Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Skimmia
Skimmia is a compact, shade-loving evergreen shrub valued for fragrant spring flowers, ornamental red winter berries, and showy red flower buds that decorate the plant all winter.
shrub
Sweet Potato
Sweet potato is a warm-season trailing vine grown as a crop for its swollen storage roots. Unrelated to the common potato, it belongs to the morning glory family and thrives in long, hot summers.
herb
Totem Pole Cactus
A spineless, columnar cactus whose smooth green stems are covered in bumpy, sculptural knobs resembling carved totems. A slow-growing, low-maintenance architectural plant.
succulent
Rubber Plant
A popular indoor tree with large, thick, glossy leaves that can grow tall and statuesque indoors. Burgundy and variegated cultivars add dramatic color to the classic deep-green form.
houseplant
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
Southern Live Oak
Southern Live Oak is a massive, spreading evergreen oak of the American Deep South, famous for its broad canopy draped in Spanish moss. It is among the longest-lived and most iconic trees of the region.
tree
Smokebush
A deciduous shrub famous for the airy, smoke-like haze of fluffy flower stalks that envelop the plant in summer. Many cultivars add dramatic purple or gold foliage and fiery fall color.
shrub
Solomon's Seal
Solomon's seal is a graceful shade perennial with arching stems lined with paired leaves and dangling white bell flowers. It brings elegant structure to woodland gardens.
flower
Russian Sage
An airy, silver-stemmed subshrub topped with hazy clouds of tiny lavender-blue flowers all summer. Aromatic, heat- and drought-proof, and a favorite of bees in hot, sunny gardens.
shrub
Quackgrass
Quackgrass is an aggressive cool-season perennial grass that spreads by long, white underground rhizomes, making it one of the most persistent lawn and garden weeds.
grass
Post Oak
Post oak is a slow-growing, drought-hardy white oak of the southern and central US, recognized by its cross-shaped leaves. Its rot-resistant wood was traditionally used for fence posts.
tree
Purple Waffle Plant
The Purple Waffle Plant has puckered, metallic green leaves with deep purple undersides that give a quilted, waffle-like texture. It is a low, spreading plant great for terrariums and groundcover.
houseplant
Prostrate Spurge
A fast-growing summer annual that forms flat, ground-hugging mats with small oval leaves often marked by a maroon spot. It exudes a milky sap and is a widespread weed of lawns, cracks and gardens.
herb
Panda Plant
The panda plant is a fuzzy, felt-leaved succulent covered in soft silvery hairs with brown-tipped edges. Its plush, ear-like leaves make it a charming, low-maintenance houseplant.
succulent
Mimosa Tree
A fast-growing ornamental tree with feathery fern-like leaves and fluffy pink powderpuff flowers, widely planted but invasive across the southern United States.
tree
Magnolia
Magnolias are ancient flowering trees and shrubs prized for their large, fragrant, cup- or star-shaped blooms. They range from evergreen Southern magnolias to deciduous spring-flowering types.
tree
Lily of the Valley
A low, spreading shade groundcover with arching sprays of tiny, intensely fragrant white bells in spring. Beautiful and beloved, with broad glossy leaves rising from creeping rhizomes.
flower
Leek
The leek is a hardy allium grown for its long, blanched white shank of tightly wrapped leaf bases. Cold-tolerant and slow-growing, it is a classic autumn and winter garden vegetable.
herb
Lemon Lime Dracaena
Lemon Lime Dracaena is a vivid cultivar with chartreuse-and-green striped leaves that brighten any room. Easy and upright-growing, it offers the durability of Dracaena with a punch of color.
houseplant
Jasmine
A climbing shrub famous for intensely fragrant, star-shaped white flowers that perfume summer evenings. Common jasmine is vigorous and grown on trellises and walls.
shrub
Hosta
The premier foliage perennial for shade, grown for bold mounds of ribbed leaves in greens, blues, golds, and variegated patterns. Lavender or white flower spikes are a summer bonus.
houseplant
Hollyhock
Hollyhock is a towering cottage-garden biennial bearing tall spires of large, saucer-shaped flowers. Its dramatic height makes it a classic backdrop for fences and walls.
flower
Goosegrass
Goosegrass is a tough warm-season annual weed forming flattened rosettes with a distinctive white or silvery center, thriving in compacted soils and high-traffic areas.
grass
Green Bean
Green beans are the young pods of the common bean, picked while still slender before the seeds mature. They come in bush and pole forms and are among the most reliable and rewarding crops for home gardens.
herb