Yellowtop

Year-round

Yellowtop is a fast growing Florida perennial with small clusters of tiny yellow flowers that bees and butterflies love. It naturally grows along Florida's coast, so in inland Orlando it is best treated as a well adapted garden plant rather than a true local native, and it still needs full sun and well drained soil to do its best.

• Give it full sun, at least six hours of direct light a day, for the fullest bloom.
• Plant in average to sandy, well drained soil. It does not need rich or heavily amended soil.
• Its documented native range is Florida's coastal counties from about Levy and St. Johns south to the Keys, so inland Orange County falls outside that range. Treat it here as a well adapted landscape plant rather than a local native.
• It is not on the current ASPCA toxic plant list for dogs or cats.
• Water two to three times a week while it establishes, then it tolerates dry spells once rooted in.

Fall

Fall is yellowtop's biggest bloom season in Central Florida, with clusters of small yellow flowers covering the plant and drawing in a long list of butterflies before the first cool front arrives.

• Fall is the main bloom season, small yellow flower clusters cover the plant from late summer into fall.
• Deadhead spent flower clusters to keep the plant tidy and to encourage more blooms before the first cool front.
• It is a nectar source for many Florida butterflies including cassius blue, Julia, and several skipper species, so keep it in a sunny, visible spot where they can find it.
• Orlando's first fall frost usually does not arrive until early December, so there is a long bloom window here before any cold slows it down.

Deadheading spent blooms keeps the plant looking tended rather than scraggly along the front of a bed, a quick habit that helps avoid a tidiness complaint before it starts.

Winter

Orlando winters are mild but can bring an occasional frost or hard freeze, so yellowtop may die back on top, and the trick is waiting for new growth before you prune so the bed looks intentional again quickly.

• Orlando usually sees its first light frost by mid December and its last possible frost close to early February, with an occasional harder freeze in between.
• After a freeze, wait about a week and look for new sprouting before you prune. Dead top growth actually helps protect the crown from the next cold snap.
• Yellowtop is rated hardy in zones 8b through 11, so Orlando's zone sits well within its comfort range, and a hard freeze is more likely to knock back the top growth than kill the plant outright.
• Mulch lightly around the base going into winter to buffer the roots during any cold snap.

Leaving obvious frost browned stems up over winter can read as neglect to an HOA inspector, but resist cutting right after a freeze. Wait for new growth, then prune back to the live wood so the bed looks intentional again fast.

Spring

Spring is when yellowtop wakes back up from winter and pushes out fresh green growth, so this is a good time to finish any cold cleanup and to plant new ones once the frost risk has passed.

• Wait until you see fresh new growth before cutting back any stems that got frost damaged over winter. Cutting too soon strips away the plant's own insulation against another cold snap.
• Scratch a stem lightly to check underneath. Green tissue means it is still alive, brown or black means prune back to that point.
• Orlando's average last frost lands in early February, so mid to late February through March is a solid window to plant new yellowtop.
• Hold off on fertilizer until the frost risk has passed, then a light feed can help push new growth.

Summer

Florida's hot, rainy summer pushes yellowtop into fast, leafy growth, so the main job is keeping it bushy instead of floppy and watching for a few common pests on the new growth.

• Expect fast, leafy growth through the rainy season from June through September.
• Pinch or trim lanky stems back by a few inches in early summer to keep the mound bushy instead of falling open.
• It handles humid heat and heavy rain well and usually needs no extra watering beyond normal summer rainfall.
• Check new growth for aphids or whitefly. A strong spray of water from the hose usually clears them.
• It has medium salt tolerance and takes stress well, so a missed watering during a dry stretch will not set it back much.