Plants in Bloom
September highlights
Harlequin Glory-Bower
Native to Eastern China and Japan, this deciduous shrub boasts 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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Big Bluestem
Native to the eastern two-thirds of the United States, this grass was especially common in the prairies that thrived in the central region of North America prior to European colonization. It can grow as tall as eight feet, and its spikelets change from green to purple as it matures in the fall.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Gray Goldenrod
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.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Shrub Rose
This lovely apricot-colored rose blooms in June and again later, usually along with the second flush of blooms in September.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
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 grow up to five feet tall.
Photo: Alvina Lai.
Aromatic Aster
This later-blooming aster species has violet-colored flower heads and leaves that are fragrant when crushed. Bees and butterflies feed on its nectar.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Cardinal Flower
This native perennial can often be found in swamps and along streams. Its scarlet flowers attract bees and hummingbirds (but not cardinals!).
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Bluebeard
Most people don’t notice this unassuming shrub earlier in the year. Then, just as other flowers fade, bluebeard’s cheerful blossoms appear. Look for them in late summer and early fall in the Water Garden.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Blackberry-Lily
In late summer, the flowers of this short-lived perennial mature to clusters of round seeds that resemble blackberries.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Blue Wood Aster
These tough and adaptable asters can thrive in disturbed sites, and grow well in sun or shade.
Photo: Elizabeth Peters.
Swamp Milkweed
Milkweeds are host plants to monarch butterflies, which can be seen flitting around them in the summer. The seedpods, which dry out during fall, are filled with silky filaments that help carry the seeds far from the mother plant when the wind catches them.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Japanese Anemone ‘September Sprite’
Lovely anemones first bloom in late summer and continue through fall, attracting pollinators when many sources of pollen and nectar have gone to seed.
Photo: Lee Patrick.
Hardy Blue-Flowered Leadwort
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Rose-of-Sharon
This deciduous shrub is, despite its common name, not a rose; it belongs to the hibiscus family.
Photo: Alvina Lai.
Willowleaf Sunflower
This perennial species, native to the prairies of western Missouri, attracts butterflies and other pollinators.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Hardy Hibiscus ‘Lord Baltimore’
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Japanese Toad-Lily
The beautiful little flowers of this shade-loving plant look a bit like orchids and persist through October and even into November. They attract bees and other pollinators.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
River Oats ‘River Mist’
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Lotus
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Forest Sunflower
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Brown-Eyed Susan
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
White Wood Aster
This white-flowered aster grows well in the shade. Aster disc florets fade from yellow to red as they age. Bees visit the yellow-centered blooms, which contain more pollen, but the darker florets still help draw pollinators from afar.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Spotted Bee Balm
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Black-Eyed Susan
This native wildflower blooms from summer into early fall and attracts butterflies and bees of all kinds.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Hardy Begonia
This late-summer bloomer with dangling clusters of delicately fragrant pink flowers is a perennial species that survives Brooklyn winters. See an expansive understory carpet blossoming in Bluebell Wood in late September.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Black Huckleberry
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Shrub Rose
This lovely shrub rose hybrid blooms repeatedly starting in late spring through fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Great Blue Lobelia
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.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Nodding Pond Cypress
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Cosmos
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Tree Datura
Also called angel's trumpet, this genus is known for its trumpet shape and supersized, pendulous blooms. Among the most toxic of ornamental plants, Brugmansia species are known only in cultivation and are presumed extinct in the wild.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Cape Leadwort
Native to South Africa, this evergreen shrub blooms in gently rounded clusters.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Hybrid Tea Rose Frederic Mistral
A classic hybrid tea rose with a large, single bloom at the end of a long stem and a sweet fragrance, this pink cultivar was named after the Nobel Prize-winning French poet.
Photo: Jean-Marc Grambert.
Bat-Leaf Passionflower
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.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Meadow-Rue
Airy sprays of lavender-purple flowers and lacy blue-green foliage adorn this tall, herbaceous perennial, which blooms from midsummer through early fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Stonecrop [Autumn Joy]
Stonecrops, or sedums, are a genus of succulents with an exceptionally varied array of flowers, foliage, and habits. ‘Autumn Joy’ is an upright, fall-blooming cultivar in bloom now in the Rock Garden, Perennial Border, and elsewhere.
Photo: Michael Stewart.