Complete Plant Guide

Medium 💧 14 days ☀️ Direct sun

Cannabis sativa is a fast-growing annual plant in the family Cannabaceae, native to Central and South Asia. It is one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants, grown for thousands of years for fiber, food, oil, and medicine. The plant features palmate leaves with serrated leaflets, hollow stems, and produces small greenish-yellow flowers. It is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers occur on separate plants. Cannabis sativa grows vigorously in warm, sunny conditions and can reach up to 2.5 meters in height within a single growing season.

686

Caper Bush

Capparis spinosa

Capparis spinosa, the Caper Bush, is a drought-tolerant Mediterranean shrub prized for its edible flower buds — capers — widely used in European and Mediterranean cuisine. It produces striking white flowers with pink to purple stamens, blooming in spring and summer. The plant thrives in poor, rocky, well-drained soils and requires very little maintenance once established.

687

Shepherd's Purse

Capsella bursa-pastoris

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Direct sun

Capsella bursa-pastoris, commonly known as Shepherd's Purse, is a fast-growing annual weed in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to eastern Europe and Asia Minor but now naturalized worldwide. It is easily recognized by its distinctive heart-shaped (triangular) seed pods that resemble the pouches historically carried by shepherds. The plant produces a basal rosette of lobed leaves and erect stems bearing clusters of tiny white flowers. It thrives in disturbed ground, roadsides, gardens, and agricultural fields.

688

Peppers & Chili Peppers

Capsicum

Easy 💧 3 days ☀️ Direct sun

Capsicum is a genus of warm-season, frost-tender flowering plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), native to tropical Central and South America and cultivated worldwide for their edible fruits. The genus spans everything from mild sweet peppers and bell peppers to fiery hot chilies like jalapeno, habanero, and ghost pepper - all sharing the same basic growth habit: a bushy, woody-based shrub or subshrub with simple oval leaves, star-shaped white (occasionally purple) flowers, and hollow, seed-filled fruits that ripen from green through yellow, orange, red, or purple. Grown as annuals in temperate climates and as short-lived perennials in the tropics, peppers thrive with full sun, warm days, consistently moist well-draining soil, and protection from frost.

689

Chili pepper

Capsicum annuum

Capsicum annuum is an extremely versatile species that includes everything from sweet bell peppers to spicy peppers like Jalapeño and Cayenne. It is a perennial shrubby plant in tropical climates but is often grown as an annual in cooler regions. Its flowers are small and white, giving rise to fruits that vary drastically in color, size, and capsaicin level.

690

Aji Amarillo Pepper

Capsicum baccatum

Medium 💧 7 days ☀️ Direct sun

Capsicum baccatum, commonly known as aji amarillo, is a South American chili pepper native to Peru and Bolivia. It produces elongated yellow-orange fruits with a fruity flavor and moderate heat, belonging to the Solanaceae family. It can be grown in containers or directly in garden beds and is prized both for culinary use and ornamental appeal.

691

Habanero Pepper

Capsicum chinense

Capsicum chinense is the species that unites the world's most iconic hot peppers — Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper), and the mild Brazilian Biquinho pepper. Native to the tropical Americas, it has been cultivated by indigenous peoples for millennia. The species produces fruits with very high concentrations of capsaicin, ranging from mild (like Biquinho and Aji Dulce) to world-record hot (Carolina Reaper, over 2 million SHU). It is a robust, ornamental plant with exceptional culinary and medicinal value.

692

Tabasco Pepper

Capsicum frutescens

Easy 💧 14 days ☀️ Direct sun

Capsicum frutescens, commonly known as the Tabasco Pepper or Bird's Eye Pepper, is a species of chili pepper in the Solanaceae family, native to tropical Americas. This iconic hot pepper species produces small, extremely pungent fruits that ripen from green to bright red. It includes famous cultivars such as Tabasco and Malagueta, and is distinct from the more common Capsicum annuum. Prized worldwide for its intense heat and fruity flavor, it is a cornerstone of hot sauces and spicy cuisines globally.

