Flowers

The Awe-Inspiring Wildlife Drawings of Shaikh Zain ud-Din

An 18th-century album of India’s flora and fauna showcases the startling work of an overlooked master

December 2019

New Research

Sunlight-Tracking Polymer, Inspired by Sunflowers, Could Maximize Solar Power

The SunBOTS bend toward light source and could help solar cells capture more direct sunlight all day long

November 6, 2019

Women Who Shaped History

The Pioneering Female Botanist Who Sweetened a Nation and Saved a Valley

One of India’s finest plant scientists, Janaki Ammal spurred her country to protect its rich tropical diversity

July 31, 2019

Rivers of Flowers Burst Into Bloom in Holland

Keukenhof Garden displays millions of brightly colored spring bulbs

May 3, 2019

New Research

Allergy Season Is Getting Longer and Nastier Each Year

An extended and intensified allergy season is one of the most visible effects of climate change

April 9, 2019

Trending Today

Superbloom Turns Southern California City Into a #Poppynightmare

Lake Elsinore has seen tens of thousands of people descend on Walker Canyon to see the recent superbloom, overwhelming local resources

March 19, 2019

Trending Today

Flooding Creates a 10-Mile-Long Lake in Death Valley

The rare ephemeral lake was caused when the compacted, dry desert soil wasn’t able to absorb the .87 inches of rain that recently fell on the national park

March 13, 2019

Trending Today

Southern California Will Soon See Another Booming Superbloom

If the rain keeps up, the deserts and burn scars will soon explode with acres of colorful poppies, lupines, lilies and other ephemeral flowers

February 11, 2019

New Research

Flowers Sweeten Up When They Sense Bees Buzzing

A new study suggests plants can ‘hear’ the humming of nearby pollinators and increase their sugar content in response

January 18, 2019

Cool Finds

Restored Mughal Gardens Bloom Once More Along Agra’s Riverfront

Two of the 44 original historic gardens and structures have been rescued in an ambitious conservation project

January 15, 2019

Cool Finds

Could These Fossils Push Back the History of Flowers?

A study analyzing 200 tiny flowers from 174 million years ago suggests angiosperms were around during the Jurassic, but paleobotanists are skeptical

January 2, 2019

New Research

Genome Reveals When Opium Poppy Became a Painkiller

A combination of two genes over 7.8 million years ago was the first step to producing morphine and other narcotic compounds

September 4, 2018

See Georgia O’Keeffe’s Little-Known Hawaii Paintings Blossom Next to Real Plants

The show at the New York Botanical Gardens features 300 Hawaiian plant types

May 30, 2018

How to Protect Your Local Pollinators in Ten Easy Ways

As the first annual World Bee Day looms, insect and garden lovers are abuzz with excitement

May 17, 2018

This Friday, You Can Visit More Than 150 of the Best Gardens in the U.S. for Free

Celebrate National Public Gardens Day May 11

May 10, 2018

Europe

This Stunning Memorial to Britain’s WWI Soldiers Makes Its Final Appearance

The wave of brilliant red flowers marks the end of a centennial of commemorations of the Great War

April 19, 2018

Take a Last Look at Washington, D.C.’s Cherry Blossoms (Photos)

See them while you can

April 13, 2018

Cherry Blossom Forecast Update: When Will Washington, D.C. Reach Peak Bloom?

Updated: March 23, 2018 | Originally Published: March 9, 2018

How Flowers Manipulate Light to Send Secret Signals to Bees

Come-hither blue haloes are just one of the effects employed by nature’s first nanotechnologists

October 19, 2017

There Never Was a Real Tulip Fever

A new movie sets its doomed entrepreneurs amidst 17th-century “tulipmania”—but historians of the phenomenon have their own bubble to burst

September 18, 2017