Real Plants that Look Like AI

We've all heard of things that sound too good to be true, and AI, or artificial intelligence, is making it even harder to know what's real and what's not. Now there's a trend toward flowers and foliage with unconventional colors, fantastical forms and unusal traits. While these plants may look unbelievable, many are already in garden centers or on their way. Some are new hybrids and others have been around, but they're finding more fans thanks to Pinterest boards on topics like surreal pastel plants and dreamlike gardens, as well as news from plant influencers and marketing trendspotters like Garden Media Group.

Echinacea 'Sweet Sandia' is a new, swoon-worthy coneflower with watermelon-pink flower centers, brown cones and a halo of pale green petals. Plant it in full sun for late summer and fall blooms, and expect pollinators like bees and butterflies. Hardy in USDA Gardening Zones 4 to 9, it grows to 2 feet tall and 16 inches across. Deadhead the faded flowers to encourage reblooming or let them set seeds to feed goldfinches, cardinals and blue jays.

Enormous, heart-shaped leaves with spectacular golden-yellow veins and stems make Yellow Elephant Ear 'Lutea' almost too good to be true. Native to Southeast Asia, the plants prefer bright, indirect light in homes and offices and can adapt to partial shade in gardens. They're low maintenance and make a bold statement if you've got room for them; they can grow 6 to 8 feet tall and 4 feet across. Be aware that they're toxic to animals and people and need frequent misting and warm temperatures to mimic their tropical homelands. You may find them called Golden Giant Taro or Upright Golden Elephant Ear. Pictured here: yellow elephant ears in the conservatory at the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Oceans are blue, skies are often blue and some insects are blue, like the Blue Morpho butterfly. But in gardens, blue is rare and hard to find. Researchers at the University of Adelaide say fewer than one in 10 plants have blue flowers or leaves. Pulmonaria NOVA 'Cobalt' is so stunning and unexpected, you'd think it was an AI creation. In spring, this nearly carefree perennial, hardy in Zones 4 to 9, forms mounds or clumps of dramatic, cobalt-blue flowers and pine-green leaves. Also known as lungworts, pulmonarias thrive in morning sun and afternoon shade or in full to partial shade. Give them moist, organically rich soil that drains easily. If they stay sufficiently moist, they can also tolerate full sun, but watch for scorched foliage.

Some plants look unreal because they mimic animals, other plants or even body parts; think Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis), which are perennials with dangling, heart-shaped blooms. One glance at Psychotria 'Hot Lips' (Psychotria poeppigiana), and you'd think this plant wears red lipstick and puckers up for kisses. The "puckers" are actually lip-shaped bracts around the inner flowers, which are small, white and fragrant. Psychotria isn't artificially generated; it's a real shrub that grows in the understory of tropical rainforests and blooms year-round. With acid soil, partial shade and modest amounts of fertilizer, it grows fast, reaching 2 to 3 feet tall. For best results, grow 'Hot Lips' in a solarium or heated greenhouse with high humidity. It demands soil that drains easily while retaining moisture, a bit of a tricky mix that you can duplicate with a good quality potting soil blended with vermiculite or peat moss. The plants are hardy to Zone 10.

There's a colorful coleus for every garden. These tropicals were popular in the Victorian Era, and they're still going strong, available in shades of red, orange, pink, green, purple and other colors. 'Marble Mania' boasts bright, bronze-gold foliage that looks as if it's been splashed with burgundy and red paint. Spikes of blue and purple flowers look almost artificial when they emerge in early summer. This novelty, new for 2025, stands up to high heat and humidity and flourishes in shade or sun. It's an annual, so frost ends the leafy show. Until then, 'Marble Mania' can grow 16 to 24 inches tall and wide.

Delphiniums come in white, blue, pink, white, red, violet and even yellow, which is uncommon. Now there's a new delphinium in town. You're not imaging things; 'Red Lark' has unique, coral-red flowers and tops out at 24 to 28 inches tall and 16 to 18 inches wide. Grow it in the sun in a cutting garden, the landscape or in beds and watch for the flowers, which may need staking, to open from spring into summer. Deer usually leave these plants alone — yes, that's real, too, although hungry deer will eat almost anything. The plants are hardy in Zones 5 to 8. Because 'Red Lark' is a sterile hybrid, it won't reseed like most larkspurs.

