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.
21 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
Malabar Glory LilyकलिहारीGloriosa superbaFlame-red reflexed petals on a climbing lily — the state flower of Tamil Nadu.Night JasmineहरसिंगारNyctanthes arbor-tristisWhite flowers with orange tubes that open at night and are on the ground by dawn.
Bay Leaf Treeतेजपत्ताCinnamomum tamalaThe tejpatta of the sub-Himalayan tract — three-veined leaves, straight off the tree.Neem-leaf Chaste Treeनिर्गुंडीVitex negundoA scrambling roadside shrub with palmate leaves and small blue flower spikes.
VetiverखसChrysopogon zizanioidesKhus — a grass whose roots hold a slope together and scent a summer room.Lemon Grass Wildजंगली लेमन घासCymbopogon flexuosusEast Indian lemongrass, distilled in the north-east for citral oil.LimeनींबूCitrus aurantiifoliaKagzi lime — the single most useful pot tree for an Indian household.PapayaपपीताCarica papayaFruit inside a year from seed — the fastest fruit a household can grow.Garlic Vineलहसुन बेलMansoa alliaceaPurple trumpet flushes twice a year, and leaves that smell of garlic when crushed.VincaसदाबहारCatharanthus roseusFlowers every day of the year and asks for nothing. Indigenous to the deccan.DrumstickसहजनMoringa oleiferaThe fastest useful tree there is — 3 m in a year, edible leaves and pods.
Curry Leafकढ़ी पत्ताMurraya koenigiiA small tree that lives happily in a deep pot and gives leaves all year.
Bitter GourdकरेलाMomordica charantiaA tough climber that fruits through the worst humidity of the year.Indian SarsaparillaअनंतमूलHemidesmus indicusA slender twiner of scrub and hedges, with fragrant roots and small dark flowers.NeemनीमAzadirachta indicaThe street tree of the plains; even a potted seedling supplies leaves for a pest spray.VasakaअडूसाJusticia adhatodaAn unfussy evergreen shrub with white throated flowers that carpenter bees work.
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