15 Kinds of PINK Wildflowers in Florida (w/Pics)

Did you find a PINK wildflower in Florida?

Types of pink wildflowers in Florida

If so, I’m sure you’re wondering what type of wildflower you found! Luckily, you can use this guide to help you identify it. 🙂

Please be aware that today I’m ONLY listing and focusing on the most COMMON pink wildflowers. There are so many species, varieties, and subspecies that it would be impossible to name them all. But if you want to dive deeper into all the pink wildflowers in Florida, check out this field guide!

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Today, we will look at 15 different PINK wildflowers found in Florida.


#1. Swamp Milkweed

  • Asclepias incarnata

Also known as: Pink Milkweed

Pink wildflowers in Florida

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-11
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-72 in (61-183 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Swamp Milkweed is a native pink wildflower in Florida.

It grows in wet meadows and along lakeshores. Look for its clusters of deep pink flowers to identify it.

If you want a variety of pollinators to visit your garden, Swamp Milkweed is the ideal wildflower to plant. Its clusters of fragrant flowers are attractive to hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. The leaves are an incredibly important food source for Monarch caterpillars.


#2. Crown Vetch

  • Securigera varia

Also known as: Purple Crownvetch, Crownvetch

Florida pink wildflowers

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-72 in (30-183 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Even though the large, pink clover-like blooms of Crown Vetch are beautiful, this plant is invasive in North America. Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, Crown Vetch was introduced locally to be used as a groundcover in controlling soil erosion.

This pink wildflower grows in Florida on sunny, sandy banks where it can push out less hardy plants.

If you plant Crown Vetch on your property, choose an isolated location far away from flower gardens. Don’t forget to control its growth so it doesn’t spread to other areas and invade native species and ecosystems.


#3. Sweet Joe Pye Weed

  • Eutrochium purpureum

Also known as: Purple Joe Pye Weed

Types of pink wildflowers in Florida

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-96 in (61-244 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade

It’s no surprise that Sweet Joe Pye Weed is a favorite of gardeners and pollinators. This stunning ornamental plant has huge, dome-shaped pink flowers and smells like vanilla!

In addition to making your garden more beautiful, it will attract butterflies, moths, and native bees. Overwintering birds also eat the seeds of this flower once the blooms have died back.

Look for this pink wildflower in Florida in meadows near ponds and streams.


#4. Trumpetweed

  • Eutrochium fistulosum

Also known as: Joe-Pye Weed, Queen of the Meadow

Pink wildflowers in Florida

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-10
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-144 in (61-366 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade

This pink wildflower in Florida grows naturally in prairies, wet forests, and roadside ditches.

With its impressive height, Trumpetweed, which is also known as Joe Pye Weed, is also a perfect accent plant along your garden’s borders.

This vanilla-scented wildflower is an important source of nectar for butterflies and honeybees. You can also expect songbirds to eat the seeds of Trumpetweed.


#5. Deptford Pink

  • Dianthus armeria

Also known as: Grass Pink

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
  • Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-30 in (30-76 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The blooms of the Deptford Pink may be tiny, but they make up for their small size with their gorgeous coloring. A closer look at the petals will reveal an intricately dotted pattern of pink, white, and purple.

Deptford Pink is native to Europe, but this pink wildflower is a naturalized species in Florida. It grows so well that it can take over roadsides, ditches, and fields.

Although the nectar is attractive to butterflies, skippers, and bees, Deptford Pink is a self-pollinating plant that doesn’t rely much on these insects.


#6. Trailing Phlox

  • Phlox nivalis

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-12 in (10-30 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

In the wild, look for this pink wildflower in Florida in sandy pine and oak barrens.

Trailing Phlox envelops the ground with mounds of pink, purple, and white flowers in spring. You can use it as a hardy groundcover and a food source for early pollinators emerging from their winter hibernation.

This plant will beautifully trail down from hanging baskets and attract hummingbirds to your garden. Trailing Phlox practically thrives on neglect, making it the ideal ornamental plant if you are a beginner or you don’t have a green thumb.


#7. Pink Fuzzybean

  • Strophostyles umbellata

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-10
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-79 in (39-200 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

This native pink wildflower in Florida is facing extinction in some areas. Typically, it grows in sandy soil near forests and fields.

Interestingly, the hot pink blooms Pink Fuzzybean will fade to soft peach after they’re pollinated. It isn’t usually used in gardens because it needs to be spread out from other flowering plants to grow.


