Multipurpose plants to spruce up your garden

Above, is a sedum, a drought-resistant plant. Photo by Godfrey Lugaaju

What you need to know:

  • These are pretty and attractive flowers, they are best for indoor as they give a house a lit mood.
  • Daffodil flowers are in a variety of colours that are naturally blended to give them an outstanding look. Wanja notes that yellow and white are the most common types but there are other colours like cream, red, purple among others.

The universe is filled with a number of beautiful plants that can make your home classy, elegant, appealing, unique and natural. Here is a list of some of the beautiful, multipurpose plants that you can use to bring your garden or indoor life.

Roses
They are beautiful all season plants. They bear flowers in different colours, red, pink, white, yellow. The green leaves beneath the flower add beauty to them, the stems are decorated with thorns that give the flower a whole unique look.
Boniface Wanja, a landscaper at Bonre Consultancy Palour Bweyogerere, notes that roses can be planted in the ground or in the containers, they are best for outdoor. They are drought resistant since the thorns help them store water that they can use in case of drought. Roses have a beautiful scent that will give you a pleasant atmosphere, especially in the evening hours. A grated rose is between Shs10,000 to Shs15,000.

Bamboo palm
Some people call them golden cane palm, areca palm, yellow palm, or butterfly palm. Nnalongo Lillian Kawalya, a florist, says these can survive on little water and minimal supervision. Bamboos bring a feel of nature since they are air fresheners, they can also be used to cool bright flowers.
Palm can work for both in and out door. You can opt for containers or have them planted directly in the soil. A beautiful palm goes between Shs5,000 to Shs10,000 and beyond depending on old it is.

Boston fern
One could easily think it is an artificial plant at first sight. It is also called Sword fern. It bulges with long leaves that swipe the ground, it has ruffled leaves that add on it beauty. Wanja notes that Boston Fern are better when placed in hanging pots to bring out their beauty. They need daily watering and frequent weeding.

Lemon grass
This is a multipurpose grass. It is a tea spice and a perennial plant with a mixture of tests lemon being the strongest. Ivan Kiiza a gardener notes that lemon grass will bring a great scent to your home as well. They can work well in pots as well are on the ground. “Lemon grass dry’s very first and to keep beauty, prune the dry parts and leave the green ones.” He adds.

Lavender
It is a nice scented and sweet plant to grow. Lavender gives a variety of coloured flowers red, white and purple being the commonest. They look good in pots and grow like shrubs.
“They need constant watering since they absorb too much water. Weeding is paramount to avoid insect attack,” Nalongo adds.

Sedum
This is a drought resistant plant that can work well in creating a rock garden. Sedum plants can stand any kind of weather and have amazing flowers. They have beautiful think leaves that help to store the water as well as give them a unique look. These flowers need minimal maintainace.

Air plants
These are awesome plants that do not need soil to grow, all you need is a container full of dry grass. The plants live on constant watering and the morning sun that is not too hot. These plants keep their flowers throughout the year. They are good for indoor but can as well be used for outdoor. They are in different types and shapes. Air plants range from Ughs 50,000, 150,000 and above depending of the types. Air plants give a home a classy look.

Shrubs
A woody plant, which is smaller than a tree and has several main stems arising at or near the ground is a shrub. Shrubs are good for people who would want to create a forest like garden. They will bring a cool breeze in your home and can create a good shade. However Wanja says one needs to be careful as they may harbor dangerous insects and animals like snakes. Constant trimming should be done to keep them in shape and looking good. Shrubs are in different types.

Petunias
These grow in a bush shape and will bloom often with many coloured flowers. They attract birds especially humming birds. Kiiza says they are cheap to maintain and bring cool beauty to a garden. They are good for outdoor because they love full sunlight. Incase its overgrown, you can cut it back to ground level and it will re grow into a new, fresh and better looking plant.

The lilies
These are herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. There flowers are naturally decorated with a mixture of colours.
The pick flower is dotted with thick pink dots, a green spot in the middle, a lining of white pink at the side and a number of green leaves emerging from the shoots that cool the bright flower. Rose Masika a florist in Bukoto notes that there are other lilies are in red, cream, orange, white among other colours. These pants bring beauty and life to the garden.

Vegetable plants
She adds that these can work well as hanging plants, they are multipurpose as they bring beauty and can be eaten. These plants include: cherry tomatoes, egg plants and straw berry. They need to be sprayed to avoid pest invasion, constant weeding is vital.

Daffodils
These are pretty and attractive flowers, they are best for indoor as they give a house a lit mood.
Daffodil flowers are in a variety of colours that are naturally blended to give them an outstanding look. Wanja notes that yellow and white are the most common types but there are other colours like cream, red, purple among others.