Plants in Bloom
November highlights
Flame Willow
This shrub’s golden autumn leaves fall to reveal striking red, orange-red, and yellow-orange stems, lending credence to its cultivar name.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Cape Leadwort
Native to South Africa, this three-season bloomer can be trellised as a vine or grown as a shrub.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Pawpaw
This native tree is known for its custard-like fruit and unusual brownish flowers. Its large leaves turn a lovely yellow in fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Winterberry
The lovely berries of this native holly relative persist through winter, sometimes spring. These fruits are a welcome food for hungry birds as the weather cools and other options get scarce.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Dogwood Baton Rouge ‘Minbat’
The bare, bright crimson stems of many dogwood cultivars provide vibrant color in fall and winter.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Showy Goldenrod
After its bright-yellow blooms fade in fall, showy goldenrod continues to feed wildlife with its lovely seedheads.
Photo: Lee Patrick.
Golden Larch
Not all conifers are evergreen. This tree, native to China, is deciduous. The needles take on a striking gold color in the fall before dropping off in the winter.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Red Maple
This native North American tree has fall foliage that may vary from yellow to orange to red, sometimes on the same tree—or even the same leaf!
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Heavenly-Bamboo
Actually an evergreen shrub, not a bamboo, Nandina domestica produces bright red berries in autumn that persist through winter.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Malaysian-Orchid
Medinilla multiflora is commonly known as the Malaysian-orchid, though it is neither a true orchid nor native to Malaysia. Native to the Philippines, this species (like many orchids) is an epiphyte: an “air plant” that grows on top of other plants, rather than putting roots in the ground.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Oak-Leaved Hydrangea
In fall, the oak-shaped leaves of Hydrangea quercifolia produce vivid shades of purple, red, and gold.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Japanese Maple
One of the several maple cultivars in the Japanese Garden, Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum’ displays stunning fall color.
Photo: Brian Funk.
New England Aster
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 reach a height of up to five feet tall.
Photo: Alvina Lai.
Black Tupelo
A native tree found in wooded wetland areas, the black tupelo can tolerate a wide range of conditions, from standing water to dry, drought-ridden soils. Its brilliant red autumn foliage can be seen in the Water Garden, the Plant Family Collection, and at the Visitor Center.
Photo: Sarah Schmidt.
Maidenhair Tree
The maidenhair tree’s fan-shaped leaves turn from green to gold gradually, sometimes creating bands of color. They fall almost in unison, leaving a carpet of yellow leaves beneath the tree.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Japanese Maple ‘Lutescens’
One of the several maple cultivars in the Japanese Garden, Acer palmatum ‘Lutescens’ displays dazzling yellow color in fall. In Japan, such leaf colors inspire the tradition of momijigari, or autumn leaf viewing, in which foliage fans travel to gardens, parks, and into the mountains to admire the show.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Japanese Maple
The luminous fall color of Japanese maples light up the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden in autumn. Acer palmatum was long cultivated in Japan before its introduction to Europe in the 19th century.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Jessamine
The tubular, star-like flowers of this shrub give off a fragrant scent after sunset.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Tiger Orchid
This enormous tropical orchid weighs over 300 pounds and rarely blooms—but when it does, it’s magnificent, with hundreds of yellow-and-brown-spotted blossoms. Even in its native habitat in Southeast Asia, the species blooms infrequently, reportedly once every two to four years.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Golden Gardenia
Native to Thailand and Malaysia, this small tropical tree is distinctive for its pinwheel-shaped blooms.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Japanese Maple Bonsai
Japanese maples are a popular bonsai tree, known for their brilliant fall color and easy cultivation. The Bonsai Museum offers a colorful autumn display.
Photo: Sarah Schmidt.
Common Myrtle
This evergreen shrub produces fragrant white flowers that are followed by purplish-black berries. The berries are edible—but not particularly tasty.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Abelia ‘Rose Creek’
This flowering shrub belongs to the Caprifoliaceae, or honeysuckle family. Abelia species tend to be low-maintenance, with a bloom time that extends into fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Bird-of-Paradise
It’s hard to miss this iconic plant, whose flowers resemble a bright bird in flight. In its native South Africa, when endemic birds drink the nectar of Strelitzia reginae, its petals open to shower their feet with pollen.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Everblooming Cherry
Known to bloom for long periods in Japan, this rather small tree flowers off and on throughout mild winters. The flower buds are pale pink, opening to white flowers.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Crown-of-Thorns
Euphorbia milii is a shrub-like tropical succulent from Madagascar with large, dramatic spines on its stems and branches.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Green Hawthorn
Native to the southeastern United States, this pretty understory tree produces small orange-red fruits in the fall.
Photo: Lee Patrick.
Staghorn Sumac
Sumacs are among the first trees to change colors in fall. Staghorn sumac is a native species, and its vivid foliage can be seen lighting up roadsides and forest edges this time of year.
Photo: Alvina Lai.
Papyrus
This moisture-loving plant, native to central Africa and the Nile Valley, can grow up to 8 feet tall. The stems were used in ancient Egypt to make a material similar to paper called papyrus.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Chinese Juniper
Chinese juniper is an evergreen with scaly scented needles and brown bark that peels off in strips. Relatively salt-tolerant, it can thrive near roads and driveways.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Chalice Vine
These woody-stemmed climbers are known for their trumpet-shaped flowers. They produce a sweet fragrance, especially in the evening.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Virgin’s Bower
In autumn, the seedheads of this native clematis species resemble fluffy clouds.
Photo: Elizabeth Peters.
Hardy Blue-Flowered Leadwort
This versatile groundcover, native to China, has vivid blue flowers that appear later in the summer. Like many groundcovers, it spreads by sending out rhizomes, or horizontal underground stems.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
American Yellowwood
Planted in 1916, this tree is one of the Garden’s most remarkable. It has multiple trunks and sprawls to 75 feet in diameter. To preserve this century-old tree as long as possible, cables have been installed to support some of the sprawling limbs. It still flowers every few years and displays vivid fall color.
Photo: Sarah Schmidt.
Chrysanthemum ‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’
Chrysanthemums are a classic garden flower. Native to Asia and parts of Europe, they bloom through autumn.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Christmas-Rose
The first of the hellebores to bloom is the Christmas-rose, so-called because it blooms around Christmastime and has a flower arrangement that looks similar to that of a rose.
Photo: Lee Patrick.