Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Bugleweed
Bugleweed is a low, fast-spreading evergreen groundcover prized for its glossy rosettes and spikes of blue-violet flowers in spring. It quickly carpets bare ground in sun or shade.
flower
Fox Tail Agave
A soft, spineless agave with pale blue-green rosettes and a curving, foxtail-like flower spike. Unusual among agaves for its lack of sharp spines and tolerance of light shade.
succulent
Lamb's Ear
Lamb's ear is a drought-tolerant perennial grown for its soft, silvery, densely woolly leaves that feel like felt. It forms low spreading mats topped by fuzzy flower spikes in summer.
flower
Foxglove
Foxglove is a stately biennial bearing tall spires of tubular, spotted bell-flowers, beloved by bees and a striking accent in shade and cottage gardens.
flower
Subalpine Fir
Subalpine Fir is a narrow, spire-shaped western fir of high mountains, instantly recognizable by its slender steeple crown adapted to shed heavy snow.
tree
Balsam Fir
A fragrant northern evergreen with flat, soft needles and resin-blistered bark, beloved as a Christmas tree for its classic spire shape and lasting pine scent.
tree
Agrimony
Agrimony is an upright perennial herb topped with slender spires of small yellow flowers that smell faintly of apricot. It produces bur-like seeds that cling to passersby.
herb
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
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
Fairy Castle Cactus
A slow-growing columnar cactus whose many vertical, turret-like branches resemble the spires of a tiny castle. It is a compact, easygoing favorite for sunny windowsills.
succulent
Snakeroot
Snakeroot, also called black cohosh, is a tall woodland perennial bearing dramatic white bottlebrush spires of fragrant flowers above ferny foliage. It is a striking native for moist, shady gardens.
flower
Lupine
A striking cottage-garden perennial with tall, dense spires of pea-like flowers in vivid blues, purples, pinks, and bicolors above palmate leaves. A nitrogen-fixing legume beloved by bees.
flower
Culver's Root
Culver's root is a tall, elegant North American prairie perennial with whorled leaves and slender, candelabra-like spires of white to pale-lilac flowers. It is a magnet for bees and butterflies in summer.
flower
Gotu Kola
A low, creeping wetland herb with round, scalloped leaves, grown as a fast-spreading, moisture-loving ground cover.
herb
Delphinium
Delphiniums are stately cottage-garden perennials famed for their towering spires of intensely blue (or purple, pink, and white) flowers. Their dramatic vertical form makes them a classic centerpiece of the summer border.
flower
Mint
A vigorous, cooling aromatic herb that spreads readily by runners, grown as a popular culinary herb for its refreshing, strongly scented foliage.
herb
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
Johnsongrass
Johnsongrass is a tall, aggressive perennial grass spread by both seed and creeping rhizomes; it is a major agricultural weed that is very difficult to eradicate.
grass
Inch Plant
A fast-growing trailing plant with shimmery purple-and-silver striped leaves. It roots and spreads quickly, making it a vigorous, colorful houseplant.
houseplant
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
Creeping Buttercup
Creeping buttercup is a low, spreading perennial with glossy yellow flowers that colonizes lawns and damp ground via rooting runners. It is an aggressive and persistent weed.
flower
Bells of Ireland
Bells of Ireland is a cool-season annual famous for its tall spires of shell-like green calyces that look like little bells. It is a florist favorite for adding vertical lines and lasting green color to bouquets.
flower
Sweet Alyssum
A low, spreading annual smothered in tiny honey-scented flowers, sweet alyssum is a classic edging and container filler that blooms from spring through frost.
flower
Live Oak
Live oak is a massive, sprawling evergreen oak of the American South, famous for wide spreading limbs draped in Spanish moss and an extremely strong, dense wood.
tree