693

Woolly senecio

Caputia tomentosa

Caputia tomentosa, better known by its old name Senecio haworthii, is a small succulent shrub from the Cape Provinces of South Africa, where it grows on dry slopes between about 900 and 1200 m. Its fleshy, cylindrical leaves spiral up the stems and are covered in a dense white felt, which gives the plant its silvery look and the name cocoon plant. The felt is so thick it can be peeled off; in Afrikaans the plant is called tontelbos, "tinder bush", because the dried felt was used as tinder. It stays compact, usually 10 to 30 cm tall. In summer it may produce small yellow-orange disc flowers, but in cultivation it rarely blooms. It holds the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

694

Bittercress

Cardamine

Cardamine is a large genus of herbs in the mustard family Brassicaceae, comprising over 200 annual and perennial species distributed across temperate and cool regions worldwide. Notable species include C. pratensis (cuckoo flower / lady's smock) and C. hirsuta (hairy bittercress). These low-maintenance plants are valued in wildflower gardens, moist borders, and as ground cover.

695

Hairy Bittercress

Cardamine hirsuta

Easy 💧 3 days ☀️ Low light

Cardamine hirsuta, commonly known as hairy bittercress, is a small, fast-growing annual (occasionally biennial) herb in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Native to Europe, Asia and parts of Africa, it now grows almost worldwide as a common garden weed, favoring moist, disturbed soil in beds, containers and pavement cracks. It forms a low rosette of pinnately compound leaves and sends up slender flowering stems topped with tiny four-petaled white flowers. Its slender seed pods (siliques) ripen explosively, catapulting seeds several feet to spread the plant quickly. Despite its weedy reputation, the young leaves are edible and prized for a peppery, cress-like flavor similar to watercress or arugula.

696

Nursery bittercress

Cardamine occulta

Cardamine occulta, commonly called nursery or hidden bittercress, is a small annual weed in the mustard family (Brassicaceae) native to East and South Asia. It is best known as a persistent hitchhiker weed in nursery container stock, thriving in the moist, shaded, nutrient-rich conditions of greenhouses and irrigated pots. The plant forms a low rosette of pinnately divided leaves and sends up slender branching stems topped with tiny four-petaled white flowers, followed by narrow seed pods (siliques) that explode open at the slightest touch, flinging seeds well away from the parent plant.

697

Thistle

Carduus

Easy 💧 10 days ☀️ Direct sun

Carduus is a genus in the family Asteraceae comprising around 90 species of spiny thistles, commonly known as "plumeless thistles" because they lack the feathery pappus found in the related genus Cirsium. Native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, many species have naturalized as ruderal or invasive weeds elsewhere, including North America and Australia. This profile describes the genus generally; traits such as height, bloom time and cold hardiness vary among species (e.g., C. nutans, C. acanthoides, C. crispus).

698

Musk Thistle

Carduus nutans

Easy 💧 12 days ☀️ Direct sun

Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) is a biennial weed native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, now widely naturalized and declared a noxious invasive species across North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In its first year it forms a low, spiny rosette of deeply lobed, grey-green leaves with wavy white margins. In its second year it bolts to 30–170 cm (occasionally up to 270 cm), producing branched, spine-winged stems topped with large, solitary, nodding flowerheads 3–6 cm across in shades of reddish-purple to violet — giving the plant its "nodding" character. Flowers emit a sweet musk-like fragrance that attracts bees, butterflies, and hoverflies in abundance. A single plant can produce up to 20,000 seeds that remain viable in soil for up to 20 years, making it an aggressive colonizer of pastures, roadsides, disturbed ground, and waste areas. Despite its invasive reputation, it has a long history of limited edible and medicinal use in its native range.

699

Sedge

Carex

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Partial shade

Carex is a vast genus of sedges in the family Cyperaceae, comprising over 2,000 species worldwide. Widely grown as ornamental grasses for their graceful, arching foliage in borders, containers, and water gardens.

700

Eastern Woodland Sedge

Carex blanda

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Low light

Carex blanda is a delicate native sedge from eastern North America, prized as a graceful shade groundcover. It forms soft, arching mounds of light green semi-evergreen foliage up to 50 cm tall and 60 cm wide. Exceptionally adaptable, it thrives in clay, loam, or rocky soils across a wide pH range, making it a top choice for woodland gardens, rain gardens, and low-maintenance landscapes.

