water chestnut

These plants grow well in sun or in partial shade. Usually they tolerate more sun and heat if given enough moisture; in partial or light shade they need less moisture.

Herbaceous plants are not woody. Their stems are soft, usually remaining green. With some herabceous older stems may harden and look like woody stems (e. g. bamboo).

This group includes plants that cannot tolerate limestone (chalk) and need acidic soils to grow normally, this is soil, of which pH must lower tahn 6. According to pH value (acidity and alkalinity), soil can be either acidic, neutral or alkaline, with intermediate levels. Fertile, quality garden soils of most gardens and parks are  slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6-7) and suit most of plants. If soil contains a lot of calcium (limy soils), it is alkaline soil. Acidic soils contain much less calcium, they can be richer in humus. Some acidic soils are washed out and poor in plant nutrients. Plants like, for example most of the rhododendrons, heather, camelias and bluberries, grow normally only in distinctively acidic soils, so such soil must be attained when planting. Most of other plants do grow well in slightly acidic soils, but grow as well also in neutral soils with a bit higher calcium content.

The plant develops new leaves or needles every spring, which dropp off in autumn. Herbaceous plants can die completely in above ground section and grow back in the spring.

Plant is cold/frost sensitive, mainly cannot survive temperature below freezing point (0 °C) or requires significantly higher temperature to live (e. g. some tropical plants). Required minimal temperatures for certain plants are given in detailed descriptions.

Standing or running water, sites for true water plants. Water plants can be either attached to ground or free floating, submerged or floating on surface. They cannot tolerate drought, even with muchwatering they cannot grow in a garden bed for a long time. Some water plants may grow partly (or for some time, if water level drops) on land, where they develop different growth and different leaf shape.

Herbaceous plant, finishing its life cycle in one year. Some annuals can overwintwer as seedlings and produce flowers the following year. Annuals normally bloom only one season.