Explore Longwood Gardens

Bred in 1902, Rambler Rose 'American Pillar' is a historic heirloom famous for its vigorous growth and dramatic midsummer display. This rugged rose effortlessly climbs 15 to 25 feet high, using thick canes to scale arches, pergolas, and trees. Though it blooms only once a year, it explodes with dense clusters of up to three dozen single, five-petaled blossoms. Each flower features a striking carmine-pink hue accented by a white center eye and bright golden stamens, a look that made it a sensation during the Edwardian era. After the summer show, it provides a brilliant autumn encore by producing a heavy harvest of bright red decorative hips that feed local songbirds through winter. Arches of the climbing rose, Rosa ‘American Pillar’, welcome visitors to the Gardens

Epiphyllum oxypetalum, famously known as the orchid cactus or Queesn of the Night, is an extraordinary epiphytic cactus that trades daytime show for an intense, nocturnal spectacle! Native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, it earns its common name because it grows anchored to rainforest trees rather than in soil like an orchid, while producing immense, intricate blossoms that rival the exotic beauty of the orchid family. The plant's true claim to fame is its massive, ten-inch white blooms that open after dark, and wither before sunrise. To rapidly attract nocturnal pollinators like moths, during this brief window, the expanding flower releases an intoxicatingly sweet perfume powerful enough to fill an entire garden space. You can see view our specimen on display in the Silver Garden.