Plants in Bloom

This native plant has distinctive spotted, tubular flowers that are stacked along the stem. The bright pink bracts under each flower help attract wasps and bees.

Monarda punctata (spotted bee balm) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Sacred lotuses are blooming in the Garden’s Lily Pools. Lotuses can resemble water-lilies, but lotus leaves tend to stretch above the surface (instead of floating). Lotuses also have a large round seedpod inside.

Nelumbo nucifera species (sacred lotus) on Lily Pool Terrace. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This small goldenrod, named for its downy gray stems, produces clumps of yellow plumes that attract butterflies. Individual plants bloom at varying times, giving it an extended blooming season from late summer into early fall.

Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod) in the Water Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Lovely anemones first bloom in late summer and continue through fall, attracting pollinators when many sources of pollen and nectar have gone to seed.

Anemone hupehensis spp. (Japanese anemone) in the Rock Garden. Photo: Lee Patrick.

This native perennial can often be found in swamps and along streams. Its scarlet flowers attract bees and hummingbirds (but not cardinals!).

Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) in the Rock Garden, Native Flora Garden, Discovery Garden, and Water Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This hybrid cultivar of our native hibiscus—also known as swamp mallow or rose-mallow—has large flowers up to ten inches across that only last one day.

Hibiscus ’Lord Baltimore‘ (hardy hibiscus ‘Lord Baltimore’) in the Water Garden. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Like the cardinal flower, a close relative, this native plant is found in wet areas of the eastern United States. It’s a great addition to rain gardens and woodland gardens.

Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia) in the Water Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Native to Eastern China and Japan, this deciduous shrub has fragrant star-shaped flowers in midsummer and dark blue berries in fall. It is sometimes called the “peanut butter tree” in reference to the scent emitted from crushed leaves.

Clerodendrum trichotomum (harlequin glory-bower) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Clematis species are excellent climbers, and popular perennial garden vines. This hybrid cultivar, developed in Japan by plant breeder Kazushige Ozawa, has bell-shaped purple flowers that bloom throughout the summer.

Clematis ‘Rooguchi’ (integrifolia clematis) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides is a mat-forming perennial groundcover with vivid blue flowers. Like many groundcovers, it spreads by sending out rhizomes, or horizontal underground stems.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (hardy blue-flowered leadwort) in the Osborne Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Native to the eastern and midwestern prairies of the United States, this short-lived perennial attracts bees, butterflies, and birds. Brown-eyed Susan grows taller than black-eyed Susan, and has distinct three-lobed leaves.

Rudbeckia triloba (brown-eyed Susan) in the Perennial Border. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This perennial species, native to the prairies of western Missouri, attracts butterflies and other pollinators.

Helianthus salicifolius (willowleaf sunflower) in the Water Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This popular garden plant has flower heads that are darker and larger than those of other native asters. They also have more ray flowers, and can grow up to five feet tall. 

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England aster) in the Water Garden. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Gaylussacia baccata is a native deciduous shrub that belongs to the blueberry family. Its purplish berries, which start to ripen in the summer, are loved by wildlife and delicious in pies.

Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

A member of the Lamiaceae, or mint family, this herbaceous perennial is native to North America. You can find wild bergamot—often covered in bees—blooming in the meadow of the Native Flora Garden.

Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Native to the eastern and central United States and Canada, these woodland wildflowers bloom from midsummer through fall. Forest sunflowers attract bees and butterflies, and can grow up to five feet tall.

Helianthus decapetalus (forest sunflower) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

The flowers of this short-lived perennial mature to clusters of round seeds, resembling blackberries. The petals of spent flowers twist together, forming a corkscrew shape.

Iris domestica (blackberry-lily) in the Perennial Border and Rock Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

One of the most popular flowering annuals—and especially loved for their draping habit, well-suited to hanging baskets—petunia species can be found blooming around the Garden.

Petunia spp. (petunia) in the Rose Arc Pool. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This perennial grass is native to the river banks and moist woodland borders of the eastern and midwestern United States. It boasts gently nodding, flat flower spikelets that dangle above the leaves.

