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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Resurrection FernसंजीवनीSelaginella bryopterisThe sanjeevani of the rocks — curls up bone dry, then greens again in an hour of rain.
Nut GrassनागरमोथाCyperus rotundusThe world’s most stubborn weed, and an aromatic tuber used for centuries.
Night JasmineहरसिंगारNyctanthes arbor-tristisWhite flowers with orange tubes that open at night and are on the ground by dawn.
Hill Gooseberryकिलमोड़ाBerberis asiaticaA thorny yellow-wooded Himalayan shrub with blue berries and traditional root use.
Neem-leaf Chaste Treeनिर्गुंडीVitex negundoA scrambling roadside shrub with palmate leaves and small blue flower spikes.
Madderमंजिष्ठाRubia cordifoliaA scrambling hill plant whose root gives a lasting red dye.
SoapnutरीठाSapindus mukorossiReetha — the washing fruit of the sub-Himalayan tract, from a good shade tree.
VetiverखसChrysopogon zizanioidesKhus — a grass whose roots hold a slope together and scent a summer room.
Arjunअर्जुनTerminalia arjunaA riverbank giant with pale bark — a campus or park tree, not a pot.
JamunजामुनSyzygium cuminiPurple fruit in June and dense evergreen shade for the rest of the year.
Indian GooseberryआमलाPhyllanthus emblicaFeathery-leaved and drought-hardy; one grafted tree feeds a household in winter.
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.
BarleriaकटसरैयाBarleria prionitisA spiny yellow-flowered shrub of dry scrub, unbothered by heat or thin soil.
VincaसदाबहारCatharanthus roseusFlowers every day of the year and asks for nothing. Indigenous to the deccan.
Ginger Lilyकपूर कचरीHedychium spicatumA Himalayan ginger relative with scented white flowers and aromatic rhizomes.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.