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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Malabar Glory LilyकलिहारीGloriosa superbaFlame-red reflexed petals on a climbing lily — the state flower of Tamil Nadu.
Lemon Grass Palmarosaरोशा घासCymbopogon martiniiThe palmarosa of the Deccan, distilled for a rose-scented oil.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.Sichuan PepperतिमूरZanthoxylum armatumTimur — the numbing hill pepper of the eastern Himalaya, on a thorny shrub.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.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.BarleriaकटसरैयाBarleria prionitisA spiny yellow-flowered shrub of dry scrub, unbothered by heat or thin soil.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.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.