Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Sweet Woodruff
Sweet woodruff is a low, spreading groundcover herb with whorls of slender green leaves and clusters of tiny white star-shaped flowers in spring. When dried, its foliage releases a sweet, hay-and-vanilla scent and it carpets shady ground beautifully.
herb
Sweet Potato Vine
Ornamental sweet potato vine is a vigorous trailing plant grown for its bold chartreuse, purple-black, or variegated foliage that cascades from containers all season.
houseplant
Alyssum
Sweet alyssum is a low, spreading annual smothered in tiny honey-scented flowers, prized as a fast, fragrant carpet for borders, containers and hanging baskets.
flower
Orange Tree
The sweet orange is an evergreen citrus tree grown worldwide for its bright fruit and fragrant white blossoms. It is the most widely cultivated fruit tree on Earth.
tree
Cantaloupe
Cantaloupe is a warm-season trailing vine in the gourd family, grown for its round, netted melons. It needs long, hot summers and plenty of sun.
herb
Liquidambar
A large deciduous shade tree known for its star-shaped leaves that blaze red, purple, and orange in autumn, and its spiky round seed balls. It is a classic American street and park tree.
tree
Cherry Tree
The cherry tree is a deciduous fruiting and ornamental tree grown for its fruit and showy spring blossoms. Sweet cherries (Prunus avium) and sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) are the two main types.
tree
Bell Pepper
Bell pepper is a blocky-fruited variety of Capsicum annuum grown as a warm-season garden crop, bearing glossy fruit in shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. It is a colorful, productive plant for sunny beds and containers.
herb
Summersweet
A late-summer-blooming deciduous shrub with upright spikes of intensely fragrant white or pink flowers that draw bees and butterflies. Native to eastern North America, it thrives in moist, shady spots.
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
Pignut Hickory
Pignut hickory is a tall, upland hickory of eastern North America with smooth gray bark and pear-shaped nuts. It is valued for tough wood, brilliant golden fall color, and as wildlife habitat.
tree
Mock Orange
A deciduous shrub grown for its profuse, intensely fragrant white late-spring flowers that smell like orange blossom. Easy and hardy, it is a nostalgic favorite of cottage gardens.
shrub
Basil
A fragrant, warmth-loving aromatic herb in the mint family, grown for its highly aromatic leaves.
herb
Miracle Fruit
A slow-growing evergreen shrub from West Africa bearing small, bright red oval berries. It demands acidic soil, warmth, and humidity, making it a challenging container plant outside the tropics.
shrubMarjoram
Marjoram is a tender, aromatic Mediterranean herb closely related to oregano, grown as a culinary herb in gardens, pots, and on windowsills.
herb
Lemon Balm
Lemon balm is a vigorous, lemon-scented perennial herb in the mint family, loved as a magnet for bees. It grows easily and can spread enthusiastically in the garden.
herb
Dianthus
Dianthus, commonly called pinks or carnations, are flowering plants known for their fringed, clove-scented blooms in shades of pink, red, white and bicolor. They are classic cottage-garden favorites that bloom prolifically in cool weather.
flower
Fennel
Fennel is an aromatic, feathery herb grown in gardens for its finely divided foliage and airy yellow flower heads; the Florence type forms a swollen bulb at the base of the leaves.
herb
Soapwort
Soapwort is a vigorous perennial whose roots and leaves lather in water, historically used as a gentle natural soap. It bears fragrant pink-to-white flowers and spreads readily by runners.
herb
Bay Leaf
Bay laurel is an aromatic evergreen Mediterranean tree grown for its glossy, fragrant leaves and as an ornamental.
tree
Bouncing Bet
A vigorous old-fashioned perennial with clusters of fragrant pink flowers whose roots and leaves lather like soap, long used as a natural cleanser for textiles.
herb
Bay Laurel
Bay laurel is an aromatic evergreen tree or shrub, a classic culinary herb most often grown as an elegant clipped topiary or hedge. Slow-growing and easily shaped.
herb
Sweetshrub
Sweetshrub is a deciduous native shrub of the southeastern U.S. known for its unusual maroon-brown flowers that release a fruity fragrance reminiscent of strawberries, banana or spice. Its aromatic bark and foliage add to the appeal.
shrub
Wax Plant
The wax plant is a long-lived trailing vine with thick, waxy leaves and clusters of star-shaped, sweetly scented flowers that look almost like porcelain.
houseplant