Plants in Bloom
June highlights
Butterfly Weed
Butterfly weed attracts monarchs and other butterflies. Adults feed on nectar from the blossoms, while caterpillars munch on the leaves.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Dyers’ Tickseed
This annual boasts bright yellow and maroon flowers that bloom alongside wispy, lacelike foliage. A member of the Asteraceae, or daisy family, dyers’ tickseed attracts insect pollinators as well as granivorous birds.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Prickly-Pear
The prickly-pear is known for its defensive spines and eye-catching flowers—as well as its tasty fruit and pads, or nopales, which have long been an important food for people in Mexico and the Southwest.
Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.
Petunia
One of the most popular flowering annuals—and especially loved for their draping habit, well-suited to hanging baskets—petunia species can be found blooming around the Garden.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Pale Purple Coneflower
A member of the Asteraceae, or aster family, this native herbaceous perennial attracts butterflies and bees. Its genus name comes from “echinos,” the Greek word for hedgehog, in reference to its prickly seed head.
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.
Catmint ‘Six Hills Giant’
Species in the Nepeta genus are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Though not as compelling to cats as true catnip, this aromatic perennial species is still a feline magnet.
Photo: Alvina Lai.
Scotch Thistle
This spiny biennial, native to Europe and western Asia, can grow above six feet tall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Clematis ‘Roguchi’
Clematis species are excellent climbers, and popular perennial garden vines. This hybrid cultivar, developed in Japan by plant breeder Kazushige Ozawa, has bell-shaped purple flowers that bloom throughout the summer.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Shrub Rose
Thousands of rosebushes are cultivated in the Cranford Rose Garden, including wild species, old garden roses, hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, polyanthas, climbers, and ramblers.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Blue False Indigo
Native to eastern North America, this long-lived perennial attracts butterflies like the eastern-tailed blue (Cupido comyntas). Like other members of the pea family, Baptisia australis works with bacteria to pull nitrogen from the air and "fix" or transform it into usable form.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Floribunda Rose
Large, lush cup-shaped flowers adorn this floribunda shrub rose, which blooms repeatedly from early summer through fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Wild Strawberry
This ground-hugging native plant produces five-petaled white flowers and a sweet edible fruit.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Valerian
Native to Europe and Asia, valerian is often grown in medicinal herb gardens.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Southern Catalpa
The flowers of this native tree look pure white from a distance, but up close, the purple and gold nectar guides can be seen. These markings help draw in bees during the day. At night, months are attracted to the white color and strong fragrance.
Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.
Hybrid Wichurana Rose
Introduced in 1899, this large-flowered, creamy-yellow rambling rose was named after its very sweet fragrance.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Tulip Tree
The tulip tree, a member of the magnolia family, is one of the largest native trees in North America. Its vibrant yellow-orange flowers resemble tulips.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Shrub Rose
This lovely apricot-colored rose blooms in early summer and again later, usually along with the second flush of blooms in September.
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.
Hybrid Tea Rose
The original Peace rose was cultivated in France before World War II and was given its name in 1945 to signify hope for lasting peace. ‘Flaming Peace’ was bred in 1966 and is one of several Peace hybrids developed from the original.
Photo: Rebecca Bullene.
Queen-of-the-Prairie
The spectacular fuzzy pink flowers of this native prairie plant rise above surrounding plants. They have a light, lilac-like fragrance.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Japanese Hydrangea Vine ‘Moonlight’
This climbing vine has heart-shaped leaves and white flowers that bloom in early summer.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Large-Flowered Climber Rose
This hybrid wichurana rose boasts pale apricot-colored flowers blooming on canes that can measure 10 to 20 feet in length. You can find this climbing rose scrambling up the pavilion of the Rose Garden, framing one of the viewing windows.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Mountain Laurel
This native shrub produces exquisite clusters of delicate fused-petal blossoms.
Photo: Lee Patrick.
Milky Bellflower
Native to western Asia, this summer-blooming herbaceous perennial produces soft clusters of bell-shaped flowers. The specific epithet lactiflora is Latin for “milk-white flowers.”
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Common Foxglove
Native to western Europe, common foxglove is a perennial in the plantain family with striking tubular blooms.
Photo: Alvina Lai.
White Evening Primrose
You can find this evening primrose, with its gently nodding cup-shaped blossoms, in the Rock Garden near the edge of the pond. This herbaceous perennial is native to the grasslands of the midwest and southwest United States.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Shrub Rose
This lovely shrub rose hybrid blooms repeatedly starting in late spring through fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Dogwood ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’
Pointed white bracts adorn cascading branches on this long-blooming dogwood. Its flowers mature into berries in fall.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Tall Bearded Iris
This tall and distinctive perennial has large purple-blue flowers and blooms in late spring. Tufts of hairs on the sepals—the “beard” of a bearded iris—provide a landing spot for insect pollinators.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Dogwood [Venus]
This hybrid, which offers large blooms of white, iridescent bracts, was introduced by Rutgers University’s dogwood breeding program.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Avens ‘Totally Tangerine’
This sun-loving cultivar is related to strawberries, and produces colorful blooms in late spring through summer.
Photo: Michael Stewart.
Black Stem Bigleaf Hydrangea
The large, showy summer flowers of hydrangeas make them a popular garden plant. The bloom color of some species is influenced by soil pH. More acidic soil will produce bluer flowers, while more alkaline soil will produce pinker ones.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Sweetbay
This native magnolia species has creamy white flowers that bloom in late spring, sometimes into summer.
Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.
Ghent Azalea
One of a group of deciduous azaleas bred in Ghent, Belgium in the early 1800s, the ‘Raphael de Smet’ hybrid has lovely pink flowers that bloom in late spring.
Photo: Steven N. Severinghaus.
Bottlebrush Buckeye
The fluffy white flower clusters of this native shrub appear in summer and really do resemble their namesake.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Sundial Lupine
This blue-flowered native plant, which flourishes after fires, is the sole food source of the endangered Karner blue butterfly. It can sometimes be found along roadsides and under power lines, but is increasingly rare in much of its native range.
Photo: Blanca Begert.
Hybrid Spinosissima Rose
Thousands of rosebushes are cultivated in the Cranford Rose Garden, including wild species, old garden roses, hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, polyanthas, climbers, and ramblers.
Photo: Sarah Schmidt.
Plantain-Lily
Commonly known as hostas, plantain-lilies are shade-loving perennials. This cultivar generates bell-shaped lavender blooms in early summer.
Photo: Blanca Begert.