Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
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
Lilac Tree
The Japanese lilac tree is the tree-form member of the lilac family, producing huge creamy-white fragrant flower plumes in early summer. It is a tough, compact street and lawn tree.
tree
California Lilac
California lilac is a western North American shrub celebrated for its dense clusters of intensely blue flowers in spring. It is a magnet for bees and a backbone of water-wise native gardens.
shrub
Common Mallow
A sprawling annual or biennial with rounded, scalloped leaves, small pinkish-white flowers, and flat round seed pods that resemble tiny wheels of cheese. It is a common garden and lawn weed.
herb
Common Sunflower
The common sunflower is a fast-growing annual famous for its large golden flower heads that track the sun; it is grown worldwide as an ornamental and oilseed crop.
flower
Butterfly Bush
A fast-growing deciduous shrub bearing long, fragrant flower spikes that are magnets for butterflies and bees. Vigorous and easy, it is also invasive in some regions, so non-seeding cultivars are recommended.
shrub
Chaste Tree
The chaste tree is a Mediterranean deciduous shrub or small tree with aromatic, palmate foliage and slender spikes of lavender-blue summer flowers that attract bees and butterflies.
shrub
Cosmos
Cosmos is a fast, easygoing annual with daisy-like flowers and feathery foliage that blooms profusely all summer and attracts pollinators.
flower
Self-Heal
A low, spreading mint-family herb with squat spikes of violet flowers, forming a tough, pollinator-friendly mat across lawns, meadows, and woodland edges.
herb
Fig Tree
The common fig is a deciduous Mediterranean tree grown for its large lobed leaves and distinctive fruiting form. Easy to grow and forgiving, it is one of the oldest cultivated trees and thrives in warm gardens and containers.
tree
Freesia
Freesia is a South African bulb prized for its arching sprays of richly perfumed, funnel-shaped flowers in a rainbow of colors, popular as a cut flower.
flower
Medlar Tree
The medlar is an ancient, gnarled deciduous tree in the rose family, grown for its large white spring flowers, twisted branches, and distinctive russet-brown fruit with a wide open calyx. Hardy and low-maintenance.
tree
Yarrow
Yarrow is a tough, drought-tolerant perennial with feathery foliage and flat-topped clusters of tiny flowers. It is a popular low-maintenance plant for pollinator and meadow gardens.
herb
Quince Tree
A small deciduous tree bearing fragrant, golden, pear-shaped fruit, also valued for its lovely white-to-pink spring blossom and twisted, gnarled form.
tree
Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is a vigorous climbing shrub bearing tubular, intensely fragrant flowers that draw bees, moths and hummingbirds. It's a classic for covering arbors, fences and walls with scent.
shrub
Garlic
Garlic is a pungent bulbous member of the onion family grown worldwide as a garden and field crop, recognized by its strap-like foliage and segmented underground bulb.
herb
Cumin
Cumin is a small annual herb in the carrot family grown for its seeds, a widely used culinary spice. It needs a long, hot, sunny season to ripen.
herb
Baby's Breath
Baby's breath is an airy perennial producing clouds of tiny white or pink flowers on wiry, branching stems. It's a florist's staple as a delicate filler in bouquets and a soft accent in the garden.
flower
Yew
A long-lived evergreen conifer with dark needle foliage and red, berry-like arils. Extremely shade-tolerant and shearable, yews are classic hedging and topiary plants.
shrub
Morning Glory
Morning glory is a fast-growing twining vine whose trumpet-shaped flowers unfurl at dawn and close by afternoon, quickly covering fences and trellises.
flower
Ninebark
A rugged North American deciduous shrub named for its peeling, layered bark. Modern cultivars offer striking burgundy, gold, or copper foliage plus clusters of white-to-pink spring flowers.
shrub
Maidenhair Fern
A graceful fern with airy, fan-shaped fronds on glossy black stems. Stunning but demanding, it needs constant humidity and consistently moist soil.
fern
Juniper
A tough, evergreen coniferous shrub (some species small trees) with needle-like or scale-like foliage and blue berry-like cones. Junipers range from low groundcovers to upright forms and thrive in poor, dry soils.
shrub
Hyssop
An aromatic, semi-evergreen Mediterranean shrub-herb in the mint family, bearing spikes of deep blue flowers loved by bees.
herb