The index
Plant types
Choose a card to browse its plant categories.
Woody perennial plants, usually smaller and more multi-stemmed than trees, that retain functional foliage through more than one growing season; most continue to carry leaves through winter, although individual leaves are replaced over time.
Woody perennial plants, generally multi-stemmed from the base, that shed their leaves seasonally and produce new foliage during the following growing season.
Flowering plants whose embryos characteristically have one cotyledon (seed leaf); they commonly have parallel-veined leaves and vascular bundles arranged throughout the stem, although exceptions occur.
Seed-producing vascular plants in which the ovules and seeds are not enclosed within an ovary or fruit; many are woody plants such as conifers.
Woody perennial plants with a persistent main stem or trunk supporting a crown of branches and foliage, although some trees may develop more than one trunk.
Long-lived, non-woody plants that survive for several years, commonly dying back to ground level in adverse seasons while perennial roots, crowns, bulbs or other organs survive and produce new growth.
Plants that complete their entire life cycle — germination, growth, flowering, seed production and death — within one growing season.
Plants that normally complete their life cycle over two growing seasons: vegetative growth and food storage in the first, followed by flowering, seed production and death in the second.
Plants resulting from a cross between genetically distinct parents; the parents may belong to different species, and in some cases different genera, with the resulting hybrid identified by appropriate hybrid nomenclature.
Plants whose particular protected variety or cultivar is covered by Plant Breeders’ Rights, a legal intellectual-property system that gives the holder specified exclusive rights to produce and propagate the protected plant for the term of the right.
Plants awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit (AGM), recognising plants that the RHS considers to have outstanding garden value and to be reliable in appropriate conditions.
Horticultural term for generally small, often low-growing plants associated with mountainous or exposed habitats; many require excellent drainage and are suited to rock gardens, troughs and similar conditions.
Plants that complete their life cycle — germination, growth, flowering, seed production and death — within one growing season.
Plants adapted to grow in or around water, including submerged, floating and emergent plants, with adaptations that enable them to tolerate saturated or aquatic conditions.
Plants that normally complete their life cycle over two growing seasons, usually producing vegetative growth in the first and flowering, seed production and death in the second.
Underground or soil-level storage organs that allow plants to store reserves and survive dormancy. Bulbs are short stems with fleshy storage leaves; corms are swollen stem bases; rhizomes are horizontal modified stems; tubers are swollen storage organs formed from stems or roots.
Herbaceous flowering plants that are not grasses, sedges or rushes; the term is commonly used for broad-leaved herbaceous plants in grassland and naturalistic planting.
Plants cultivated indoors or under protected conditions primarily for ornamental foliage, flowers or form, selected for their ability to tolerate the environmental conditions of indoor cultivation.
Plants that live for more than two years. In horticulture, the term commonly refers to long-lived non-woody plants, especially herbaceous perennials, whose roots or crowns survive from year to year.
Woody perennial plants, generally smaller than trees and commonly producing several stems from or near the base, with no single dominant trunk required.
Woody perennial plants with a persistent main stem or trunk supporting a crown of branches and foliage, although some trees may develop more than one trunk.
Plants grown against walls, fences or other supports. Wall shrubs are woody plants trained or tied to a wall, while climbers ascend or scramble using structures or climbing mechanisms such as twining stems, tendrils, hooks or aerial roots.
Plants growing without deliberate horticultural cultivation or selection, including spontaneous, naturalised or wild plants; their presence and characteristics are considered in relation to the habitat in which they occur.
Practical certificate
Useful resources
Reference material to support the Practical certificate.