#8. Virginia Meadow Beauty

  • Rhexia virginica

Also known as: Handsome Harry

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 6-36 in (15-91 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Virginia Meadow Beauty puts on one of the most spectacular displays of purple, pink, and blue flowers in the summer. The seed capsules, stems, and leaves are just as showy in the fall, all turning red after the blooming season.

Bees, moths, and butterflies are attracted to the Virginia Meadow Beauty, but only bumblebees are capable of pollinating this pink wildflower in Florida.

You can find this native species abundantly growing in wetlands, bogs, sandy areas, and open fields recently disturbed by fires.


#9. Carolina Rose

  • Rosa carolina

Also known as: Pasture Rose, Prairie Rose

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-72 in (30-183 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Carolina Rose is one of the most popular pink wildflowers in Florida.

The fragrant, bright pink blooms are not only pretty to look at but also bring a diverse variety of wildlife to your area. Bees, beetles, and hoverflies visit the flowers and use the plant parts as nesting material. The leaves feed Apple Sphinx Moth caterpillars. The rose hips are eaten by songbirds, quails, and small mammals. Even wild turkeys, elk, and deer are attracted to the Carolina Rose!

Be careful of the thorny stems and the hairy leaves of the Carolina Rose that can be irritating to the skin.


#10. Showy Evening-Primrose

  • Oenothera speciosa

Also known as: Showy Primrose

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 10-24 in (25-61 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Showy Evening-Primrose is one of the most striking pink wildflowers in Florida. It can paint entire landscapes pink and white, and its fragrant blooms open in the evening, as its name suggests.

You can raise Showy Evening-Primrose as an ornamental in your garden, but you might want to contain it in pots because it grows fast and can quickly become invasive. In addition, the flowers are a favorite of moths, while finches eat the seeds.


#11. Littleleaf Sensitive Briar

  • Mimosa microphylla

Also known as: Little Leaf Mimosa, Shame Vine

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-11
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 35-71 in (89-180 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Incredibly, some plants immediately close up when touched, and the Littleleaf Sensitive Briar is a notable example. The leaves also fold up in diminished light, such as when it gets cloudy or when nighttime comes. WATCH BELOW!

YouTube video

The Littleleaf Sensitive Briar grows as a low-crawling vine with fragrant flowers that look like pink or purple fuzzy balls. This pink wildflower grows best in dry forests in Florida.


#12. Obedient Plant

  • Physostegia virginiana

Also known as: Obedience, False Dragonhead, Virginia Lions-heart

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-10
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-48 in (61-122 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Obedient Plant is named for the flowers that will stay in position if you push or bend them to one side. Look for the blushing pink or lilac flowers clustered along stiff stems, which grow to about four feet high.

This pink wildflower in Florida grows in prairies, meadows, and unused fields. Plant it in your garden beds and borders to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. As its species name Virginiana hints, the Obedient plant is native to Virginia and other nearby states.


#13. Rose Gentian

  • Sabatia angularis

Also known as: Rosepink

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9a
  • Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-39 in (30-99 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

If you spot fragrant, pink or white star-shaped flowers with a yellow center in open fields, you might be looking at Rose Gentian.

Rose Gentian grows in woodland borders, marshes, and thickets and attracts butterflies and other pollinators. However, because of its bitter taste, this pink wildflower is avoided by most herbivores in Florida.


#14. Maryland Meadow Beauty

  • Rhexia mariana

Also known as: Pale Meadow Beauty

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 6b-10b
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-30 in (30-76 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

You can easily recognize the Maryland Meadow Beauty by its pink flowers that contrast with yellow-orange stamens. It’s perfect for landscaping and roadside planting because it is not an aggressive grower.

The Maryland Meadow Beauty is primarily pollinated by bumblebees, but it will also attract other bees and butterflies to your garden.

You can help preserve this native species by not picking the flowers when you see them growing in bogs, pond areas, and roadsides.


#15. Mountain Laurel

  • Kalmia latifolia

Also known as: Calico Bush, Mountain Ivy, Kalmia

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 48-384 in (122-975 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade

Mountain Laurel blooms are difficult to mistake for other pink wildflowers in Florida.

As you can see, the blooms are distinctively geometric, with fused petals that form small cups. The petals are white or pale pink and have bright pink dots.

Dense thickets of this native shrub naturally blanket forest floors, but you will commonly see it cultivated as a small tree in gardens and parks.

Butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to the pink and white bell-shaped blooms.


Which of these pink wildflowers have you seen before in Florida?

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