What’s Beautiful This Season

Below are some plants that are especially interesting or typically in bloom this season at Duke Gardens.

Every year unfolds differently, depending on seasonal weather conditions. For an idea of plants you may wish to seek out this week, please download our “What’s Beautiful Now” map.

What's Beautiful Now Map

Fall Highlights

Evergreen needles of Duke Gardens plum yew.

‘Duke Gardens’ Plum Yew

Cephalotaxis harringtonia
'Duke Gardens'

A row of dwarf boxwood plants in a formal garden.

‘Little Missy’ Boxwood

Buxus microphylla
‘Little Missy’

20 long, white bell-shaped flowers hang down from leafy stems in a garden.

Angel’s Trumpet

Brugmansia

A female ruby-throated hummingbird perches on an anise-scented sage plant in flower.

Anise-Scented Sage

Salvia guarantica

A trained weeping bald cypress over a staircase.

Bald Cypress (Weeping)

Taxodium distichum
‘Cascade Falls’

Leafy foliage of cast iron plant.

Cast Iron Plant

Aspidistra elatior

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

A Gothic-style wooden garden pergola with tall brown-toned ornamental grasses growing in the foreground.

Chinese Silver Grass

Miscanthus sinensis

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

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

Trunk of dawn redwood tree in a grassy lawn.

Metasequioa glyptostroboides

Bicolor needles of dwarf tigertail spruce.

Dwarf Tigertail Spruce

Picea
‘Howell’s Dwarf’

Close-up of brown and purple toned grasses.

Pennisetum

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 dozen pale purple-pink flowers, with pine straw and brown leaves in the background.

Cyclamen

Pink Japanese anemone flower with a background in soft focus.

Japanese (Chinese) Anemone

Anemone hupehensis

A Japanese black pine in a Japanese garden.

Japanese Black Pine

Pinus thunbergii

Close-up of red and orange toned leaves of a Japanese maple tree.

Acer palmatum

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

Close-up of a pink and white lotus flower with a yellow center and a bee collecting pollen.

Nelumbo nucifera

Close-up of a pink and white lotus flower with a yellow center, and ferns and other leafy plants surrounding it.

Nelumbo nucifera

Three fist-sized orange pumpkins growing on a metal trellis with green, leafy vines.

Ornamental Pumpkin

Cucurbita pepo
‘Wee-B Little’

Close-up of orange flowers with large green leaves.

Osmanthus ‘Auranticus’

Osmanthus fragrans
'Auranticus'

Two images of pink banana flowers and fruit.

Musa velutina

Water plants in a pond

Powdery Alligator-Flag

Thalia dealbata

Close-up of a red spider lily in bloom.

Red Spider Lily

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 pink and cream flowers with an orange butterfly on it.

Sedum

Partially folded leaves of a sensitive plant, with a stone wall in the background.

Sensitive Plant

Mimosa pudica

Close-up of a branch of a shrub with dark green leaves and deep blue-purple berries.

Southern Wax Myrtle

Morella cerifera

Purple Tatarian aster flowers in bloom

Aster tataricus
Jindai

Close-up of a white tea camellia flower on a leafy branch

Camellia sinensis

A bumblebee on weeping rostrinucula flowers.

Weeping Rostrinucula

Rostrinucula dependens

Close-up of delicate white flowers with pale yellow stamens and green leaves in the background.

White ginger lily

Hedychium coronarium

Expand your plant knowledge by checking out our Garden Talk series, searching our plant highlights and following us on social media.

Questions about what’s beautiful this season?

Please contact us at 919-684-3698 or gardens@duke.edu.