Table of Contents: Plants That Start With B
Welcome to your ultimate digital handbook for plants that start with B! Whether you are a dedicated indoor jungle collector hunting for a mesmerizing, metallic-leaved Begonia, a home chef eager to harvest armfuls of peppery Basil, or a landscape designer framing your garden paths with the crisp, architectural lines of Boxwood, this comprehensive alphabetical index has you covered. Explore unique scientific names, optimal growth categories, and quick care descriptions for the world’s most popular “B” plants to help you find the absolute best addition to your green space.
This curated list covers everything from ultra-hardy houseplants that can survive in dark corners to spectacular outdoor perennials that explode with color every spring. Sorting your garden goals alphabetically makes it incredibly easy to compare care requirements, find pet-friendly options, and discover new varieties you might have completely overlooked. Scroll down to dive into our full botanical checklist for plants that start with B and find your next green obsession.
Did you Know?
The magnificent, tropical Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) on this list of plants that start with B has a brilliant evolutionary trick! Its stunning orange and blue petals are structurally engineered to act as a sturdy perch specifically for sunbirds. When a bird lands on the flower to drink the sweet nectar, the petals automatically pop open under the bird’s weight to dust its feet with pollen, seamlessly carrying it to the next bloom.
Baby’s Breath
Scientific Name: Gypsophila paniculata
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Flowering Plants | Cut Flowers
Description: A staple of the floral industry, this plant produces an airy cloud of tiny, delicate white or pink blossoms on heavily branched stems. It thrives in full sun and well-draining, chalky soil, making it a reliable choice for borders and dried bouquets.
Bachelor’s Button
Scientific Name: Centaurea cyanus
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Annuals | Flowering Plants | Pollinator-Friendly
Description: Also known as Cornflower, this hardy annual features striking, intense true-blue ruffled blossoms. It reseeds itself eagerly year after year, offering effortless color to wildflower meadows while drawing in crowds of beneficial bees.
Basil
Scientific Name: Ocimum basilicum
Categories: Edible Plants | Herbs | Annuals | Warm Weather Favorites
Description: A highly prized culinary herb boasting lush, aromatic green leaves packed with sweet, peppery oils. It is essential for fresh pesto and Italian dishes, requiring plenty of hot summer sunshine and consistent moisture to prevent premature bolting.
Bearded Iris
Scientific Name: Iris germanica
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Bulbs & Rhizomes | Architectural Blooms
Description: Famous for its majestic, large flowers featuring drooping “falls” and upright “standards” with a fuzzy, beard-like strip down the center. It makes a bold architectural statement in sunny garden borders and returns reliably every spring.
Bee Balm (Monarda)
Scientific Name: Monarda
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Flowering Plants | Hummingbird Magnets
Description: A resilient native perennial featuring unique, ragged whorls of scarlet, pink, or purple blossoms. True to its name, its intensely fragrant foliage and nectar-rich flowers draw massive populations of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to the garden.
Begonia
Scientific Name: Begonia
Categories: Houseplants | Outdoor Plants | Foliage Plants | Shade Lovers
Description: An incredibly diverse genus celebrated for its striking asymmetrical leaves and continuous, colorful blooms. They adapt beautifully to shaded outdoor patio baskets or dim indoor shelves, preferring high humidity and slightly damp soil.
Bell Pepper
Scientific Name: Capsicum annuum
Categories: Edible Plants | Vegetables | Annuals | Sun Loving
Description: A popular summer vegetable garden plant that yields crisp, hollow, mild-tasting fruits. The peppers transition from green to vibrant shades of red, yellow, or orange as they sweeten on the vine under direct, intense daily sunlight.
Bellflower (Campanula)
Scientific Name: Campanula
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Ground Cover | Rock Gardens
Description: Loved for its charming, upturned bell-shaped blossoms in soft shades of lavender, blue, and white. It works beautifully cascading over stone retaining walls or filling gaps in sunny rock gardens, maintaining a neat and compact habit.
Bird of Paradise
Scientific Name: Strelitzia reginae
Categories: Houseplants | Tropical Plants | Statement Plants | Large Foliage
Description: A dramatic tropical showpiece named for its spectacular exotic blooms that resemble a colorful bird in flight. Even when not blooming indoors, its massive, glossy, banana-like leaves provide an instant architectural jungle aesthetic.