Chasmanthium latifolium ‘River Mist’ (river oats) in the Fragrance Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Crape-myrtles have long been favorite garden plants in the South, but many cultivars can grow in New York City, too. Their extravagant panicles of crinkly flowers appear in late summer.

Lagerstroemia spp. (crape-myrtle) on the Overlook. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This annual boasts bright yellow and maroon flowers that bloom alongside wispy, lacelike foliage. A member of the Asteraceae, or daisy family, dyers’ tickseed attracts insect pollinators as well as granivorous birds.

Coreopsis tinctoria (dyers’ tickseed) in the Water Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Airy sprays of lavender-purple flowers and lacy blue-green foliage adorn this tall, herbaceous perennial, which blooms from midsummer through early fall.

Thalictrum rochebruneanum (meadow rue) in the Woodland Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Who doesn't love cosmos? These flowering annuals, native to Mexico and the southwestern U.S., are bright, delicate, and easy to grow from seed.

Cosmos species (cosmos) in the Discovery Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

The large, showy summer flowers of hydrangeas make them a popular garden plant. The bloom color of some species is influenced by soil pH. More acidic soil will produce bluer flowers, while more alkaline soil will produce pinker ones.

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nigra’ (black stem bigleaf hydrangea) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Costus barbatus (spiral flag) in the Tropical Pavilion. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Kaempferia pulchra (peacock ginger) in the Tropical Pavilion. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Aristolochia gigantea (giant Dutchman’s pipe) in the Tropical Pavilion. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Rosa GOURMET POPCORN = ‘Weopop’ (miniature rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Native to the Mediterranean, this herbaceous perennial has spiny leaves and thistle-like, bright purple flowers. Also known as artichoke thistle, cardoon has edible stalks.

Cynara cardunculus (cardoon) in the Shakespeare Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Purple-blue, button-shaped flowers adorn this annual, which is a member of the Asteraceae, or daisy family. Native to Europe, cornflowers are often used in cut or dried flower arrangements.

Centaurea cyanus (cornflower) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This native wildflower blooms from summer into early fall and attracts butterflies and bees of all kinds.

Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan) on the Overlook. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Lagerstroemia ’Natchez‘ (crape-myrtle) in the Perennial Border. Photo: Alvina Lai.

This ground-hugging native plant produces five-petaled white flowers and a sweet edible fruit.

Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry) on the Overlook. Photo: Michael Stewart.

The flowers of this cheery perennial, native to the central and southeastern United States, attract bumble bees and butterflies in the summer. In winter, the seed heads provide food for goldfinches.

Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower) in the Herb Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Large, lush cup-shaped flowers adorn this floribunda shrub rose, which blooms repeatedly from early summer through fall.

Rosa POSEIDON = ‘Korfriedhar’ (floribunda rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This popular water-lily cultivar opens in a lovely apricot-yellow and matures over the next few days to a deeper pink hue.

Nymphaea ‘Paul Hariot’ (hardy water-lily) on Lily Pool Terrace. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This deciduous conifer is found at pond edges. Related to the bald cypress, it is narrower with shorter, overlapping needles. This cultivar, ‘Nutans’, has slightly weeping branches.

Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium ‘Nutans’ (nodding pond cypress) in the Rock Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

This fragrant lavender cultivar is actually native to the Mediterranean. It’s a drought-tolerant plant that thrives in the sun.

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ (English lavender) in the Rock Garden, Herb Garden, and Fragrance Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Hibiscus ’Red Flyer’ (hibiscus) in the Perennial Border. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Species in the Nepeta genus are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Though not as compelling to cats as true catnip, this aromatic perennial species is still a feline magnet.

Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ (catmint) in the Fragrance Garden and Perennial Border. Photo: Alvina Lai.

This unusual-looking herbaceous vine is common in the southeastern United States, where it attracts butterflies like the gulf fritillary and the crimson-patch longwing.

Passiflora incarnata (passionflower) in the Fragrance Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Vanda pachara ’Delight‘ (orchid) in the Aquatic House. Photo: Alvina Lai.