What’s in Bloom

Large, fragrant, tubular (foxglove-like) flowers, which are pale lavender to pinkish-purple with dark purple spots and creamy yellow stripes.

Featured Bloom

Princess Tree 

Paulownia tomentosa

This deciduous tree native to China, produces large, fragrant, panicles of lavender flowers in the spring.  The wood of this fast growing tree is highly prized and used to make furniture and musical instruments. Japanese craftsmen prize princess-tree wood for making the koto, a six-foot long, stringed instrument that is the national instrument of Japan. Kotos create music when the strings that bridge across the hollow body of the instrument, are plucked. The unique sound is distinctively energetic and reflective because of the resonance of the princess-tree wood.

See what’s in bloom … and enjoy the beauty of our Gardens.

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  • Deep rosy-red to pink bracts with white centers, providing a dramatic, contrasting display in early spring.

    Flowering Dogwood

    Cornus florida ′Cherokee Brave′

    Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Brave’ is a striking cultivar of the native flowering dogwood, a species indigenous to the eastern United States, where it naturally inhabits woodland edges and understories. Selected as part of a breeding program to improve disease resistance and ornamental qualities, ‘Cherokee Brave’ was named in honor of the Cherokee people, it was named to honor the Cherokee people and reflect its American heritage. This selection is especially valued for its deep rose-red bracts surrounding a cluster of small true flowers that attract a range of early-season pollinators, including native bees, small beetles, and butterflies. 

  • Masses of pendent, bell-shaped white flowers appear in spring before the leaves.

    Carolina Silverbell

    Halesia carolina

    Carolina silverbell is a deciduous tree native to the southeastern United States, best known for its delicate, bell-shaped white flowers that dangle in clusters like tiny lanterns in spring. Despite its dainty appearance, it’s a hardy tree that can tolerate a range of soils and grows well in partial shade, making it a favorite for woodland gardens. The flowers bloom before the leaves fully emerge, in early spring. After flowering, it produces distinctive four-winged seed pods that add interest through fall and winter. Carolina silverbell is also a magnet for pollinators, especially bees, and plays a quiet but important role in our native ecosystem. Though not as widely known as other flowering trees, it’s a hidden gem for gardeners who want something graceful, native, and just a little bit unusual.

  • Loose, flat clusters of fragrant, lavender to violet flowers at the top of wiry stems.

    Blue Phlox

    Phlox divaricata ′Blue Moon′

    Commonly known as woodland phlox or wild blue phlox, is a charming spring-flowering perennial native to eastern North America, including much of the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States. It naturally occurs in open woodlands, along stream banks, and in rich, humus soils where dappled light filters through the canopy. Growing in loose clumps, it produces softly fragrant, five-petaled flowers in shades of pale blue, lavender, or occasionally white, creating a gentle carpet of color in mid-spring. The species name divaricata, meaning “spreading” or “open,” reflects its airy, habit. Well adapted to woodland ecosystems, it plays a role in supporting early-season pollinators such as butterflies and native bees, while its semi-evergreen foliage helps stabilize soil and retain moisture in its native habitats. A must for every woodland garden!  

  • Large, glowing tangerine-orange flowers with a pale yellow base and dark anthers.

    Fosteriana Tulip

    Tulipa ′Orange Emperor′

    In Autumn, over 300,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and other bulbs are planted each year along the Flower Garden Walk and in the Idea Garden. We purchase these bulbs from Holland each October in preparation for Spring Blooms. 

  • Hoary Azalea

    Rhododendron canescens

    Rhododendron canescens is a deciduous shrub native to the southeastern United States, where it grows in open woodlands, stream banks, and moist slopes. Blooming in early spring, often before the leaves fully emerge, it produces shell-pink fragrant flowers with long, elegant stamens that attract pollinators such as native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Well adapted to its native habitat, it thrives in acidic, well-drained soils and dappled shade, making it a valuable and ecologically important choice for naturalistic landscapes.

  • Cucumber Magnolia

    Magnolia acuminata

    Magnolia acuminata is native to eastern North America, reaching its largest size in the southern Appalachian Mountains. It typically occurs in moist soils in wooded valleys, bluff bases and thickets along the river with other deciduous trees.  Its common name, cucumber magnolia, refers to the shape and color of the fruits when they are young. This magnolia produces slightly fragrant, tulip-like flowers. In color they are a mixture of glaucous green and yellow, but specific color forms can be found varying from a blue to a yellow.