Commonly called pineapple flower or pineapple lily, Eucomis is a South African native that belongs, strange as it may seem, to the asparagus family. Eucomis comes from Greek words for "hair," a nod to the hairy bracts that sit like little crowns atop the flower spikes. Hardy in Zones 6 to 10, most Eucomis plants have pink, white or violet flowers, but 'Zulu Flame' is a new hybrid that could have been dreamed up in an AI lab. The tropical bulbs send up green-purple leaves and purple flowers that emerge from August to September and contrast beautifully with dark green or chartreuse plants. Keep this one happy with full sun to part shade and coarse, slightly acidic soil, and it will mature at 20 inches high and 24 inches wide in borders, beds, rock gardens and containers. The handsome, strappy leaves won't flop over.

'Arctic Fox Rose' foxgloves (Digitalis hybrida) are a gardener's dream come true. These new lovelies behave like true perennials and come back year after year, unlike biennial foxgloves that take two years to bloom and then set seeds and die. (There are some perennial foxgloves that bloom a little longer than two years, and even some annual types that bloom and die in a single growing season.) Hardy in Zones 5 to 9, 'Arctic Fox Rose' likes full sun and matures at 18 to 24 inches high and 16 to 18 inches wide. The tubular flowers are rosy pink with salmon and peach-colored throats and start opening in late spring.

Looking for a neutral color to make bold, bright flowers and foliage stand out? A new-for-2024 Centaurea variety, 'Silver Swirl', is the real deal, not an AI fake. This silvery-white perennial sets off plants in muted shades equally well. Also known as Snowflake Dusty Miller, the plants have wavy leaves that add texture and contrast to beds and borders or containers like this one, which is filled with 'Silver Scent' salvias, 'Belleza White' Gauras and Easy Wave white petunias. At 8 to 11 inches high and 11 to 14 inches wide, 'Silver Swirl' is hardy in Zones 6 to 9 and performs best when given full sun and dry, well-drained soil.

The first "sky" pattern in double petunias hit the market in 2024. What's a sky pattern? Look at the white specks that resemble glowing stars in a purplish, twilight sky. SweetSunshine Magenta Sky has trailing flowers that hold up nicely, even in bad weather, and open in spring, summer and fall. It's ideal for hanging baskets, growing 10 to 16 inches high and 20 to 30 inches across in full sun. Deadhead the finished flowers to encourage reblooming, and trim back the stems when they get leggy. The star-like pattern can change with the temperature; cool weather brings out more white spots while the purplish-red background deepens when it gets warmer. Watch for more stars to appear when the mercury drops in fall.

Coleus 'Solar Flare', from the appropriately named Volcanica Collection, brings the heat to gardens and containers. Use it in part sun or high shade to show off its nearly black and burgundy leaves with lava-red veins and ribs and bright gold margins. Coleus are native to tropical climates, so wait until outdoor temperatures stay above 60 degrees at night to plant them outside. Spikes of purple and blue flowers will emerge as the plants grow to 28 inches high and 34 inches wide, but pinch off the buds to keep 'Solar Flare' growing vigorously. This very real plant only looks fiery and fake.

With their stiff, papery petals, strawflowers like Bracteantha Mohave White almost look fake. These Australian natives behave like annuals in areas with hot summer weather and like perennials in Zones 8 to 11. They crave full sun and lots of water as they grow 14 to 16 inches high and wide, and form mounds of green leaves and big, brilliant white flowers with golden yellow centers from spring to fall. Add them to mixed containers or plant them in the landscape. Deer tend to leave these low maintenance plants alone, but butterflies adore them.

This plant doesn't really hail from the age of dinosaurs, but Jurassic Dino Black Sky Rex Begonia does look a bit like an AI creation. It's a spring-to-fall blooming hybrid with pink flowers and mounds of almost-black, twisted leaves with burgundy variations, silver polka dot spots and a rosy cast. Shade gardeners, this one's for you; give it deep shade outside. It also makes a great, compact houseplant for a spot that gets bright, indirect light. Avoid overwatering and let this dramatic begonia dry slighly between waterings. Plant this annual, which won't thrive if the temperatures falls below 60 degrees, in containers or gardens. It matures at 10 to 12 inches tall and 18 to 20 inches across.

