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Plant Highlights

Expand your plant knowledge by searching our database of Duke Gardens plant highlights. 

New plant highlights are added regularly, so we encourage you to visit again if you do not find the information you desire today.

Evergreen needles of Duke Gardens plum yew.
Cephalotaxis harringtonia
'Duke Gardens'
A row of dwarf boxwood plants in a formal garden.
Buxus microphylla
‘Little Missy’
A conical bunch of small white flowers on a tree branch, with deep green leaves and more flowers higher on the branch. Background is deep green in soft focus.
Lagerstroemia
‘Natchez’
Close-up of a yellow acorn squash growing on a metal arbor, with green vines and leaves around it.
Cucurbita pepo
Close-up of Algerian iris flower.
Iris unguicularis
A female ruby-throated hummingbird perches on an anise-scented sage plant in flower.
Salvia guarantica
About a dozen coral pink azalea flowers in a close-up with a soft-focus background.
Rhododendron
Azure Bluets
Houstonia caerula
A trained weeping bald cypress over a staircase.
Taxodium distichum
‘Cascade Falls’
Pink hydrangea flower clusters.
Hydrangea macrophylla
Close-up of a blackberry lily flower with a soft focus background.
Iris domestica (syn. Belamcanda chinesis)
Close-up of four white bloodroot flowers with yellow centers, amid brown pine straw and fallen brown leaves.
Sanguinaria canadensis
Yellow flowers of Brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
Purple flowers of cardoon, with trees and a garden path in the distance.
Cynara cardunculus
Leafy foliage of cast iron plant.
Aspidistra elatior
Close-up of multi-toned pink rhododendron flowers with green leaves and a green soft-focus background.
Rhododendron catawbiense
Low-growing clumps of Cherokee sedge in a woodland setting.
Carex cherokeensis
Green China fir foliage with yellow pollen catkins at the tips.
Cunninghamia lanceolata
Bright yellow Chinese dogwood flowers on a bare branch.
Cornus officinalis
Pink Chinese fringe flower in bloom.
Loropetalum chinense
A Gothic-style wooden garden pergola with tall brown-toned ornamental grasses growing in the foreground.
Miscanthus sinensis
White peony flowers
Paeonia
‘Dojean’
Windmill Palm
Trachycarpus fortunei
Five medium green fern plants with brown leaves and pine straw in the background.
Polystichum acrostichoides
Three large pink chrysanthemum flowers in front of a small pond and waterfall, with trees in the background.
Chrysanthemum
Close-up of a purple climbing aster flower.
Ampelaster carolinianus
Coast redwood foliage and developing cones.
Sequoia sempervirens
Red coral honeysuckle flowers
Lonicera sempervirens
Tangled corkscrew hazel branches
Corylus avellana
'Contorta'
Close-up of three pink cosmos flowers and one bud, with more pink and orange flowers in soft focus behind them.
Cosmos bipinnate
Creeping fig on Duke stone
Ficus pumila
Close-up of a white-petaled lily flower with red stamen, and a soft-focus dark green background.
Crinum asiaticum
Close-up of three yellow daffodil flowers with orange centers, and deep green leaves below.
Narcissus
Trunk of dawn redwood tree in a grassy lawn.
Metasequioa glyptostroboides
Close-up of white cherry blossoms and pink buds, with more blossoms in soft focus in the background.
Prunus × yedoensis
'Akebono'
Daylily - Primal Scream
Hemerocallis
‘Primal Scream’
Close-up of a delicate bright yellow flower with green speckled leaves, surrounded by brown leaves and pine straw.
Erythronium umbilicatum
Close-up of delicate white and pink flowers, with twisting branches in a soft-focus background.
Prunus incisa
‘Kojo-no-mai’
Bicolor needles of dwarf tigertail spruce.
Picea
‘Howell’s Dwarf’
Eastern redbud flowers.
Cercis candensis
Close-up of a purple eggplant with green leaves behind it.
Solanum melongena
Lavender plants in bloom next adjacent to a stone wall
Lavandula × intermedia
Phenomenal™ 'Niko' PP24193
Open meadow full of epimedium in bloom
Epimedium
'Amber Queen'
Close-up of pink Epimedium flowers
Epimedium sutchuenense
Flowering dogwood blooms.
Cornus florida
Close-up of snowdrop flowers in a woodland setting.
Galanthus elwesii
Yellow ginkgo foliage in a woodland setting.
Ginkgo biloba
Golden larch branches in autumn
Pseudolarix amabilis
Close-up of delicate yellow flowers on a shrub, with green leaves and more shrubs in the background.
Solidago
Close-up of a large red hibiscus flower with purple leaves, and green leaves in the background.
Hibiscus
A bee sits on pale green leaves with tiny white flowers at the center, and more leaves and flowers in the background.
