Plant Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.

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False Indigo

A long-lived, shrubby perennial legume with spires of indigo-blue, lupine-like flowers in late spring and attractive blue-green foliage all season.

flower

Sweet William

Sweet William is a short-lived cottage-garden classic bearing dense, flat clusters of fringed, often bicolored flowers with a clove-like fragrance. It's typically grown as a biennial, blooming in its second year.

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Balloon Flower

Balloon flower is a long-lived perennial named for its puffy, balloon-like buds that pop open into star-shaped blue, pink or white blooms. It is an easy, deer-resistant plant that flowers reliably through summer.

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Pinstripe Calathea

The Pinstripe Calathea is a striking prayer plant with dark green leaves finely lined in pink or white, like delicate pinstripes. Beautiful but demanding, it rewards careful humidity and watering with vivid foliage.

houseplant

Hoya Carnosa

Hoya Carnosa is an easygoing trailing houseplant with thick, waxy leaves and clusters of star-shaped, sweetly scented flowers. Long-lived and forgiving, it rewards patience with stunning porcelain-like blooms.

houseplant

Saguaro Cactus

The saguaro is the iconic giant columnar cactus of the Sonoran Desert, growing into a towering tree-like form with upraised arms. It is slow-growing and extraordinarily long-lived, reaching well over 150 years.

succulent

Foxtail Pine

Foxtail Pine is a long-lived, high-elevation pine of California, named for its dense bottlebrush-like foliage. A close relative of the bristlecone pines, it survives harsh alpine conditions for over a thousand years.

tree

Juniper

A tough, evergreen coniferous shrub (some species small trees) with needle-like or scale-like foliage and blue berry-like cones. Junipers range from low groundcovers to upright forms and thrive in poor, dry soils.

shrub

Celosia

Celosia produces striking flame-like plumes or brain-like crested heads in vivid colors, holding both fresh and dried for long-lasting display.

flower

Lifesaver Cactus

A low, clumping stem succulent famous for bizarre flowers with a thick, glossy red ring at the center that looks exactly like a candy lifesaver. The flowers are striped like a zebra.

succulent

Carnation

A classic frilled flower with a spicy, clove-like scent, available in many colors and prized as a long-lasting cut flower. Carnations like sun and well-drained soil.

flower

English Oak

English oak is the iconic, long-lived oak of Europe, with short-stalked lobed leaves and acorns on long stalks. A symbol of strength, it can live for centuries and supports vast biodiversity.

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Masterwort

Masterwort is a clump-forming perennial with intricate, pincushion-like flower heads surrounded by a papery collar of petal-like bracts. It brings cottage-garden charm to moist, partly shaded borders.

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White Oak

White oak is a majestic, long-lived North American hardwood with rounded leaf lobes and prized, water-tight timber. A keystone forest tree, it can live for centuries and supports a vast web of wildlife.

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Fringe Tree

A small native tree or large shrub that produces airy, cloud-like clusters of fragrant, fringe-like white flowers in late spring. Its feathery blooms give it the name old man's beard.

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Baby Toes

A curious dwarf succulent that forms clusters of upright, club-shaped leaves with translucent 'windows' on their flat tops, looking like rows of tiny baby toes. It bears white or yellow daisy-like flowers.

succulent

Ladyfinger Cactus

A clustering cactus of slender, finger-like stems covered in neat, star-like spine clusters. One of the easiest and most rewarding small cacti for beginners.

succulent

Candelabra Cactus

A tall, tree-like succulent euphorbia with upright branching ridged stems that form a candelabra silhouette. Though cactus-like, it is a spurge that exudes milky latex.

succulent

Rocky Mountain Juniper

Rocky Mountain Juniper is a drought-hardy western conifer with scale-like blue-green foliage and waxy blue berry-like cones, popular for windbreaks and bonsai.

tree

Moss Rose

A low, succulent annual with needle-like leaves and vivid rose-like flowers that open in bright sun, moss rose thrives in hot, dry, poor soils.

succulent

Love-in-a-Mist

A delicate cottage-garden annual whose blue, white or pink flowers nestle in a misty halo of thread-like foliage, followed by ornamental inflated seed pods. Both the airy blooms and the balloon-like pods are prized for fresh and dried arrangements.

flower

Thimbleberry

Thimbleberry is a thornless North American shrub with large maple-like leaves, white flowers, and soft red berries shaped like thimbles. It thrives in cool, shaded woodlands.

shrub

Bear's Paw

Bear's paw is a fuzzy succulent named for its plump, fleshy leaves tipped with tooth-like 'claws.' The chubby, hairy leaves and reddish tips give it a paw-like, animal appearance.

succulent

Umbrella Pine

Japanese Umbrella Pine is a unique living-fossil conifer, the sole member of its family, with glossy whorls of needle-like cladodes arranged like the ribs of an umbrella. It is slow-growing and prized as an ornamental.

tree