701

Japanese Sedge

Carex morrowii

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Low light

Carex morrowii, commonly known as Japanese Sedge or Morrow's Sedge, is an evergreen ornamental grass-like perennial native to Japan. It forms graceful, arching clumps of narrow, often variegated leaves that add texture and movement to shaded gardens. Exceptionally shade-tolerant and low-maintenance, it thrives under trees, in borders, and in containers.

702

Bird's-foot Sedge

Carex ornithopoda

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Partial shade

Carex ornithopoda, commonly called bird's-foot sedge, is a small, slow-growing, evergreen perennial sedge native to Europe and Anatolia. It forms neat, compact tufts of narrow leaves and produces brownish flower spikes resembling a bird's claw in mid-to-late spring. Popular as a low-maintenance edging, ground cover, or rock garden plant.

703

Japanese Sedge

Carex oshimensis

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Partial shade

Carex oshimensis, commonly known as Japanese sedge, is an evergreen, clump-forming ornamental grass-like perennial in the sedge family (Cyperaceae), native to the woodlands and rocky slopes of Honshu Island, Japan, particularly the Izu Oshima region from which its species name derives. In cultivation, it is best known through its popular variegated cultivar 'Evergold', prized for narrow, arching leaves striped with a bright creamy-yellow center band bordered by fine dark-green margins. Forming low, fountain-like mounds roughly 30 cm tall and 45 cm wide, it spreads slowly via short rhizomes and produces inconspicuous brown flower spikes in spring. Thriving in part shade to filtered sun, where its variegation stays richest, and in consistently moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, Carex oshimensis is prized by gardeners for its low-maintenance, four-season structure. It works beautifully as edging, in mixed containers, along woodland borders, or as a bright groundcover beneath larger shrubs and trees, tolerating occasional drought once established but never thriving in full shade or standing water.

704

Evergold Sedge

Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'

Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' is a perennial ornamental grass native to Japan, appreciated worldwide for its narrow, variegated foliage featuring golden-yellow centers and dark green margins. Forming compact, arching clumps up to 12 inches (30 cm) tall, this grass-like plant is evergreen, maintaining its visual appeal throughout the year. It is extremely versatile—ideal for borders, groundcover, containers, and Asian-style or contemporary gardens. Deer-resistant, salt-tolerant, and very low-maintenance, it is one of the most reliable ornamental plants for temperate gardens and indoor environments with indirect light.

705

Pendulous Sedge

Carex pendula

Easy 💧 3 days ☀️ Partial shade

Pendulous sedge is a vigorous, evergreen perennial in the Cyperaceae family, native across western, central and southern Europe. It forms large arching clumps of dark green, pleated, grass-like foliage, above which tall stems carry several slender, drooping flower spikes from spring into summer. A tough, adaptable plant, it is a favourite for bog gardens, pond margins and damp shaded borders where few other plants thrive.

706

Papaya

Carica papaya

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Direct sun

Papaya (Carica papaya) is a fast-growing tropical fruit tree native to Central America and Mexico. One of the most widely cultivated tropical fruits in the world, it can begin bearing fruit within 4–8 months of planting. Its large, deeply lobed leaves, creamy-white flowers, and sweet orange fruits make it a striking presence in tropical and subtropical gardens.

707

Pink Jequitibá

Cariniana legalis

Hard 💧 7 days ☀️ Direct sun

The Pink Jequitibá (Cariniana legalis) is one of the largest and longest-lived trees native to the Atlantic Forest, capable of exceeding 40-50 meters in height and 7 meters in trunk diameter when mature. An emergent and climax species, it occurs in humid lowlands and slopes of rainforests and semi-deciduous forests, where some individuals exceed 1,000 years of age. It has a straight trunk, thick and deeply furrowed bark, a wide semi-deciduous canopy, and creamy-white flowers gathered in terminal panicles between December and February. Its fruits are woody pyxidia (capsules with a lid) that open to release winged seeds, dispersed by wind and monkeys. It is considered a keystone species for the restoration of native forests and is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to historical logging and habitat loss.