Pycanthemum incanum
Hosta Victory
Hosta
'Victory'
Extreme close-up of medium pink toned flower petals with deeper pink striations.
Helleborus × hybridus
Close-up of two blooming hyacinth plants, each with groups of white flowers on it and deep green leaves, with woodchips and shrubs in the background.
Hyacinthus orientalis
A Japanese black pine in a Japanese garden.
Pinus thunbergii
Extreme close-up of a deep red flower with dark green leaves.
Camellia japonica
‘Professor Charles Sargent’
Close-up of red and orange toned leaves of a Japanese maple tree.
Acer palmatum
Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum
Japanese Maple (Moonrise)
Acer palmatum
'Moonrise'
Acer palmatum
'Beni otake'
Rolled needles of Korean fir.
Abies koreana
'Silberlocke'
A close-up of a shrub with dark green shiny leaves and red berries.
Ilex rotunda
Heart-shaped foliage of leopard plants beside a flowing stream.
Farfugium japonicum
Purple Loebner magnolia flower with a soft focus background.
Magnolia × loebneri
Close-up of a pink and white lotus flower with a yellow center, and ferns and other leafy plants surrounding it.
Nelumbo nucifera
Close-up of a pink and white lotus flower with a yellow center and a bee collecting pollen.
Nelumbo nucifera
Okra flower and foliage.
Abelmoschus esculentus
Three fist-sized orange pumpkins growing on a metal trellis with green, leafy vines.
Cucurbita pepo
‘Wee-B Little’
Close-up of orange flowers with large green leaves.
Osmanthus fragrans
'Auranticus'
Close-up of orange flowers with delicate, stringy petals, on a slim branch with a soft focus background that includes more of the same flowers.
Hamamelis vernalis
Close-up o a trio of yellow flowers with green centers on a slim brown stem, with more flowers in soft-focus in the background.
Edgeworthia chrysantha
Yellow flowers of partridge pea
Chamaecrista fasciculata
Pauline Lily
Cercis canadensis
Close-up of a Persian ironwood flower cluster with a soft focus background.
Parrotia persica
Two images of pink banana flowers and fruit.
Musa velutina
A bridge with arches and ferns in the side metalwork, and a shrub in the foreground with orange flowers
Rhododendron prunifolium
Close-up of a red spider lily in bloom.
Lycoris radiata
Close-up of delicate river oat grasses with a soft-focus background.
Chasmanthium latifolium
Blue rosemary flowers and foliage.
Salvia rosmarinus (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Close-up of pale peach roses with a patio and fountain in the distance.
Rosa
‘Reve d’Or’
Purple magnolia flowers breaking bud
Magnolia × soulangeana
'Alexandrina'
Pink seashore mallow flowers
Kosteletzkya virginica
Partially folded leaves of a sensitive plant, with a stone wall in the background.
Mimosa pudica
close-up of two white camellia flowers with red centers, surrounded by leaves.
Stewartia malacodendron
A close-up of white hydrangea flowers in partial bloom, with a green soft-focus background.
Hydrangea radiata
Close-up image of the cream and pale green flowers of oakleaf hydrangea.
Hydrangea quercifolia
‘Brido’
Close-up of a white magnolia flower with yellow carpals and stamens.
Magnolia grandiflora
Close-up of a branch of a shrub with dark green leaves and deep blue-purple berries.
Morella cerifera
Close-up of a deep pink flower with willowy pteals and narrow green leaves.
Rhododendron linearifolium
Five white flowers and another five buds on slim branches with a soft-focus deep green background.
Magnolia stellata
‘Royal Star’
Purple Tatarian aster flowers in bloom
Aster tataricus
Jindai
Close-up of a white tea camellia flower on a leafy branch
Camellia sinensis
White dogwood flowers with bright green leaves.
Cornus kousa
'Lustgarten'
Close-up of pink weeping peach flowers.
Prunus persica
'Crimson Cascade'
A bumblebee on weeping rostrinucula flowers.
Rostrinucula dependens
Close-up of delicate white flowers with pale yellow stamens and green leaves in the background.
Hedychium coronarium
Pink, white and green pitcher plants amid grasses in a garden
Sarracenia leucophylla
Delicate yellow flowers on a slim branch with a soft-focus background.
Corlyopsis willmottiae
Variegated winter daphne leaves and flowers.
Daphne odora
Eight delicate yellow flowers on a pair of slim branches with a blue sky in the background.
Chimonanthus praecox
Woodland pinkroot flowers
Spigelia marilandica
Close-up of coral colored zinnia flowers with a pollinator house and more flowers and green plants in the background.
Zinnia elegans

Questions about plants at Duke Gardens?

Please contact us at gardens@duke.edu