Plants in Bloom

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.

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The flowers of this native tree look pure white from a distance, but up close, the purple and gold nectar guides can be seen. These markings help draw in bees during the day. At night, months are attracted to the white color and strong fragrance.

Catalpa bignonioides (southern catalpa) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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Thousands of rose bushes are cultivated in the Cranford Rose Garden, including wild species, old garden roses, hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, polyanthas, climbers, and ramblers.

Rosa ‘Climbing American Beauty’ (large-flowered climbing rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Sarah Schmidt.

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This lovely shrub rose hybrid blooms repeatedly starting in late spring through fall.

Rosa ‘Surf Rider’ (shrub rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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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.

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This apricot-colored rose blooms in early summer and again later, usually along with the second flush of blooms in September.

Rosa ‘Cubana’ (shrub rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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This tall and distinctive perennial has large purple-blue flowers and blooms in late spring. Tufts of hairs on the sepals—the “beard” of a bearded iris—provide a landing spot for insect pollinators.

Iris ‘Breakers’ (tall bearded iris) in the Shakespeare Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Once thought to be in the same genus as wild bleeding heart, a North American native, this species—native to Siberia, Japan, Korea, and northern China—blooms a little later, and its pendant-like flowers have a more distinct heart shape.

Lamprocapnos spectabilis (bleeding-heart) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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Native to the woodlands and rocky habitats of eastern North America, this perennial produces graceful bell-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds and long-tongued bees.

Aquilegia canadensis (Canadian columbine) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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Native to the woodlands of eastern North America, the spotted geranium produces purple, five-petaled flowers that seem to light up the forest floor. The seed capsule produced after flowering resembles the beak of a crane, which is referenced by its other common name, “cranesbill.”

Geranium maculatum (spotted geranium) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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The common name refers to the white fringe-like flowers that bloom on this native tree in spring, which also call to mind shredded coconut.

Chionanthus virginicus (fringe tree) in the Discovery Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This hardy hybrid, which blooms repeatedly throughout the season, has several layers of ruffled pink petals, striking red canes, and a memorable clove-like fragrance. 

Rosa ‘Thérèse Bugnet’ (hybrid rugosa rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Jean-Marc Grambert.

The dove tree, or handkerchief tree—named for the beautiful large white bracts that form around its small purplish flower heads in spring—is native to central and southwestern China, where it is considered endangered. 

Davidia involucrata (dove tree) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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The flowers of this beautiful native tree are actually the small inconspicuous green structures in the middle. The showy white bracts surrounding them are modified leaves.

Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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Sprays of bell-shaped flowers blossom from the arching stems of this deciduous shrub. Native to China, beautybush is a member of the Caprifoliaceae, or honeysuckle family.

Kolkwitzia amabilis (beautybush) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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This hybrid tree produces memorable multihued flowers with delicate curving sepals.

Aesculus × carnea ‘Briotii’ (red horse-chestnut) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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Rosa ‘Canary Bird’ starts the show in the Rose Garden. This robust hybrid blooms early and usually just once, with bright yellow single flowers and pronounced stamens. 

Rosa ‘Canary Bird’ (shrub rose ) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Bumble bees are attracted to the flame azalea’s funnel-shaped flowers, which bloom in a mix of yellow, orange, and red. This deciduous shrub is a member of the Ericaceae, or heath family, and is native to eastern North America.

Rhododendron calendulaceum (flame azalea) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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This hybrid, which offers large blooms of white, iridescent bracts, was introduced by Rutgers University’s dogwood breeding program.

Cornus × elwinortonii VENUS = ‘Kn30 8’ (PBR) (Jersey Star Series) (dogwood [venus]) in the Osborne Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Native to the rocky slopes of the Himalayas, tree peonies were brought to Japan where they were bred and selected for larger flowers and intense colors. The ‘Shima-nishiki’ cultivar’s bright red flowers have unusual white striping on the petals. No two have the same pattern.

Paeonia (Suffruticosa Group) ‘Shima-nishiki’ (Japanese hybrid tree peony) in the Tree Peony Collection. Photo: Morrigan McCarthy.

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This cultivated variety of the kaempferi azalea—also known as the torch azalea—offers distinctive pink blooms.