708

Natal Plum

Carissa macrocarpa

Easy 💧 10 days ☀️ Direct sun

Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa) is an evergreen shrub native to the coastal regions of South Africa. It produces fragrant, star-shaped white flowers and edible red berries resembling small plums. Widely used in landscaping for its exceptional tolerance to salt spray, wind, and drought, along with its glossy dark green foliage.

709

Acanthus-leaved carline thistle

Carlina acanthifolia

The Acanthus-leaved carline thistle (Carlina acanthifolia) is a stemless perennial native to European mountains, forming a rosette of large, spiny, pinnatifid leaves pressed against the ground. Its large solitary flower head, which can reach 15 cm in diameter, features pale golden-yellow inner bracts that act as a natural hygrometer: they close when bad weather approaches and open in dry weather, earning it the nickname 'barometer thistle.' A protected species in France, it is typical of dry limestone grasslands, rocky areas, and mountain meadows up to 1,800 meters in altitude.

710

Panama hat plant

Carludovica palmata

Medium 💧 3 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Carludovica palmata, popularly known as the Panama hat plant or toquilla palm, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Cyclanthaceae family, native to the tropical rainforests stretching from southern Mexico to Bolivia. Despite its palm-like appearance, it does not belong to that family: it lacks a woody trunk and grows in clumps from a short or underground stem, with large fan-shaped leaves that can reach up to 1 meter in width and a total height between 1.5 and 4 meters. Its flowers, grouped in a spadix, are cream or whitish in tone, and its ripe fruits acquire orange or reddish hues. It is world-famous because the fibers extracted from its young leaves are hand-woven to create traditional jipijapa hats, erroneously called "Panama hats."

711

Fukien Tea Tree

Carmona retusa

Carmona retusa, commonly known as the Fukien Tea Tree, is a tropical evergreen shrub highly valued in the art of bonsai. It features small, glossy dark green leaves with a slightly rough texture due to fine hairs. It produces delicate white flowers that can appear year-round in warm climates, followed by small, decorative red berries.

712

Saguaro

Carnegiea gigantea

Hard 💧 21 days ☀️ Direct sun

The Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) is the largest cactus in North America, native to the Sonoran Desert of the United States and Mexico. Recognizable by its towering height of up to 60 feet (18 m) and iconic branching arms, it is the symbol of the American Southwest and the state of Arizona. Saguaro grows extremely slowly — only about 1–1.5 inches per year — and can live for over 200 years.

713

Carpentaria palm

Carpentaria acuminata

Medium 💧 7 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Carpentaria acuminata is a solitary palm with a slender, ringed trunk, native to the gallery forests and swamps of northern Australia, in the Carpentaria Gulf region. It can reach 10 to 20 meters in height, with dark green pinnate leaves on the upper side and bluish-green on the underside, and produces pendulous inflorescences with creamy-white flowers followed by showy red fruits.

714

European Hornbeam

Carpinus betulus

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Bright indirect

The European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is a hardy deciduous tree native to Europe and parts of western Asia, prized for its dense, fine-textured foliage and smooth, fluted grey bark. It responds exceptionally well to clipping, which is why it is one of the most popular species for formal hedges and topiary, and its small leaves and compact root system also make it a favorite subject for bonsai.

715

Ice plant

Carpobrotus

Carpobrotus is a genus of 12 to 20 creeping succulents in the family Aizoaceae, native to South Africa, southern Australia and coastal Chile. The stems run along the ground and form dense mats of fleshy, three-angled leaves. The large, daisy-like flowers come in pink, magenta, purple or yellow and appear from spring into summer. The name comes from Greek for "edible fruit": the fleshy fruits taste sour and salty. In Mediterranean climates such as California and the coasts of southern Europe, some species have escaped gardens and become invasive on sand dunes.

716

Sally-my-handsome

Carpobrotus acinaciformis

Carpobrotus acinaciformis is a fast-growing, mat-forming succulent native to the coastal dunes of South Africa. It produces spectacular magenta flowers up to 15 cm wide and features thick, sickle-shaped leaves. Widely used as ground cover in coastal and Mediterranean gardens.

717

Hottentot Fig

Carpobrotus edulis