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.
19 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
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.
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