Plants in Bloom

The trumpet shape and strong, sweet aroma of these supersized, pendulous blooms inspire the common name of this genus. Among the most toxic of ornamental plants, Brugmansia species are known only in cultivation and are presumed extinct in the wild.

Brugmansia sp. (angel’s trumpet) in the Fragrance Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Native to Eastern China and Japan, this deciduous shrub boasts fragrant star-shaped flowers in mid-summer 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.

Zinnia elegens ‘Queen Red Lime’ (Zinnia ‘Queen Red Lime’) in the Shakespeare Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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

Hibiscus syriacus 'Diana' (rose-of-Sharon). Photo: Alvina Lai.

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.

This native perennial can often be found in swamps and along streams. Its scarlet flowers attract bees and hummingbirds, but not cardinals. Like the bird, the cardinal flower gets its common name from the red robes worn by Catholic cardinals.

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

Native to Eastern and Central United States and Canada, these woodland wildflowers bloom from mid-summer 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.

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

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.

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.

This lovely shrub rose hybrid blooms repeatedly starting in late spring. Later it is among the fall blooms that contribute to the second flush.

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

The stunning 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 looking for fall food.

Tricyrtis ‘Tojen’ (Japanese toad-lily) in the Rose Arc Pool. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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

This later-blooming aster species has light-colored flower heads and leaves that are fragrant when crushed.

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘October Skies’ (‘October Skies’) in the Rose Arc Pool. Photo: Blanca Begert.

This white-flowered aster grows well in the shade. Here you can see how aster disc florets fade from yellow to red as they age. Bees visit the yellow-centered blooms, which contain more pollen and have not yet been pollinated, but the darker florets still help draw pollinators from afar.

Eurybia divaricata (white wood aster) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Like cardinal flower, a close relative, this native plant ins found in moist areas of the eastern United States and is a great addition to rain gardens.

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

Developed by famed English breeder David Austin, the ‘Pat Austin’ hybrid has an unusually bright and warm-toned color for a rose.

Rosa ‘Ausmum’ PAT AUSTIN (shrub rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

This lovely apricot-colored, repeat-blooming rose blooms in June and again later, usually along with the second flush of blossoms in September.

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

You’ll often find an insect pollinator visiting these cheerful herbaceous annuals, which are members of the Asteraceae, or daisy family. Its flower head consists of yellow disk flowers surrounded by bright red-orange ray flowers.

Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower) in the Osborne 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. New England aster grows tall, up to five feet.

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

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. See it in the Water Garden.

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

Jewelweed’s name comes from the fact that it expels excess water overnight, so that in the morning, its leaves are often covered with beads of water that look like diamond “jewels.”

Impatiens capensis (jewelweed) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (blue wood aster) in the Perennial Border. Photo: Elizabeth Peters.

The flowers of this native prairie species attract bumblebees and butterflies in summer. In winter, the seed cones provide food for goldfinches.

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

Achillea millefolium (yarrow) in the Herb Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Ageratina altissima (white snakeroot) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Rosa 'Pure Poetry' (floribunda rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Colchicum 'The Giant' (autumn crocus) in the Rock Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

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.

Raspberries ripen in the Children's Garden. Photo: BBG Staff.

Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum) in the Herb Garden. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Crossandra pungens (firecracker plant) in the Entry House. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Phragmipedium Rosy Charm (tropical lady slipper orchid) in the Aquatic House. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Crinum amabile 'Cuprifolium' (copper-leaved crinum lily) in the Entry House. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Plumbago auriculata (cape leadwort) in the Warm Temperate Pavilion. Photo: Michael Stewart.

Abutilon × hybridum (flowering-maple) in the Annual Border. Photo: Alvina Lai.

Brassica oleracea (kale) in the Shakespeare Garden. Photo: Elizabeth Peters.

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.

Rosa 'Meitebros' FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL (hybrid tea rose) in the Rose Garden. Photo: Jean-Marc Grambert.

Ceropegia sandersonii (umbrella flower) in the Desert Pavilion. Photo: Dave Allen.

Passiflora caerulea (passionflower) blooming on Lily Pool Terrace. Photo: Rebecca Bullene.

This tall, herbaceous perennial blooms from midsummer through early fall, and can grow up to six feet in height. Airy sprays of lavender-purple flowers and lacy blue-green foliage adorn this meadow rue, which is native to Korea and Japan.

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

This native grass once flourished in the prairies that covered the central United States and grew locally in the Hempstead Plains of Long Island. It can grow as high as eight feet and its spikelets turn from green to purple as it matures in the fall.

Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

Milkweeds are host plants to monarch butterflies, which can be seen flitting about them in the summer. The seedpods, which dry out during fall, are also filled with silky filaments that help carry the seeds far from the mother plant when the wind catches them.

Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) in the Native Flora Garden. Photo: Blanca Begert.

This late-summer bloomer with bright green heart-shaped leaves and 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.

Begonia grandis (hardy begonia) in the Bluebell Wood. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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.

Hylotelephium Autumn Joy = (Herbstfreude Group) ‘Herbstfreude’ (stonecrop [Autumn Joy] (stonecrop) in the Rock Garden. Photo: Michael Stewart.

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

Rosa Poseidon = ‘Korfriedhar’ (floribunda rose) in the Rose 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 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 Native Flora Garden and Perennial Border. Photo: Michael Stewart.