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Abundantly illustrated in full color, this guide provides detailed descriptions and methods of cultivation for 350 of Florida's most attractive and easily grown native plants, including ferns, wildflowers, shrubs, trees, vines, aquatics, and epiphytes (air plants). Written for both the beginner and the experienced gardener, it includes basic garden concepts as they apply to native plants -- selection, site preparation, pruning, propagation, weeding, and pest control.
This book has become my "bible" for learning about Florida (my newly adopted state) native plants. I very much like his descriptions and pictures. The Florida Native Plant Society includes Osorio's book on their recommended list.
Other books I'm learning from are:
Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants by Gil Nelson (he includes companion plants and shows more pictures)
A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping from U of FL (free booklet about FL landscaping in general)
I just bought and read this book, cover to cover. While I found the front matter very informative and interesting, the actual information on the plants left me wondering...
Are these the only truly native plants in the state? If that's true, then most of my garden is non-native, even though I bought most of the plants at a local natives-only nursery. It seemed as though the native plants covered were mostly what we'd consider to be weeds here.
I'd like to have seen some commentary about what percentage of native plants (approx.) was covered within the text and some guidance regarding naturalized and landscape plants that are not native, but not invasive pests either.
