Remembering my dad this weekend on his 24th year after passing, I reminisced over the beautiful organic flower gardens and vegetable gardens we had in our yard growing up.
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Many of us newly retired folks are looking for hobbies that may interest us. We did not have the time to spend in a garden while working full-time, but gardening can be relaxing, rewarding and even produce food and pretty flowers. Something to consider!
When I lived in New York, I welcomed Spring by tidying up the flower beds and planting annuals from the school plant sale after Mother’s Day.
Dad employed me early at the age of 11 as his helper raking the flower beds before planting.
Now in Florida, I have the convenience of living in a neat and tidy neighborhood where the landscaping is included in our HOA (homeowners association) fees. Each home is designed with bushes and palm trees that thrive in this climate. If a tree is removed, it must be replaced. The sprinkler system is automatic and ensures the neighborhood looks consistently green.
Throughout the year, I manage to plant a few annuals that sometimes do well for a while, until it just gets too hot in the summer.
My sister Karrin, on the other hand, embraces chaos gardening. This carefree method welcomes the natural process of plant selection and competition, resulting in a more wild and untamed look.
Combine that with a few sustainable gardening tricks and you’ve got yourself a Florida-friendly garden that’s low-maintenance, good for the planet, and full of surprise and delight!
What Is Chaos Gardening?
Chaos gardening is exactly what it sounds like—letting go of rigid rules and allowing nature to do its thing. Instead of carefully plotting out what goes where, you mix together a bunch of seeds (think flowers, herbs, native plants, even vegetables) and scatter them in a prepared space. Then you sit back, water occasionally, and see what comes up.
It’s unpredictable, colorful, and incredibly rewarding. The surprise factor is half the fun—you never quite know what you’ll get, but somehow, it always works out beautifully.
Why It Works in Florida
Florida’s unique climate (Zone 8–11, depending on where you live) is perfect for chaos gardening. We’ve got warm temps, plenty of rain in the summer, and a long growing season. Plus, native pollinators like bees and butterflies love a mixed, natural garden.
Here’s why chaos gardening is a great fit here:
- Tolerates heat and drought (with the right plant mix)
- Attracts pollinators
- Handles Florida’s rainy season well
- Low-maintenance – great for retirees or anyone with a casual green thumb
How to Start a Chaos Garden in Florida
Step 1: Choose Your Space
Pick a sunny area in your yard. Florida’s soil can be sandy, so you may want to add compost or topsoil for better results—but even if you don’t, something will grow!
Step 2: Prepare the Ground
Pull out weeds, give the dirt a quick rake, and water it well before planting.
Step 3: Mix Your Seeds
This is the fun part! Grab a bowl and mix in a variety of:
- Wildflowers (zinnias, cosmos, black-eyed Susans)
- Herbs (basil, dill, cilantro, parsley)
- Edibles (cherry tomatoes, lettuce, beans, squash)
- Native plants (milkweed, coreopsis, blanket flower)
Check local garden centers or seed companies that specialize in Florida-native seeds.
Step 4: Scatter Your Mix
Sprinkle your seed mix over the area. You don’t need to plant them deeply—just a light cover of soil or compost will do.
Dad always planted the vegetables in rows.
His garden produced so many vegetables that we kids often spent lazy summer hours in the front yard selling cucumbers and tomatoes along with our cups of ice-cold lemonade.
His flower gardens were more the English country look showcasing a variety of perennials he collected and divided over the years. He won ribbons at the local Americana fair and eagerly shared his plants with neighbors, often helping them design garden beds for their own yards.
In the fall, he would plant pumpkin seeds and they would take over the garden. He grew some pretty big pumpkins!
Karrin embraces the idea of chaos gardening in Florida all year. The joy in a bit of unpredictability and a sense of helping nature in a relaxed environment is her happy place!
She has researched the native plants to Florida. Using her yard as a gift for birds and insects, she nurtures plants that do well in this hot sunny environment.
Karrin enjoys scattering the seeds, in no particular order, and then enjoying her gardens while relaxing in a hammock.
Our mom enjoyed Karrin’s type of chaos gardening as well.
Step 5: Water and Wait
Water lightly but regularly until things sprout. After that, only water when it hasn’t rained for a while. Then let nature take over!
Karrin uses a sprinkler when needed to water the gardens, but lets nature do its job most of the time.
My dad dragged the hose around the yard watering the gardens. Sometimes he used a sprinkler too, much to the delight of his grandchildren.
Tips for Sustainable Gardening in Florida
If you want your garden to be beautiful and eco-friendly, here are a few sustainable gardening tips that work well with chaos gardening:
Use Compost
Florida yards love compost! It enriches sandy soil, helps retain moisture, and feeds your plants naturally. Growing up my dad used to take home horse manure from the horse farm that I rode at to help his gardens thrive. My sister used a composter for recycling food scraps in the back yard.
Plant for Pollinators
Add native flowers like milkweed, goldenrod, and salvia to support bees, butterflies, and birds. You’ll get a thriving mini-ecosystem right outside your door. I love how the caterpillars visit my milk thistle plant a few times a year. They devour every leaf, and a few weeks later, we are blessed with monarch butterflies in the garden.
Conserve Water
Group your plants by water needs, mulch to retain moisture, and use rain barrels to catch Florida’s frequent downpours for reuse in drier weeks. My sister does not have a sprinkler system. She uses a sprinkler when needed, but trusts that most of her native plants will survive the Florida heat.
Skip the Chemicals
Avoid pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Chaos gardening with native plants is sustainable gardening. Using organic methods is best. Fertilizers are hard on the environment—and your plants can thrive without them, especially in a chaos-style garden.
Grow What You Eat
Try including a few edibles like cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, or herbs. If they thrive, great! If not, that’s the beauty of chaos gardening—you’re never relying on just one thing to succeed.
What to Love about Chaos Gardening
There’s something magical about stepping outside to see what popped up overnight. It reminds me that nature doesn’t need perfection—it just needs a little room to grow. In my Karrin’s Florida backyard, surprise plants are always blooming and spreading. Finding where they have reseeded next is part of the joy of gardening.
Karrin has a Chakra/rainbow garden that I made stepping stones for a few years ago. That was fun. She adds new plants to each color zone. Sometimes she will find a pretty new plant that started in an odd place in the yard. That plant gets dug up and transplanted to join flora in a similar shade.
Ready to Get a Little Wild in the Garden?
If you’ve been craving a fun, low-pressure way to connect with nature, give chaos gardening a try. It’s the perfect mix of wild beauty and sustainable simplicity—and in a place like Florida, it might just be the easiest garden you’ll ever grow.
Have you tried chaos gardening or have favorite plants that thrive in Florida’s wild weather? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear what’s growing in your garden!
