Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Buddhist Pine
Buddhist Pine is a versatile evergreen conifer with long, soft, strap-like leaves, widely grown as a hedge, container plant, houseplant, and bonsai. Native to East Asia, it tolerates pruning and shade well.
shrub
Browallia
Browallia, or bush violet, is a shade-tolerant annual covered in star-shaped blue, violet, or white flowers. It is one of the best flowering plants for adding cool color to shady spots and containers.
flower
Mustard Greens
Mustard greens are fast-growing leafy plants in the cabbage family, grown as a cool-season crop in gardens across many regions.
herb
Serviceberry
The serviceberry is a hardy deciduous shrub or small tree offering white spring blossoms, colorful summer berries, and brilliant fall color. It is a versatile four-season native plant beloved by gardeners and wildlife alike.
shrub
Lemon Myrtle
Lemon myrtle is an Australian rainforest tree whose glossy leaves carry one of the most intense natural lemon fragrances of any plant, driven by very high citral content. It is grown as an aromatic ornamental.
tree
Fireweed
A tall, magenta-flowered perennial famous for blanketing burned and disturbed land, which gives it its name. Its spires of pink-purple flowers make it both a pioneer species and a showy garden plant.
flower
Phlox
Phlox are North American perennials ranging from low spring-flowering carpets to tall, fragrant summer border plants. Their massed clusters of five-petaled flowers draw butterflies and perfume the garden.
flower
Leyland Cypress
Leyland cypress is an extremely fast-growing evergreen conifer hybrid widely planted for hedges and privacy screens. Dense and columnar, it offers quick cover but can quickly outgrow its space if not maintained.
tree
Holly
A classic evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy, spiny leaves and bright red berries, long associated with winter and Christmas. Most hollies need separate male and female plants for berries to form.
shrub
Blackberry
Blackberries are vigorous, often thorny cane plants in the rose family, bearing glossy black aggregate berries in late summer. Famously tough, they grow wild as brambles and in many improved garden varieties.
shrub
Cholla Cactus
A group of shrubby to treelike desert cacti with cylindrical, jointed segments and barbed spines that detach easily. Iconic plants of the American Southwest deserts.
succulent
Blue Chalksticks
Blue chalksticks is a spreading ground-cover succulent with slender, upright, powdery blue-green finger-like leaves. Its cool blue color and low, mounding habit make it a popular landscape and container plant.
succulent
Bird of Paradise
The bird of paradise is a dramatic tropical plant famous for its vivid orange-and-blue flowers that resemble an exotic bird in flight. It has bold paddle-shaped leaves and makes a striking statement indoors or in warm gardens.
flower
Monterey Pine
Monterey Pine is a fast-growing California coastal pine that, though limited in the wild, has become the world's most widely planted plantation pine. It bears needles in threes and asymmetrical, long-lasting cones.
tree
Impatiens
Impatiens are shade-loving annuals that smother themselves in flat, colorful flowers all summer, thriving where few other bedding plants will bloom. Their name refers to seed pods that burst open at a touch.
flower
Green Ash
Green ash is a tough, adaptable deciduous tree once widely planted for shade, with compound leaves and yellow fall color; its survival is now threatened across North America by the emerald ash borer.
tree
Norway Maple
A dense, fast-growing European shade tree with broad five-lobed leaves and milky sap, widely planted but invasive in much of North America.
tree
Garlic Mustard
Garlic mustard is an aggressive biennial herb with garlic-scented leaves and small white flowers, and one of North America's most damaging invasive plants.
herb
Tree Ivy
Tree ivy is a rare bigeneric hybrid between Japanese aralia and English ivy, combining glossy, ivy-shaped leaves with an upright, shrubby stem. It is an easy, shade-tolerant foliage plant for cool rooms and shady gardens.
houseplantPainted Dropwing
Important note: the Painted Dropwing (also called the violet dropwing) is not a plant but a dragonfly, Trithemis annulata. Mature males are a striking violet-pink with red-veined wings, often seen perched at the edges of warm ponds and streams.
flower
Kangaroo Vine
Kangaroo vine is a vigorous Australian climber with glossy, toothed, oval leaves and tendrils that let it scramble up supports or trail from a basket. It is an easy, fast-growing foliage plant that tolerates lower light and cooler rooms.
houseplant
Cup and Saucer Vine
Cup and saucer vine is a vigorous climbing plant grown for its large bell-shaped flowers that open green and age to deep purple. It can scramble 15-20 feet in a single season using grasping tendrils.
flower
Indian Paintbrush
A vivid North American wildflower whose flame-colored display comes not from petals but from brightly tipped leaf-like bracts. It is a hemiparasite that taps the roots of neighboring plants, making it notoriously difficult to cultivate.
flower
Lady's Mantle
Lady's mantle is a soft, mounding perennial known for its scalloped, pleated leaves that catch dewdrops like beads of mercury, topped by airy sprays of chartreuse-green flowers. It is a versatile, low-maintenance plant for edging and softening borders.
flower