Plant library
Explore Plants
Filter by what you want to grow, the space you have and the season you are in.
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Job’s TearsगुरलुCoix lacryma-jobiHard glossy grain used as food, as beads and as a brewing grain in the hills.Proso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.
Blue Vandaनील ऑर्किडVanda coeruleaThe blue vanda of Meghalaya — tessellated flowers, and protected in the wild.
Lotus-leaf PennywortखुरखुरीHydrocotyle sibthorpioidesA tiny creeping mat for the wet edge of a tub — the softest possible ground cover.
RingalरिंगालDrepanostachyum falcatumThe slender hill bamboo of Uttarakhand, cut for baskets and matting.AlderउतीसAlnus nepalensisA nitrogen-fixing pioneer of Himalayan landslides and north-eastern jhum fallows.Bottle BrushचीलCallistemon citrinusRed brushes of stamens on drooping branches; a hardy naturalised garden tree.Wild Mangoवन आमMangifera sylvaticaThe forest ancestor of the orchard mango, still fruiting in eastern hill forest.Indian MahoganyटूनToona ciliataA tall hill-forest tree with pinnate leaves and scented pink-tinged timber.CheuraचिउराAesandra butyraceaThe Himalayan butter tree, giving cooking fat and an enormous honey flow.Bamboo Shoot Speciesबांस करीलDendrocalamus hamiltoniiThe north-eastern shoot bamboo — fermented shoots are a regional staple.SoapnutरीठाSapindus mukorossiReetha — the washing fruit of the sub-Himalayan tract, from a good shade tree.Indian Butter TreeचिउरीDiploknema butyraceaA sub-Himalayan tree giving edible fat and enormous quantities of nectar.SheeshamशीशमDalbergia sissooThe timber tree of the north Indian plain, nitrogen-fixing and fast.MulberryशहतूतMorus albaFruit in March, silkworm leaves all summer, and shade in between.KachnarकचनारBauhinia variegataOrchid-like flowers in February, and buds that go into the north-Indian kitchen.Not sure where to start?
Answer three questions on the home page — your region, your space and your goal — and we will name two plants to sow this month.
How the library is organised
By regionEach entry notes where the plant grows well across India, from the Gangetic plain to coastal soils.
By seasonSowing windows for every month, so you never plant a winter green in May.
By spaceWindowsill, balcony, terrace or ground — filtered so you only see what will survive with you.
Checked by a botanistNames and facts are reviewed before publication; traditional uses are labelled as traditional.