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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19 plants match your filters
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Tree Tomatoतमरिल्लोSolanum betaceumEgg-shaped tart fruit on a soft-wooded small tree of the eastern hills.Chow Chowइस्कुसSechium eduleThe squash that covers a whole roof in one season across the eastern hills.Job’s TearsगुरलुCoix lacryma-jobiHard glossy grain used as food, as beads and as a brewing grain in the hills.Proso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.
Blue Vandaनील ऑर्किडVanda coeruleaThe blue vanda of Meghalaya — tessellated flowers, and protected in the wild.
Lotus-leaf PennywortखुरखुरीHydrocotyle sibthorpioidesA tiny creeping mat for the wet edge of a tub — the softest possible ground cover.Shoe Flower HedgeजपाHibiscus syriacusA hardier deciduous hibiscus for the hills, flowering through the monsoon.Bottle BrushचीलCallistemon citrinusRed brushes of stamens on drooping branches; a hardy naturalised garden tree.
Bay Leaf Treeतेजपत्ताCinnamomum tamalaThe tejpatta of the sub-Himalayan tract — three-veined leaves, straight off the tree.PerillaसिलमPerilla frutescensSesame-like seeds used across the eastern Himalaya in chutney and oil.Sichuan PepperतिमूरZanthoxylum armatumTimur — the numbing hill pepper of the eastern Himalaya, on a thorny shrub.Assam TeaचायCamellia sinensis var. assamicaThe tea of the Brahmaputra valley — one bush on a balcony is enough for a pot.Indian Bay Leafतेजपत्ताCinnamomum tamalaThe tejpatta of north Indian cooking — a hill tree, not the Mediterranean bay.MulberryशहतूतMorus albaFruit in March, silkworm leaves all summer, and shade in between.KachnarकचनारBauhinia variegataOrchid-like flowers in February, and buds that go into the north-Indian kitchen.Amaranth GrainरामदानाAmaranthus cruentusGrown for seed rather than leaf; magenta heads over the whole monsoon.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.