: Plant Rain Lilies in groups rather than relying on one or two individual plants. Their relatively small flowers become much more noticeable when they bloom together.
10. Swamp Hibiscus
For a Florida native that can deliver serious summer drama, Swamp Hibiscus is difficult to beat.
Also known as Scarlet Rosemallow, this native perennial can produce striking red flowers that immediately stand out in the landscape.
As its name suggests, this isn’t a plant for the driest corner of the property. It naturally prefers moist conditions and can be particularly useful around ponds, rain gardens, drainage areas and other locations where soils remain wetter.
It is also attractive to hummingbirds and pollinators.
Landscape tip: Match this plant to the site. A naturally moist location can turn a landscape challenge into an opportunity to use plants adapted to those conditions.
August Is a Good Reminder: Right Plant, Right Place
One of the most important lessons from an August landscape isn’t simply which plants are flowering.
It’s why they’re flowering.
Plants adapted to Northeast Florida’s heat, rainfall patterns, soils and growing conditions generally require less intervention to look their best. And even within our region, conditions can change dramatically from one property—or even one part of a property—to another.
A sunny, sandy area near Jacksonville Beach isn’t the same growing environment as a low, moist backyard along a creek. A shaded landscape beneath mature live oaks presents different challenges from a new subdivision with full afternoon sun.
That’s why successful landscape design begins with more than choosing plants because they look good at the garden center.
Consider sunlight, drainage, irrigation, mature plant size, soil conditions and how each plant fits into the larger landscape.
Choose well, and even during the heat of August, Northeast Florida can still be very much in bloom.
Firebush • Pentas • Blue Daze • Lantana • Porterweed • Plumbago • Crape Myrtle • Crinum Lily • Rain Lily • Swamp Hibiscus
At Rockaway Sustainable Landscaping, we believe beautiful landscapes begin with thoughtful planning and plants selected for the conditions where they’ll actually grow. The result isn’t simply more color—it’s a landscape designed to perform throughout Northeast Florida’s seasons.