Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Schisandra
Schisandra is a hardy deciduous climbing vine bearing dangling clusters of crimson berries. With fragrant spring flowers and bright autumn fruit, it is an attractive ornamental climber for cool gardens.
shrub
Hinoki Cypress
Hinoki Cypress is an elegant evergreen conifer with rich green, fan-like foliage held in graceful sprays. Slow-growing dwarf cultivars are popular for gardens, containers, and bonsai.
tree
Elephant Ear Plant
Elephant ear is grown for its enormous, heart-shaped leaves that can reach 2-3 ft across, lending a bold tropical look to gardens and large containers.
houseplant
Borage
A fast-growing annual herb with brilliant blue star-shaped flowers and bristly, cucumber-scented leaves. A magnet for bees, it self-seeds freely and is a favorite of pollinator gardens.
herb
Boxwood
A dense, slow-growing evergreen shrub that has been the backbone of formal gardens, hedges and topiary for centuries. Its small glossy leaves clip cleanly into crisp shapes.
shrub
Bok Choy
Bok choy is a fast-growing Asian leafy green with crisp white stalks and tender dark leaves. A cool-season vegetable, it matures quickly and is widely grown in gardens.
herb
Statice
Statice is a sun-loving plant grown for its papery, long-lasting flower clusters in vivid colors. Exceptionally good for drying, it's a favorite for everlasting bouquets and seaside gardens.
flower
Saucer Magnolia
A deciduous magnolia famous for large, goblet-shaped pink-and-white blooms that open on bare branches in early spring. It is one of the most widely planted flowering trees in temperate gardens.
tree
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
Passionflower
Passionflower is a vigorous climbing vine famous for its intricate, fringed purple-and-white blooms. The maypop form (Passiflora incarnata) is hardy in temperate gardens and produces egg-shaped fruits.
flower
Holy Basil
Holy basil, or tulsi, is an aromatic herb in the mint family, sacred in Hinduism. More clove-scented than sweet basil, it is grown in gardens and containers and traditionally near homes and temples.
herb
Eggplant
Eggplant is a warm-season member of the nightshade family grown in gardens for its glossy, pendant fruits that range from deep purple to white. It thrives in heat and a long growing season.
herb
Black Currant
An aromatic deciduous shrub in the genus Ribes, grown in gardens for its dark purple-black berries. Its strongly scented foliage and upright, thornless habit make it easy to recognize.
shrub
Shore Pine
Shore Pine is the coastal form of the lodgepole pine, a tough, twisted two-needle pine of the Pacific coast. Its irregular, picturesque shape makes it popular for seaside gardens and bonsai.
tree
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
Goatsbeard
Goatsbeard is a robust, shade-loving perennial that produces tall, feathery plumes of creamy-white flowers, resembling a giant astilbe. It is a striking native woodland plant for moist, partly shaded gardens.
shrub
Century Plant
A massive rosette-forming agave with thick, spiny, blue-grey leaves that grows for decades before sending up a towering flower stalk and then dying. It is an iconic architectural plant of arid gardens.
succulent
Carpetweed
A low, mat-forming summer annual that spreads flat across the ground in a star-like pattern of whorled leaves. It is a common weed of gardens, lawns and bare soil, germinating in warm weather.
herb
Plum Yew
Plum Yew is a shade-tolerant evergreen conifer resembling a yew but with longer needles and plum-like fleshy seed cones. It is valued as a tough, deer-resistant landscape shrub for shady gardens.
shrub
Okra
Okra is a heat-loving annual in the mallow family, grown in warm-climate gardens for its showy hibiscus-like flowers and slender, ridged green seed pods. It thrives in hot summers.
herb
Flapjack Plant
A striking rosette succulent with large, flat, rounded leaves that blush deep red along their edges when grown in bright sun. It is prized as an architectural accent in pots and water-wise gardens.
succulent
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
Peach Tree
The peach is a deciduous fruit tree grown for its summer fruit and showy pink spring blossom. Self-fertile and fast-bearing, it rewards gardeners but needs sun, good drainage and disease vigilance.
tree
Lungwort
Lungwort is a shade-loving perennial grown for its silver-spotted leaves and early spring flowers that often open pink and age to blue on the same plant. It is an excellent groundcover for woodland and shady gardens.
flower