Rhododendron ‘Louise’ (kaempferi azalea) in the Rock Garden. Photo: Elizabeth Peters.

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Azaleas have long been a popular ornamental plant, with bright tubular flowers and scented displays that vary across thousands of cultivars. The azalea display in the Osborne Garden was originally designed by landscape architect Alice Recknagel Ireys in 1947.

Rhododenron cultivar (azalea cultivar) in the Osborne Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Native to the eastern United States, moss phlox can be found blanketing wide-open clearings and rocky sites. Its flowers provide early-season nectar to moths, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Phlox subulata (moss phlox) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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These sweet-smelling spring bulbs thrive in a bit of shade and are in bloom for about two weeks. The planting in Bluebell Wood includes over 50,000 individual plants.

Hyacinthoides hispanica ‘Excelsior’ (spanish bluebell) in Bluebell Wood. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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One of the Garden’s oldest trees, the sprawling yellowwood blooms spectacularly every two to four years. Fragrant white panicles cover the tree, evoking white rain.

Cladrastis kentukea (American yellowwood) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This clump-forming perennial, named for its starlike flowers, is native to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas.

Amsonia hubrichtii (thread-leaf bluestar) in the Discovery Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This native spring ephemeral blooms in woodlands, soaking up the sunlight before the canopy trees leaf out. Yellow trout-lilies have curled petals and mottled leaves that (sort of) resemble trout.

Erythronium americanum (yellow trout-lily) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Fothergilla shrubs belong to Hamamelidaceae, the witch-hazel family. They’re known for whitish-yellow blooms in the spring and striking color in the fall.

Fothergilla × intermedia MAY BOUQUET = ‘Klmsixteen’ (witch-alder [May Bouquet] ) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Sarah Schmidt.

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One of the lilacs bred by famed early 20th-century French breeder Victor Lemoine, known for his double-flowered hybrids. These have two layers of petals on each floret, giving the blossoms a distinctly fuller look.

Syringa vulgaris ‘Léon Gambetta’ (lilac ‘Léon Gambetta’) in the Lilac Collection. Photo: Sarah Schmidt.

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One of the earliest roses to bloom, the burnet rose has single white blossoms, a mild sweet scent, and very prickly stems. It’s a naturally occurring species, from which many hybrids were developed.

Rosa spinosissima (burnet rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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A succulent perennial with spiraling leaves, Euphorbia myrsinites produces delicate yellow-green flowers in the spring.

Euphorbia myrsinites (donkey-tail spurge) in the Rock Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This hybrid rose, as the name suggests, is spiny—or, technically, prickly. (True spines come from leaf tissue, prickles from dermal tissue.) 

Rosa ‘Frühlingsschnee’ (hybrid Spinosissima rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Sarah Schmidt.

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‘Tama-usagi’ has giant, double-flowered blossoms of pure white. The tree peony collection was given to the Garden in 2002 by the city of Yatsuka-Cho in Japan as a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks.

Paeonia (Suffruticosa Group) ‘Tama-usagi’ (Japanese hybrid tree peony) in the Tree Peony Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This native wildflower is a member of the Asteraceae, or aster family, and is one of the first to bloom. Its yellow flowers attract butterflies and bees.

Packera aurea (heart leaved groundsel) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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This scented lilac boasts clusters of bicolor florets. Buds open to reveal deep-purple petals edged with white.

Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’ (lilac ‘Sensation’) in the Lilac Collection. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Native to eastern North America, this long-lived perennial attracts butterflies like the eastern-tailed blue (Cupido comyntas). Like other members of the pea family, Baptisia australis works with bacteria to pull nitrogen from the air and "fix" or transform it into usable form.

Baptisia australis (blue false indigo) in the Discovery Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This hybrid shrub is a cross between Calycanthus chinensis and Calycanthus floridus. It thrives in partial shade, and features burgundy flowers in spring.

Calycanthus × raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’ (raulston-allspice) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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‘Shimane-seidai’ is just one of the gorgeous and fragrant Japanese tree peonies at the Garden. These woody-stemmed cultivars have larger blossoms and bloom a bit earlier than herbaceous peonies.