Persian Carpet Flower (formerly Edithcolea grandis, now Ceropegia sordida) looks otherworldly, but it's a real member of the Milkweed family from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. With its symmetrical blossoms and 12-inch, trailing stems studded with spiky thorns, this succulent needs little care. It's named for the Persian rug-like pattern on its flowers. Once mature, it can bloom multiple times at any time of the year, but it must have bright, indirect light to some direct sunlight and well-draining soil that goes moderately dry between waterings. Use it in pots and hanging baskets; it's hardy to Zone 10. Other names for this plant include Starfish Flower, False Cactus and Carrion Flower (that's for the foul odor that attracts flies and other pollinators). Some gardeners say it resembles the Demogorgon monster on the Netflix series, Stranger Things.

SUNSTAR Rose is a new coreopsis with large, rose-pink flowers with creamy white tips and feathery green foliage. Hardy in Zones 6 to 10, these mounding plants have excellent resistance to mildew and perform best in full sun. Expect them to bloom for a long time, from about June into September, before they go dormant in winter. Enjoy them in masses, containers, wildflower meadows or mixed beds and borders, where they'll grow to 24 inches high and 30 inches wide. Also known as tickweed, this coreopsis needs average amounts of water and well-drained, average soil, so don't add fertilizer unless the soil is extremely poor. It's great for attracting bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

Old Man Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis) is covered in fuzzy hairs that shade it from the hot sun in its native desert or dry shrubland environment. The hairs also help it conserve moisture by blocking dry winds. Sometimes called Bunny Cactus or White Persian Cat Cactus, it's a tall, columnar succulent with spines that look like the fine, white hairs on an old man's head. This woolly wonder may look fake, but it's real and a popular houseplant that usually maxes out at 3 to 4 feet tall. If grown outdoors in fertile, well-drained soil and full sun, the stems can reach 16 to 40 feet high. It's hardy in Zones 9 to 11. Don't fret if you don't get flowers. Old Man Cactus can take 10 to 20 years to bloom or wait until it's over 15 feet tall. It's normal for the shaggy hairs to disappear as the stems age. Pictured here: plants at the U.S. Botanic Garden.

In spring and fall, Heuchera 'Delta Dawn' practically glows in the garden with clumps of big, round, gold and lime-colored leaves that feature showy red veins. Small, white flowers open above the foliage from early to late summer. Give the plants, sometimes called Coral Bells, a location that gets part to full shade and normal to acidic soil, and they'll grow vigorously to 8 inches high and 12 inches across. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9, the leaves of 'Delta Dawn' change color during the growing season, eventually turning solid lime green. Easy to grow and hardy in Zones 4 to 9, this is a good choice for borders, rock gardens, containers and beds.

No, Beehive Ginger (Zingiber spectabile) isn't AI-generated. These exotic red and yellow flower clusters that resemble honeycombs are popular in the cut flower trade. While the plants can grow to 6 to 8 feet tall with foot-long leaves in the garden, the flowers, which are actually modified leaves called bracts, emerge from the ground on short stalks, not above the foliage. In containers, the plants usually top out at 3 to 4 feet tall. Native to tropical Southeast Asia, Beehive Ginger is primarily used as an ornamental, but the entire plant smells like ginger and the leaves and rhizomes can be cooked and eaten. Give it medium to filtered sunlight; direct sun can burn the foliage. It does best in a humid climate or when grown in a solarium or greenhouse in cool regions. Hardy to Zones 9 to 11, these artificial-looking plants can't survive frost, but they're pretty tough otherwise and can crowd out other plants if not controlled.

Could AI generate the unusual colors of Elephant Ear 'Redemption' (Colocasia esculenta 'Redemption')? Yes, but why bother with fakery? These dramatic-looking tropicals are real and boast shiny, rippled, jet-black leaves with hot pink centers and veins. The colors become more intense when the temperatures rise. Grow this one by the pool, in a container or as an accent plant; it thrives in part sun and reaches 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. It's deciduous and hardy in only Zones 7 to 11, but you can bring indoors to enjoy as a houseplant.