Florida's Department of Making Water Gardeners Sad

On this list, all the plants are illegal.

These species can only be grown in licensed, permitted, and inspected nurseries which have taken measures to ensure no possibility of escape for these plants.

     While some of these plants are unfamiliar, others are sources of human and animal nutrition that should not be disallowed in non-tender areas. For example, non-native water hyacinth is a favorite food of manatees and is reported to be well-received by cattle, goats, and rabbits. It's one of the main plants that I wanted for my pond, since it has beautiful tropical flowers and is edible. A few other plants of making people sad are water chestnuts, water spinach, and water lettuce.

Greenfest 2014

     Greenfest 2014, a fundraising event held by the gardener's at Plant Park, at the campus of University of Tampa, will be Saturday March 29th and Sunday March 30th, from 9:00 AM to 4 PM. They will feature hundreds of plant vendors, guest speakers, and a children's activity area.

Spiderwort, Tradescantia spp., Asparagus of the South

Uses : Edible, Forage, Xeriscaping. Native to : Eastern North America.
     There are several Tradescantia members that look similar, notably T. virginiana and T. ohiensis. The good news is that they are both edible. The bad news is that when anyone thinks of Tradescantia, they usually think of the striped (Wandering Jew) or purple (Purple Heart, Moses in a Boat), which are inedible.
     These purple beauties will bloom all spring, but each flower  is only open for a day or so. They are very successful, some might even say invasive, and can survive some mowing. The best practice is to relocate these hardy perennials to a flower bed in the full sun.
     Rabbits do enjoy eating them, along with some humans. Green Deane says:

     "Its leaves do not change in flavor as the plant ages. The leaves are good for salads as well, or in soup and stews but they are mucilaginous. The stems can be braised like asparagus. The flowers, at one time favorites for candying, make very pretty blue additions to back yard salads."