Plant library
Explore Plants
Filter by what you want to grow, the space you have and the season you are in.
Filters3 on
70 plants match your filters
Clear all filters
Proso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.RiceधानOryza sativaHalf the country’s calories — and a bucket of it on a terrace teaches more than any book.Water Spinachकलमी सागIpomoea aquaticaGrows on water or wet mud and crops every fortnight through the monsoon.TaroअरबीColocasia esculentaBig heart leaves on a wet corner; the corm below and the leaf above both go to the…
Water Chestnutसिंघाड़ाTrapa natansSinghara — a floating annual grown in ponds and tanks across the north and east.Indian Water FernअजोलाAzolla pinnataA floating fern that fixes nitrogen — fertiliser and fodder that grows itself.
Sabjaसब्जाOcimum basilicum (seed type)Grown for the seed that swells in falooda and summer sherbets.Sugarcaneगन्नाSaccharum officinarumA few canes in a corner give juice, gur and a green screen by October.
ApricotखुबानीPrunus armeniacaLadakh and Himachal fruit — blossom in March, fruit in June, dried for winter.Indian Bay Leafतेजपत्ताCinnamomum tamalaThe tejpatta of north Indian cooking — a hill tree, not the Mediterranean bay.
KarondaकरौंदाCarissa carandasA thorny hedge shrub that gives pickling fruit and keeps animals out.PhalsaफालसाGrewia asiaticaSmall sour-sweet berries in May, from a shrub that shrugs off a Delhi summer.MulberryशहतूतMorus albaFruit in March, silkworm leaves all summer, and shade in between.FigअंजीरFicus caricaTwo crops a year in the west, and content in a large container.PomegranateअनारPunica granatumHandsome, thorny and productive on poor dry soil; good in a big pot.LimeनींबूCitrus aurantiifoliaKagzi lime — the single most useful pot tree for an Indian household.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.