Craig Hazelett can drive around Naples and read the landscape like a ledger—the sabal palms that have outlasted every storm, the ixora that holds its color through the heat, the ficus hedges planted in the 1980s that made it through successive whitefly infestations. The record shapes the work at Driftwood Garden Center and Florist.
On Tamiami Trail North, a few miles from downtown, Driftwood’s flagship spreads across 2 acres, where rows of candy- colored annuals, pollinator plants and a gallery of palms give way to an expansive shade house filled with jewel-toned tropicals. There’s a working floral studio, a koi tank for water gardens, and stacks of cobalt and modern, matte planters. At the entrance, fountains cycle through their display, muting the traffic beyond.
Craig’s parents, Gary and Rene Hazelett, founded the horticultural landmark in 1984, when they moved from Indiana to Naples and merged a local garden center with its neighboring nursery. Four decades later, Craig runs the nursery with his fiancée, Josee Tardif, and their children, Olivia and Ethan Angle—three generations shaped by the same ground. “They’re family-owned, family-driven and remind me of my family having a similar business when I grew up,” Holly Baldwin, from our team, says.
1 of 2
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens floral display
2 of 2
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens floral display
More than 65 employees, including florists, field-tested horticulturalists and landscape designers work here, advising homeowners and handling installations from Marco Island to Fort Myers Beach. Editor in chief Stephanie Granada spent two hours there last season, working through a small planting area in her yard. In a shade house, a staff member stopped to point out a shampoo ginger, explaining how its immature flower cones produce a fragrant liquid used as a hair conditioner. Nearby, another pulls a copper spoon; its rusty new growth settles into dusty blue-green. He said it was underutilized and one of his favorites. The succulent now sits under a teak bar by her hot tub, thriving on little more than stray rain. An aloe from the same visit sits beside it. “It sent up this tall orange bloom spike—I’d never seen that before,” she says.
Most of Driftwood’s stock comes from South Florida growers, already acclimated to the region’s conditions. In their gardens, pots of geraniums are timeless, anchoring entryways. Trending tropicals, such as the humidity-loving, sculptural licuala palms, provide shade to low-lying foliage in pared-back modernist landscapes. Native grasses serve as buffers surrounding backyard putting greens. After the first whitefly-ficus infestation in the mid-2000s, Craig and the team started steering clients toward native, salt-tolerant shrubs like clusia for a privacy screen.
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens shadehouse
Craig Hazelett and his fiancée, Josee Tardif (pictured here), run Driftwood Garden Center and Florist in Naples alongside their kids, Olivia (above) and Ethan Angle (below), carrying forward a four-decade family legacy started by Craig’s parents in 1984.
The family invests in ongoing education for their staff through the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association. The team shares the knowledge outward with the community. A steady rotation of workshops focuses on specific techniques. In the orchid class, you learn how to mount epiphytic orchids directly to trees. Annual container gardening classes show locals how to paint their gardens with seasonal color.
Olivia, who leads the center’s social strategy, keeps a finger on the pulse of the collecting world, hunting for the succulents and rare tropicals their followers crave. She regularly attends top expos, such as Fort Lauderdale’s Tropical Plant International Exposition, to identify shifting trends and source specialty soils, moss and plants from new vendors. “What’s popular in landscape is like fashion,” she says. “It’s ever-changing, and sometimes things will circle back.”
1 of 2
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens display
2 of 2
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens vase display
A full-scale floral studio operates alongside the nursery. After 33 years with the company, florist Janet Presti still draws a dedicated following for her custom-built arrangements—done in “Janet style,” as customers call it—layering European color sensibility with the sculptural restraint of ikebana. The design work extends to events and nonprofits. The team has adorned the tent for Naples Children Foundation’s Naples Winter Wine Festival since the event’s inception in 2001. They’ve donated services to STARability Foundation and Warrior Homes of Collier, which supports veterans. “It feels so good to help them out, honestly, and to see the progress and the growth of those sections in the community,” Olivia says.
Under the shade house, the rows tighten. Orchids line the back tables in full bloom, while benches in front hold calatheas and harlequin Ti plants with red-striped leaves, each pot spaced and turned forward. Trays of succulents fill the lower racks—rosettes packed edge to edge. Hanging baskets drop from the rafters above, and narrow brick paths run straight through the center, dividing the space into long, ordered aisles.
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens landscaping trees
Sourced largely from South Florida growers, Driftwood’s plants acthe approach with a focus on more sustainable practices, including organic fertilizers and reduced chemical use.
As the next generation steps up, Ethan is eyeing more sustainable practices, with organic fertilizers and reduced chemical use for pest control. Meanwhile, Olivia is drawing in young future gardeners through their growing social media presence. The siblings grew up running through the nursery as kids and helping out around the shop as teens. “We talk shop all the time,” Olivia says. “Driftwood is always on our mind.”
The garden center resonates with our team, too. For editorial fellow Layne Knox, a Driftwood arrangement from their former Estero location served as a welcome to Southwest Florida when her friend gifted her an assortment featuring a sunset-hued bird of paradise. “She was gorgeous and lasted so long,” she says.
Photography by Anna Nguyen
driftwood garden center shapes swfl gardens arranged hanging baskets
The shadehouse spills over with bright blooms and hanging baskets. Many of the most in-demand arrangements come from Janet Presti, a florist who’s been with the company for 33 years.