Plant library
What can I grow now?
44 plants can be sown in August in Islands & the coast. Narrow it further by space, goal or region — or step through the months below.
Salt, wind and rain most of the year. Choose salt-tolerant species and plant a windbreak first.
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Areca PalmसुपारीAreca catechuThe slender betel-nut palm of the wet coasts, grown in dense shaded gardens.BananaकेलाMusa acuminataA single sucker in a corner gives shade, cooking leaves and, in time, fruit.Bilimbiबिलिम्बीAverrhoa bilimbiSour fruit straight off the trunk, in constant supply on the wet coasts.
Bird’s Nest Fernपक्षी घोंसला फर्नAsplenium nidusA rosette epiphyte that grows on a tree fork or a shaded wall bracket.Black Pepper Vineकाली मिर्चPiper nigrumThe vine that made the Malabar coast; needs a tree to climb and constant humidity.Breadfruitसीमा कटहलArtocarpus altilisBig lobed leaves and starchy fruit; a coastal tree of Kerala and the islands.CashewकाजूAnacardium occidentaleA coastal tree that fruits on poor laterite where almost nothing else does.CasuarinaसरूCasuarina equisetifoliaThe coastal shelterbelt tree of the east and south — fast and salt-proof.Ceylon Ironwoodपुन्नागMesua thwaitesiiA tall wet-evergreen tree of the southern Ghats, red-flushed in new leaf.
Chinese Hibiscusगुड़हलHibiscus rosa-sinensisFlowers nearly all year in a warm city, and sunbirds find it within a week.CinnamonदालचीनीCinnamomum verumCoppiced for its inner bark; the leaf is a spice in its own right.CoconutनारियलCocos nuciferaThe tree the coasts are built on — water, kernel, oil, thatch and shade.Copper Podपीला गुलमोहरPeltophorum pterocarpumYellow flower spires and copper seed pods; the summer partner to the gulmohar.Firecracker FlowerअबोलीCrossandra infundibuliformisThe abolí of southern flower markets — orange fans, picked daily.Giant Taroमान कचुAlocasia macrorrhizosEnormous upright leaves for a wet shaded corner — architecture rather than a crop.Grey MangroveअवीसीनियाAvicennia marinaThe pioneer mangrove of Indian coasts, first to colonise new mud.