The Holmes Beach Parks and Beautification Commission is encouraging property owners to plant not only Florida-friendly natives but also plants that are extremely salt-tolerant and suited to our coastal environment. Based on observations of landscape damage as well as recommendations from the Florida Native Plant Society and the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), the Parks and Beautification Commission recommends the following trees, shrubs, grasses, ground cover and wildflowers.
All of the below plants are available at Sweet Bay Nursery in Parrish or Florida Native Plants Nursery in Sarasota.
Bucida buceras
Check out the Black Olive next to the Island Library on Marina Avenue. It's standing strong with most of its leaves intact. The City has planted a new Black Olive, courtesy of former Commissioner Pat Morton, at the Key Royale and Marina intersection.
Cordia sebestena
A stunning coastal tree with brilliant orange-red trumpet-shaped flowers. Highly salt-tolerant and drought-resistant once established, it thrives in the sandy soils of Anna Maria Island and provides year-round color.
Coccoloba uvifera
One of Florida's most iconic coastal plants, sea grape is extremely salt and wind tolerant. Its large, round leaves and grape-like fruit clusters make it a beautiful and functional choice for coastal landscapes and natural dune stabilization.
Conocarpus erectus
Buttonwoods, both silver and green, can either be pruned to grow as trees or trimmed to be shrubs. Some of the buttonwoods on the island sustained broken branches, but most remained sturdy and vibrant despite the beating they took. You will see a row of silver buttonwood shrubs as you turn from Gulf north onto Marina, along the Keyes Marina waterfront.
Muhlenbergia capillaris
This native ornamental grass produces spectacular clouds of pink-purple plumes in the fall. It is extremely drought and salt tolerant, requires minimal maintenance, and provides excellent habitat for birds and pollinators.
Mimosa strigillosa
Also known as powderpuff, consider planting this instead of turf grass. It grows low to the ground and can be mowed or walked on without causing any damage. Best of all, it has beautiful puffy pink flowers. You can check out this plant at the Holmes Beach butterfly garden next to City Hall.
Phyla nodiflora
Also a great substitute for turf grass, this low growing plant produces small lavender flowers that are a favorite of our native bees and butterflies. This can also be found in the Holmes Beach butterfly garden.
Ipomoea pes-caprae
Also known as beach morning glory, you can spot this plant growing on the beach sand dunes, especially when its pink flowers are in bloom. This makes an excellent ground cover for parts of the lawn that don't get a lot of foot traffic.
Gaillardia pulchella
This beautiful yellow/orange flower growing in and around the butterfly garden is not really salt tolerant. But, while the plant will likely die during an inundation, its seeds will survive and produce an abundant crop of new flowers after the flood.
Solidago sempervirens
This hearty plant, also located in the butterfly garden, produces tall shoots of bright yellow blooms. It not only thrived during the recent hurricanes, but also spread throughout the garden.
While most island residents and businesses survived Hurricane's Helene and Milton, our landscapes were not so fortunate. Many plants favored by home owners and landscapers for their quick growth or flowering beauty were not resilient to the inundation and high winds that we faced in September and October last year.