Explore Plants
Indian plants documented for the way people actually garden — filter by what you want the plant to do, the space you have, the month you can sow and the region you are in. The result count below is live.
Use the filters on the plant archive to narrow by goal, growing space and season. Every record carries a Hindi name, a botanical name, a care note and the months in which to sow.
15 plants match your filters Answer three questions on the home page — your region, your space and your goal — and we will name two plants to sow this month.Filters3 on
Indian Horse ChestnutपांगरAesculus indicaBig palmate leaves and white flower candles in the western Himalayan valleys.Wild ApricotचुलीPrunus armeniacaThe chuli of Ladakh and Kinnaur — blossom in April, fruit and kernel oil by July.
Himalayan CherryपदमPrunus cerasoidesPink blossom in November, out of season by every other measure — the hill wild cherry.ChinarचिनारPlatanus orientalisThe plane tree of Kashmir, planted for four centuries and unmistakable in autumn.RhododendronबुरांशRhododendron arboreumBuransh — scarlet trusses across the mid-Himalaya in March.DeodarदेवदारCedrus deodaraThe Himalayan cedar — a slow, magnificent, cold-climate conifer.PomegranateअनारPunica granatumHandsome, thorny and productive on poor dry soil; good in a big pot.Chinese Hat Plantटोपी फूलHolmskioldia sanguineaA sub-Himalayan scrambler with brick-red bracts through the cool months.Golden Shower VineसोनबेलPyrostegia venustaCurtains of orange through the cool months on a big pergola.SunflowerसूरजमुखीHelianthus annuusA fortnight of spectacle and then a head of seed the birds will take.VincaसदाबहारCatharanthus roseusFlowers every day of the year and asks for nothing. Indigenous to the deccan.
MarigoldगेंदाTagetes erectaCompanion-planting workhorse: keeps nematodes down and feeds bees all season.ChameliचमेलीJasminum grandiflorumThe Spanish jasmine of the perfume trade, grown widely in the north and west.
RatanjotरतनजोतAlkanna tinctoriaA dry-hill root used to colour oil a deep red; slight above ground, tough below.
KalonjiकलौंजीNigella sativaFine blue-white flowers over ferny leaves, then the black seed of the spice box.
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