Paeonia (Suffruticosa Group) ‘Shimane-seidai’ (Japenese hybrid tree peony) in the Tree Peony Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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Bred by legendary French lilac breeder Victor Lemoine in 1913, the pink ‘Vauban’ lilac is among the early-blooming hybrids in the Garden’s collection.

Syringa × hyacinthiflora ‘Vauban’ (lilac) in the Lilac Collection. Photo: Sarah Schmidt.

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Trilliums are a plant of threes: They produce a blossom with three petals sitting atop three leaves. This spring ephemeral, native to the forests of the northeastern United States and southern Canada, thrives in woodland gardens. 

Trillium grandiflorum (white wake-robin) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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This sun-loving cultivar is related to strawberries, and produces a crush of peachy-hued blooms in late spring through summer.

Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ (PBR) (avens ‘Totally Tangerine’) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Pointed white bracts adorn cascading branches on this long-blooming dogwood. Its flowers mature into berries in fall.

Cornus kousa ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’ (dogwood ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’) in the Children’s Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Native to China, this deciduous tree blooms in clusters of trumpet-shaped, pink-spotted flowers. The flowers mature into long, slender seed pods that eventually split open and drop to the ground.

Catalpa bungei (Manchurian catalpa) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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Sometimes called the redbud crabapple, the dark pink buds of this hybrid blossom into fragrant flowers that fade from pink to white.

Malus × zumi (crabapple) in the Osborne Garden. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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This native wildflower has beautiful flowers with reflexed petals that attract bumble bees. Using a technique called “buzz pollination,” they grab onto the flowers and vibrate to shake the pollen loose.

Dodecatheon meadia (eastern shooting star) in the Native Flora Garden and the Overlook. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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Thousands of tulips are planted throughout the Garden and typically bloom between April and May. You can find them most prominently in the Annual Border, Fragrance Garden, Osborne Garden, and Rose Arc.

Tulipa (tulips) in the Annual Border. Photo: Blanca Begert.

The white, apple-blossomlike flowers of the May-apple appear in the axils, beneath the leaves.

Podophyllum peltatum (may-apple) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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Weigela hortensis is a deciduous shrub belonging to the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. Native to Japan, it produces striking pink flowers in late spring and early summer.

Weigela hortensis (tani weigela) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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Japanese wisteria is a twining woody vine that grows by twisting around supports like trellises, fences, or arbors. Plants can grow aggressively (it’s considered invasive in some states) and may live more than 50 years.

Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria) in the Osborne Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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This native understory tree blooms in a vibrant pink show each spring. Redbuds are cauliflorous, an unusual botanical trait that means they can produce flowers directly on their branches and trunks. 

Cercis canadensis (eastern redbud) in the Discovery Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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This shrub produces extravagant white flower clusters starting in late spring. It’s easy to see where it got its common name.

Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum (Japanese snowball) in the Plant Family Collection. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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One of a group of deciduous azaleas bred in Ghent, Belgium in the early 1800s, the ‘Raphael de Smet’ hybrid has lovely pink flowers that bloom in late spring.

Rhododendron ‘Raphael de Smet’ (Ghent azalea) in the Woodland Garden. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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Maidenhair trees (or ginkgos) are dioecious, meaning they produce pollen and seeds on separate trees. Here you can see the pollen cones on a male tree among its young leaves.

Ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree) on the Overlook. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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One of the yellow magnolias bred by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, ‘Lois’ has deep yellow flowers that, like most later-blooming magnolias, emerge along with or after its leaves.

Magnolia ‘Lois’ on Magnolia Plaza and Eastern Parkway, and in the Discovery Garden. Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.

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One of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s famous yellow-flowered magnolias, the ‘Yellow Bird’ hybrid was introduced in 1981. Like the other BBG hybrids, this one blooms later in the season than most of the collection, and blossoms appear along with the leaves.

Magnolia × brooklynensis ‘Yellow Bird’ on Magnolia Plaza. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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The double blossoms of this cultivar were bred to have up to 28 petals each. (Cherry blossoms naturally have five petals.) Among the last to bloom, ‘Kanzan’ represents the finale of cherry blossom season.

Prunus ‘Kanzan’ on Cherry Esplanade. Photo: Rebecca Bullene.

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