What’s in Bloom

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘Raydon’s Favorite’, is a standout late-season bloomer that brings a splash of vibrant lavender-blue flowers to the fall garden. Native to the central and eastern U.S., this tough, drought-tolerant perennial forms a tidy, bushy mound and blooms profusely from late summer into frost, providing crucial nectar for pollinators when few other flowers remain. The foliage lives up to its name—crush a leaf, and you’ll notice a pleasant, minty aroma. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ is often praised for its long bloom time, resistance to mildew, and ability to thrive in poor or rocky soils. It performs best in full sun and well-drained soil, and makes a beautiful, low-maintenance addition to native plant gardens, borders, or naturalized areas. Bonus: it's also deer-resistant!

Capsicum annuum 'Midnight Fire' is a striking ornamental pepper cultivar celebrated for its deep purple foliage and vibrant, multicolored fruit. Native to Central and South America, Capsicum belongs to the Solanaceae (nightshade) family and includes both ornamental and edible varieties of pepper plants. 'Midnight Fire' produces small, upright peppers that transition from deep purple to orange and finally bright red, creating a fiery contrast against the dark leaves. While the fruits are edible, they are intensely hot and primarily valued for their decorative appeal. Compact and bushy, this variety thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, making it ideal for containers, borders, and garden accents.  Enjoy the variety of cultivars are on display throughout the gardens!

Solidago rugosa is a native perennial that forms loose spreading clumps of arching, hairy stems. Growing from creeping rhizomes, the general height of this plant is six feet tall and grows in wet soils, open woodlands, thickets, old fields, bogs, and along roadsides. The conditions best for this plant are full sun with average well drained soil. The golden yellow flower heads are held in loose panicle-like arrays. Its adaptability and the fact that it is not as aggressive as other goldenrods make it a great native plant for perennial borders and gardens. 'Fireworks' was selected for its shorter growth habit and heavier flowering. When in bloom the open flowers resemble fireworks. This cultivar reaches only about three feet in height.

Growing to a height of three to four feet, white snakeroot is a fibrously rooted, native perennial that can be found in forests, thickets, and woodland margins. This plant can take full sun to part shade and prefers moist, rich conditions. The wonderful white flowers that occur late in the season, when flowers such as these are hard to come by, make it a wonderful addition to the garden.

Rudbeckia hirta is an annual or short-lived perennial that has an upright habit and can grow up to three feet tall. It grows naturally in fields, meadows, home gardens and along roadsides in ordinary, well-drained soil and full sun.  Like other plants in the aster family, gloriosa daisy's flowers have dark brown centers comprised of many disc florets and yellow-orange "petals" which are ray florets.  These cheerful flowers bloom the entire summer while providing nectar to bees, butterflies and other insects. Later in the year, birds will enjoy its seeds.

Dahlias, which offer late season blooms, come in many colors, shapes, and sizes, and because of their variety, can be incorporated into many garden landscapes. They also make excellent cut flowers. Native from Mexico to Colombia, dahlias grow naturally in frost-free climates. They grow from tubers, which should be planted in the spring when there is little chance of frost and dug up and stored before winter. Look for Dahlias in bloom on the Flower Garden Walk and Idea Garden. 

Native to southern Mexico and Central America where it grows in tropical evergreen and mixed pine-oak forests as an epiphyte, this amazing orchid, known as the lined petal prosthechea, is common in the wild as well as cultivation.  The flowers are what make this plant unique, and you don ’t even need to see them to realize this fact. They are overwhelmingly fragrant, and fill our Orchid House with a spicy floral and sweet scent.

With flowers full of autumnal colors, the firewheel-tree blooms are a perfect reminder that autumn is on its way.  The individual florets are orange with yellow tips and are arranged circularly in each inflorescence, or flower cluster. It's an evergreen tree that can reach upwards of 100' tall in its native Australia. The leaves have an oak-like shape and lend an attractive appearance even when the tree isn't in flower. It's in the protea family and is commonly used as an ornamental tree in mild climates.

The Victoria ‘Longwood Hybrid’ is a giant waterlily developed in the 1960s at Longwood Gardens by horticulturist Patrick Nutt, who crossed Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana to create what would surpass its parents in vigor, flower, leaf size, and cold-tolerance. The genus Victoria was named in honor of Queen Victoria during the 19th century, when the plant’s discovery in the Amazon captivated Europe with its enormous floating leaves and dramatic, night-blooming flowers. The hybrid continues that legacy with massive blooms that open white on the first night, releasing a sweet, pineapple-like fragrance to attract scarab beetles, then reopen pink on the second night. Since the beetles are native to the Amazon, Longwood staff must hand-pollinate the flowers to ensure seed production and maintain the collection. The ‘Longwood Hybrid’ remains a living tribute to botanical innovation and the era that first celebrated its wonder.

The name Helianthus comes from the Greek words helios, meaning "sun" and anthos, meaning "flower."  The flowers, which are comprised of yellow ray and small disc florets, attract bees and later in the fall and winter, birds will eat the seeds. Sunflowers are heliotropic, meaning they follow the sun throughout the day. Colonialists introduced the plant to Europe during the 16th Century, where it proved popular as both a food and decoration.