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• Marigolds are a favorite, no-fuss annual that can bring the color of sunshine to your garden, as well as butterflies, bees, ladybugs, and other beneficial insects. Give them full sun and some well-draining soil and watch them bloom from late spring until fall.
• Marigold plants germinate quickly, within just a few days, and bloom in about 8 weeks. This quick sense of satisfaction makes them a great first-time gardening project for kids and garden newbies. Not to mention, marigolds are a great companion in your vegetable garden and can help protect your veggies from predators and pests.
• It is best to water marigolds at the base of the plant and not from overhead. The densely double flowerheads will tend to rot with excess moisture. Allow the soil to dry somewhat between waterings, but do water regularly in high heat or dry weather. Marigolds growing in containers should be watered daily as containers dry out quickly.

Therapeutic Uses

• The root contains steam-distillable oil, which has 90% Benzyl isothiocyanate, a compound responsible for decreasing dental caries and used in the preparation of Meswak toothpaste.
• The chemical present in the plant can control gingivostomatitis, skin infection and conjunctiva.
• The root bark is tonic, stimulant, emmenagogue. The stem bark is good for gastropathy.

Source: Agro-techniques of selected medicinal plants

• Moringa oleifera (Moringaceae) is a tree native to India, and cultivated in tropical areas of the world.
• It is considered the “miracle tree”, because all its parts (leaves, flowers, fruits, wood and seeds) are used mainly for their pharmacological and nutritional properties.
• The crushed seeds are known for their very high capacity to purify drinking water.
• The leaves of the tree are so nutrient dense they are an integral part of the WHO and FAO programs for feeding the poor in indigent countries.
• In Ayurveda the moringa tree and its parts are used to treat over 300 ailments.

This lovely plant is a compact evergreen shrub with oval, shiny, deep green leaves that can get up to 2 3/4 inches long, extending from interesting, gnarled branches. At maturity, this plant will be 8 to 12 feet tall and wide, creating a large, round shrub.

Clusters of small, fragrant flowers bloom in spring, followed by bright reddish-orange berries in summer. The flowers are very fragrant and smell like orange blossoms and flowering will occur year-round. The fruit is 1/2 to 1 inch long and red. It is prized by birds.

Acacia farnesiana thrives in dry localities and it is drought hardy and fire resistant. It can be found at elevations between sea level and 1300 m. The species is reported to exhibit tolerance to drought, high pH, heat, low pH, salt, sand, and slope. It forms symbiotic relation with Rhizobium allowing it to grow in nitrogen poor soils. Thrives on poor, dry soils but favors deeper, moister, more fertile clayey soils.

Acacia farnesiana origin is in Mexico and Central America. This species was given its name since it was introduced to Europe in the 17th century to the Farnese Gardens, created in 1550 on the northern portion of Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy, by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and was the first private botanical gardens in Europe. Since then it spread and became naturalized in many of the world’s subtropical and tropical arid lands

The olive tree is an ancient cultural and characteristic plant of the Mediterranean, which comes from a Mediterranean wild family, the Olea europaea var sylvestris. The farming of the tree goes back many millennia and probably took place in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are about 300 different olive varieties grown worldwide for the production of table olives and olive oil. These products represent a very important branch of industry in the Mediterranean countries, particularly Spain, Italy and Greece.