  • Very tall, and wide spikes made up of small red flowers and long thin tentacle like leaves

    Tower-of-jewels

    Echium wildpretii

    Tower-of-jewels is native to the Canary Islands, specifically the island of Tenerife.  The seeds of this plant first came to Longwood in 1983 and it took extensive research on how to grow it until it was first displayed in the the Conservatory in 1991.  

  • Pineapple Guava

    Acca sellowiana

    Native from southern Brazil to northern Argentina, this large shrub with evergreen leaves has exotic flowers, and delicious fruits. About the size of an egg, the fruits taste somewhere between a pineapple and a guava, hence the common name, pineapple guava. Fruits may be eaten raw or whipped into a curd as is common in Brazil, but others prepare pineapple guava into ice creams, jams, compotes and baked goods. Unfortunately, ripe fruits bruise very easily and are usually not exported or shipped great distances, which likely explains their exotic identity.

  • Globular, densely white-spined cactus known for forming clusters and producing a ring of small, fragrant, rose-pink or white flowers

    Snowball Pincushion Cactus

    Mammillaria mystax 

    Mammillaria mystax is a small, clustering cactus native to central and southern Mexico, where it inhabits rocky, well-drained slopes and dry scrub habitats. The species is notable for its delicate ring of pink to pale magenta flowers that emerge near the crown, often forming a halo-like display in spring. Its name, mystax, meaning “mustache,” refers to the shaggy appearance created by its fine radial spines. In the wild, it often grows tucked among stones or in crevices, a strategy that helps buffer temperature extremes and conserve moisture, illustrating the subtle but effective survival strategies of desert plants.

  • Tall spikes, or racemes, covered in 10-30 nodding, conical, bell-shaped flowers that open greenish-white and mature to a soft ivory.

    Persian Lily

    Fritillaria meleagris 'Alba' 
  • Bicolor Triumph tulip known for its strawberry-pink petals that mature to fuchsia, accented by a white or pale green base.

    Triumph Tulip

    Tulipa 'Royal Ten' 

  • Dwarf Fothergilla

    Fothergilla gardenii

    Fothergilla gardenii, dwarf fothergilla

     

  • Yellow Trillium

    Trillium luteum

  • Florida Flame Azalea

    Rhododendron austrinum

  • Bleeding-heart

    Lamprocapnos spectabilis
  • Single, large, often bowl-shaped bright pink flowers with yellow stamens.

    Peony

    Paeonia daurica
  • Big, white flower cluster with small star-shaped flowers

    Lilac

    Syringa 'Krasavitza Moskvy' 

  • Solomon's-seal

    Polygonatum odoratum ′Variegatum′
  • Large, shrub covered in light purple flowers

    Gable Hybrid Azalea

    Rhododendron ′Purple Splendor′
  • Fragrant, small 4-petaled white flowers that bloom in dense, baby's breath-like panicles.

    Sea-kale

    Crambe maritima
  • Spikes of bluish-purple star-shaped flowers.

    Quamash

    Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii 

  • Golden Alexanders

    Zizia aurea

  • Foxglove

    Digitalis purpurea ′Dalmatian Peach′
  • Blooms are tubular to slightly flared, generally a rich violet to deep purple with a soft, luminous quality.

    Primulina

    Primulina 'Purple Moon' 

  • Throatwort

    Trachelium caeruleum ′Lake Michigan Purple′ (Lake Michigan Group)
  • Small white four petaled flowers growing in large clumps

    Bigleaf Hydrangea

    Hydrangea macrophylla ′Ayesha′ (Hortensia Group)

  • Canterbury-bells

    Campanula medium ′Champion Pro Deep Blue′

  • Ixia

    Ixia splendida

  • Cape Leadwort

    Plumbago auriculata ′Monott′ Royal Cape®
  • Evergreen bonsai species, valued for its deadwood and dense, deep-green foliage.

    Japanese Yew

    Taxus cuspidata
  • Brightly colored yellow, paddle-shaped inflorescences and long, often caulescent (trunk-forming) foliage.

    Goudaea

    Goudaea ospinae 
  • Large, fragrant, tubular (foxglove-like) flowers, which are pale lavender to pinkish-purple with dark purple spots and creamy yellow stripes.

    Princess Tree 

    Paulownia tomentosa

    This deciduous tree native to China, produces large, fragrant, panicles of lavender flowers in the spring.  The wood of this fast growing tree is highly prized and used to make furniture and musical instruments. Japanese craftsmen prize princess-tree wood for making the koto, a six-foot long, stringed instrument that is the national instrument of Japan. Kotos create music when the strings that bridge across the hollow body of the instrument, are plucked. The unique sound is distinctively energetic and reflective because of the resonance of the princess-tree wood.