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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Red Hot Poker

Red hot poker is a bold perennial sending up torch-like spikes of tubular flowers that grade from fiery red at the top to yellow below. Its grassy clumps and dramatic blooms attract hummingbirds and bees.

flower

Flame Bottle Tree

The flame bottle tree, or Illawarra flame tree, is an Australian tree that blazes with masses of scarlet bell-shaped flowers on bare branches in early summer. It belongs to the bottle tree family, with a stout trunk and maple-like leaves.

tree

Tree Aeonium

A branching, shrubby succulent that holds glossy leaf rosettes atop bare woody stems. Popular dark cultivars like 'Zwartkop' turn nearly black in strong sun.

succulent

Snowberry

Snowberry is a hardy, suckering deciduous shrub best known for its clusters of plump, white, marble-like berries that persist into winter. It is exceptionally tough and thrives almost anywhere.

shrub

Smoke Tree

A deciduous shrub or small tree named for the airy, smoke-like plumes of fading flower stalks that envelop it in summer. Many cultivars also feature striking purple foliage.

shrub

Saskatoon Berry

Saskatoon berry is a hardy North American shrub producing blueberry-like fruit and showy spring blossoms. It is cold-tolerant, low-maintenance, and valued as an ornamental and wildlife shrub.

shrub

String of Dolphins

A trailing succulent whose curved leaves look like tiny leaping dolphins. A hybrid of string of pearls and candle plant, it makes a charming, sun-loving hanging plant.

succulent

Rat Tail Cactus

A trailing epiphytic cactus with long, slender, spiny stems that hang like rat tails and burst into vivid pink-magenta flowers in spring. It is a spectacular choice for hanging baskets.

succulent

Pansy

Pansies are cool-season bedding flowers known for their large, flat, face-like blooms in a huge range of colors. They are a hybrid garden plant derived from wild violas.

flower

Olive Tree

The olive is a long-lived evergreen Mediterranean tree, a fruiting tree cultivated for thousands of years. Gnarled, silvery and remarkably drought-hardy, it is also a popular ornamental and container plant.

tree

Peanut Cactus

A small clustering cactus with finger-like, peanut-sized stems that sprawls into a mat and produces vivid orange-red flowers. It is an easy, free-flowering favorite for sunny spots.

succulent

Peony

A long-lived perennial famous for huge, often fragrant late-spring blooms in shades of pink, white, and red. Peonies are tough, cold-loving, and can thrive for decades.

flower

Lupin

Lupin is a striking perennial bearing tall, dense spikes of pea-like flowers in vivid colors above palmate leaves. A legume, it fixes nitrogen and is a cottage-garden showstopper.

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Lilac

Lilacs are hardy deciduous shrubs cherished for their intensely fragrant spring flower clusters in shades of purple, lavender, pink, and white. They are long-lived and easy to grow in cold climates.

shrub

Little Jewel

A compact intergeneric hybrid forming tight rosettes of plump, pointed, blue-green leaves tipped in rosy red. A small, jewel-like succulent that clusters into neat clumps.

succulent

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

False Sunflower

False sunflower is a tough native perennial covered in golden-yellow daisy-like blooms all summer. It resembles a true sunflower but returns reliably year after year.

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Compass Plant

A towering prairie perennial with large yellow sunflower-like blooms and deeply cut leaves that align north-south to avoid the midday sun, giving it its navigational name.

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Burdock

A large biennial famous for its bur-covered seed heads that cling to fur and clothing, the inspiration for Velcro. It has enormous rhubarb-like leaves and a thick, deep taproot.

herb

Bottlebrush Tree

An evergreen Australian shrub or small tree whose cylindrical red flower spikes look exactly like bottle brushes. The nectar-rich blooms draw birds and pollinators.

shrub

Monkey Puzzle Tree

The monkey puzzle is a striking evergreen conifer from the Andes with stiff, spiral-arranged spiky leaves and a distinctive symmetrical, dome-topped silhouette. It is a living fossil, virtually unchanged for millions of years, and can live over a thousand years.

tree

Hardy Geranium

Hardy geranium, or cranesbill, is a tough, long-lived perennial that forms spreading mounds of deeply lobed leaves covered in saucer-shaped flowers. Unlike the tender bedding "geraniums" (Pelargonium), these true geraniums are cold-hardy and low-maintenance.

flower

Golden Rain Tree

The golden rain tree is a small to medium deciduous shade tree noted for its large sprays of bright yellow summer flowers followed by papery, lantern-like seed capsules. It is tough, adaptable, and popular as a street and lawn tree.

tree

Wild Garlic

A pungent perennial bulb in the onion family that spreads aggressively through lawns and fields, recognized by its hollow, grass-like leaves and strong garlic odor. It is a common turf weed.

herb