Bird’s Nest Fern
Scientific Name: Asplenium nidus
Categories: Houseplants | Foliage Plants | Low Light Plants | Pet-Friendly
Description: An epiphytic fern that grows in a tight, rosette form resembling a clutch of bird eggs. Its glossy, apple-green fronds feature unique crinkled edges, thriving in low-light environments with high humidity like a bright bathroom window.
Black-Eyed Susan
Scientific Name: Rudbeckia fulgida
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Wildflowers | Drought Tolerant
Description: A cheerful, ultra-tough wildflower featuring bright golden-yellow petals surrounding a dark brown central seed cone. It stands highly resilient against summer heat and drought, providing a massive splash of late-summer garden color.
Bleeding Heart
Scientific Name: Lamprocapnos spectabilis
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Shade Lovers | Spring Ephemerals
Description: A classic woodland garden perennial that features arching, elegant stems lined with dangling, heart-shaped pink and white flowers. It thrives in cool, moist, fully shaded spots, putting on a spectacular show before going dormant in mid-summer.
Blazing Star (Liatris)
Scientific Name: Liatris spicata
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Perennials | Native Plants | Cut Flowers
Description: A striking native plant that sends up unique, vertical feather-like spikes of purple or white fuzzy flowers. Unlike most spiked plants, it blooms from the top down, adding excellent structural height to sunny borders and cottage gardens.
Bloodleaf (Iresine)
Scientific Name: Iresine herbstii
Categories: Houseplants | Foliage Plants | Tropical Plants | Colorful Accents
Description: Highly sought after for its intense, glowing crimson leaves and contrasting pink stems. It requires bright, filtered light and high humidity to preserve its deep red saturation, working perfectly as an indoor accent plant.
Blue Star Fern
Scientific Name: Phlebodium aureum
Categories: Houseplants | Foliage Plants | Easy Care | Low Light Plants
Description: An exceptionally hardy fern displaying unique, multi-lobed fronds with a distinct silvery, blue-green matte finish. It is much less demanding than traditional ferns, adapting easily to average indoor humidity and indirect light.
Blueberry Bush
Scientific Name: Vaccinium corymbosum
Categories: Edible Plants | Trees & Shrubs | Perennials | Acid-Loving Plants
Description: A multi-functional landscape shrub that yields sweet, antioxidant-rich summer berries. It features delicate white spring flowers and turns a brilliant, fiery red in the autumn, requiring rich, highly acidic soil to produce a heavy harvest.
Boston Fern
Scientific Name: Nephrolepis exalta
Categories: Houseplants | Foliage Plants | Hanging Baskets | Air Purifiers
Description: A timeless houseplant favorite characterized by its exploding arching mass of delicate, feather-like green fronds. It filters indoor air exceptionally well and looks best in hanging baskets where its weeping foliage has space to cascade.
Bougainvillea
Scientific Name: Bougainvillea
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Vines & Climbers | Perennials | Drought Tolerant
Description: A woody tropical vine renowned for its massive, blindingly bright displays of magenta, red, or orange papery flower bracts. It loves intense heat and full sun, climbing aggressively over arbors, fences, and courtyard walls.
Boxwood
Scientific Name: Buxus
Categories: Outdoor Plants | Trees & Shrubs | Evergreens | Privacy Screening
Description: The ultimate classic hedging shrub, dense with small, rounded, leathery evergreen leaves. It handles severe shearing and creative topiary shaping beautifully, making it the industry standard for formal garden borders and walkways.
Bromeliad
Scientific Name: Bromeliaceae
Categories: Houseplants | Tropical Plants | Epiphytes | Long-Lasting Blooms
Description: A stunning exotic epiphyte featuring a central cup of stiff, architectural leaves from which a vibrant, long-lasting neon flower spike emerges. It absorbs moisture through its central leaf reservoir, thriving on bright windowsills with minimal soil care.
Thank you for visiting our page (Plants that Start with B). We hope our alphabetical guide helped you discover some incredible new plants that start with B to add to your collection. Whether you are potting up a new houseplant or planning your outdoor garden layout, be sure to bookmark this directory as we continue to update it with more botanical varieties and expert care tips. Happy planting!
References (Citations)
Expand
USDA PLANTS Database: This federal archive managed by the United States Department of Agriculture provides the standardized scientific names, native ranges, and biological traits for all listed plants.
NCSU Plant Toolbox: This comprehensive agricultural database hosted by the North Carolina State University Extension verifies specific growing categories, landscape uses, and structural descriptions.
University of Florida IFAS Extension: This academic database hosts data verifying water-wicking leaf reservoirs, epiphytic roots, and blooming mechanics for tropical indoor plants and landscaping shrubs.