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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onion, Bulb Onion, Common Onion, Garden Onion | Allium cepa | Amaryllidaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 12-18 inches (foliage); up to 36 inches if flowering | 6–7 | 3-9 (Winter hardy for overwintering varieties) | Full Sun | Requires consistent moisture during vegetative growth and bulbing. Stop watering completely when 50% of the foliage tops have naturally fallen over (lodged) to allow bulbs to cure in the soil. | Easy | LC |
| Oregano, Wild Marjoram, Pot Marjoram, European Oregano, Greek Oregano (horticultural usage) | Origanum vulgare | Lamiaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 30-90 cm (1-3 ft) | 6–8 | 4a-9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Water deeply but infrequently; allow soil to dry between irrigation. Dry conditions improve essential-oil concentration. | Easy | NE |
| Ostrich Fern, Fiddlehead Fern, Shuttlecock Fern | Matteuccia struthiopteris | Onocleaceae | fern | 3-6 feet | 5.5–6.8 | 2a - 7b | Partial Shade, Full Shade | Requires consistently moist to wet soil. Must never dry out during active frond expansion. | Easy | LC |
| Garden Pansy, Hybrid Pansy, Stepmother's Flower | Viola wittrockiana | Violaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 6-9 inches | 5.4–6.2 | 4a - 9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial Shade | Maintain consistent, uniform moisture. Water at ground level early in the day to minimize foliar fungal infections. | Easy | NE |
| Parsley, Garden Parsley, Petroselinum | Petroselinum crispum | Apiaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 12-24 inches | 6–7 | 4-9; grown as an annual in all zones | Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial Shade | Keep soil consistently moist but not saturated. Provide about 1 inch of water per week and mulch to reduce bolting. | Easy | NE |
| Parsnip, Garden Parsnip, Wild Parsnip (wild form) | Pastinaca sativa | Apiaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 2-4 feet (60-120 cm) | 6–7 | 2a-9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Ensure deep, even watering during summer root expansion to prevent root splitting and woody cores. | Moderate | LC |
| Pickerelweed, Blue Pickerel, Heartleaf Pickerelweed | Pontederia cordata | Pontederiaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 2-4 feet (60-120 cm) | 5.5–7 | 3a-10b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Must be kept in continuously submerged or saturated substrates. Submerge crown under 2 to 12 inches (5-30 cm) of standing water. | Easy | LC |
| Popcorn, Popping Corn | Zea mays | Poaceae | herb_graminoid | 5-8 feet (1.5-2.4 m) | 6–6.8 | 2a-11b | Full Sun | Provide 1-1.5 inches of water weekly; critical moisture periods occur during silking, tasseling, and kernel development. | Moderate | LC |
| Potato, Irish Potato, Spud, Papa, Cultivated Potato | Solanum tuberosum | Solanaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 1.5-2 feet | 4.8–6.5 | USDA 3-10 as annual; 8-10 may overwinter tubers or volunteers | Full Sun | Provide consistent moisture, about 1-2 inches per week, especially during tuber initiation and bulking. Avoid waterlogged soil to reduce tuber rot. | Easy | NE |
| Indian Fig Prickly Pear, Nopal, Tuna Cactus, Barbary Fig | Opuntia ficus-indica | Cactaceae | succulent_stem | 10-15 feet (3-5 m) | 6–8.5 | 8b-11b | Full Sun | Irrigate lightly during early cladode emergence to maximize crop yield; otherwise entirely drought-tolerant. | Easy | DD |
| Field Pumpkin, Sugar Pumpkin, Jack-o'-Lantern | Cucurbita pepo | Cucurbitaceae | climber | 1.5-2.5 feet (45-75 cm) | 6–6.8 | 3a-11b | Full Sun | Deep, regular irrigation of 1-2 inches per week applied directly at soil level to prevent foliar fungal diseases like powdery mildew. | Easy | LC |
| Purple Coneflower, Eastern Purple Coneflower | Echinacea purpurea | Asteraceae | herb_non_graminoid | 2-4 feet (60-120 cm) | 6–7.5 | 3a-9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Low; drought-tolerant once established. Supplementary water during severe heat waves improves flowering duration. | 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.