Comprehensive Plant Database
Search and filter by soil pH, sunlight, functional traits, ecology, and safety, covering every plant type.
| Name | Scientific | Family | Form | Height | pH | Zones | Sun | Water | Difficulty | Conservation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garlic, Cultivated Garlic, Hardneck/Softneck Garlic | Allium sativum | Amaryllidaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 1.5-3 feet (45-90 cm) | 6–7 | 3a-9b | Full Sun | Water regularly during spring vegetative and bulbing phases; withdraw irrigation completely 2-3 weeks before harvest to prevent bulb skin staining and rot. | Easy | LC |
| Ginger, Culinary Ginger, Garden Ginger, Ginger Root | Zingiber officinale | Zingiberaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 3-4 feet (90-120 cm) | 5.5–6.8 | 9a-12b | Partial Sun, Partial Shade | Maintain constant, even moisture throughout the active vegetative cycle; decrease watering sharply as foliage begins autumn senescence. | Moderate | NE |
| Gladiolus, Sword Lily, Garden Glad | Gladiolus hortulanus | Iridaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 2-5 feet (60-150 cm) | 6–7 | 7a-10b | Full Sun | Maintain 1 inch of water per week during active growth; avoid overhead watering to prevent botrytis. | Moderate | NE |
| Globe Artichoke, French Artichoke, Green Artichoke | Cynara cardunculus | Asteraceae | herb_non_graminoid | 3-5 feet (90-150 cm) | 6.5–7.5 | 7a-11b | Full Sun | Irrigate deeply every 7-10 days during bud formation; reduce water after main summer harvest. | Moderate | LC |
| Green bean, French bean, String bean, Snap bean, Common bean, Haricot bean | Phaseolus vulgaris | Fabaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 1-2 ft (bush types), 6-10 ft (pole types) | 6–7 | 2-11 (grown as frost-free annual) | Full Sun | Provide about 1 inch / 2.5 cm of water per week. Maintain even moisture during flowering and pod development. Drip irrigation is preferred to reduce foliar disease. | Easy | NE |
| Common Houseleek, Hens and Chicks, Roof Houseleek | Sempervivum tectorum | Crassulaceae | succulent_leaf | 3-6 inches (7-15 cm) (foliage); up to 12 inches (30 cm) when flowering | 6–7.8 | 3a-8b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Irrigate thoroughly on establishment; once established, natural rainfall is sufficient. Container plants require watering only when substrate is completely dry. | Easy | LC |
| Honeydew Melon, White Antibes Melon | Cucumis melo | Cucurbitaceae | climber | 1-1.5 feet (30-45 cm) | 6.2–7 | 4a-11b | Full Sun | Water regularly and evenly until fruits reach full size, then taper watering off during the final 1-2 weeks before harvest to concentrate sugars and prevent rind splitting. | Moderate | NE |
| Horseradish, German Mustard, Red Cole | Armoracia rusticana | Brassicaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 2-3.5 feet (60-105 cm) | 6–7.5 | 3a-9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Maintain even moisture during summer root enlargement; drought stresses roots, resulting in woody fibrous textures. | Easy | LC |
| Rough Horsetail, Scouring Rush, Dutch Rush, Common Horsetail | Equisetum hyemale | Equisetaceae | fern_ally | 2-5 feet (60-150 cm) | 6–8 | 3a-11b | Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial Shade | Keep soil constantly wet or damp; tolerates submersion up to 4 inches (10 cm) of standing water. | Easy | LC |
| Hosta, Plantain Lily, Funkia, Gibōshi (Japan) | Hosta spp. | Asparagaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 1-3 feet | 6–7 | 3a - 9b | Partial Sun, Partial Shade, Full Shade | 1 inch of water weekly; keep soil consistently moist, especially for blue-foliaged cultivars to prevent leaf scorch and drought dormancy. | Easy | LC |
| Garden Hyacinth, Dutch Hyacinth, Common Hyacinth | Hyacinthus orientalis | Asparagaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) | 6–7.5 | 4a-8b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Keep evenly moist during rooting and spring growth; keep relatively dry during summer dormancy to avoid bulb rot. | Easy | LC |
| Yellow Flag Iris, Water Flag, Yellow Iris, False Acorus | Iris pseudacorus | Iridaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 3-5 feet (90-150 cm) | 6–7.5 | 4a-9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Grows in wet boggy soil or in standing water up to 25 cm deep; tolerates periods of seasonal soil drying once established. | Easy | LC |
Beans: Soil pH, Planting Depth and Spacing (Green, Bush, Fava)
The three bean records in this database, green bean, bush bean and fava (broad bean), all sit in the same narrow soil window: pH 6.0 to 7.0, well-drained, and neither waterlogged nor droughted through pod fill. That window is not a preference, it is a biological constraint. Rhizobium nodules (the reason a bean feeds itself) stop fixing atmospheric nitrogen below about pH 6.0, and fava shows aluminium and manganese toxicity on acid ground before the common beans do. Lime to 6.0-6.5 if a test comes back under 6.0, then re-test: the correction takes months, not weeks.
| Bean | Sow depth | Spacing | Soil temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green bean | 1–1.5 in (2.5–4 cm) | 3–4 in in-row, 18–24 in apart | 60°F (16°C) or warmer |
| Bush bean | 1–1.5 in (2.5–4 cm) | 3–4 in in-row, 18–24 in apart | 60°F (16°C) or warmer |
| Fava bean | 1–2 in (2.5–5 cm) | 4–6 in in-row, 24 in apart | 40–50°F (5–10°C) |
Depth. Sow bean seed at about three times its own thickness and no deeper: 1 to 1.5 inches for green and bush bean, 1 to 2 inches for the larger fava seed. Sowing shallow is the safer error. Common bean will not germinate in soil still below 60°F (16°C) (seed sits and rots instead of swelling) while fava is the opposite and goes in four to six weeks before the last frost, which is why it also works as an autumn sowing. Neither wants a presoak: hydrate the bed, not the seed.
Spacing. Bush types are determinate and stop growing on their own, so 3 to 4 inches within the row and 18 to 24 inches between rows gives a canopy that closes without crowding; thinned stands dry out and crack their pods. Fava is taller and stiffer, so it takes 4 to 6 inches in the row with 24 inches between rows, and it benefits from a stake on exposed ground. Pole types are a different question: they need the trellis before the seed goes in.
After sowing. About an inch of water a week, held evenly through flowering and pod set: a dry week at first bloom drops the flower set, and a waterlogged week at harvest splits the pods. Inoculate seed if the bed has not grown a legume in the last four years, keep fresh manure out of the hole (it delays nodulation) and feed phosphorus and potash from a soil test rather than by habit. Full sun for all three. For the pH side of that, start from the soil pH by crop reference table and work out the rate with the lime requirement calculator.