Garden plants for New Zealand
146 plants that appear on garden plant lists for New Zealand: vegetables, herbs, fruit, flowers, shrubs and trees that gardeners there commonly grow, native or introduced. Each links to a growing guide with spacing, sun, water, hardiness, toxicity and sources.
New Zealand spans more than one climate. Being on this list does not mean a plant suits your own site: check its hardiness and water needs against your local conditions, and avoid plants listed as invasive in your area.
Plan a garden with these plants →
Vegetables (8)
- Lettuce Lactuca sativa
- Mashua Tropaeolum tuberosum
- Potato Solanum tuberosum
- Sweet potato Ipomoea batatas
- Tomato Solanum lycopersicum
- Ulluco Ullucus tuberosus
- Wasabi Eutrema japonicum
- Watercress Nasturtium officinale
Herbs (4)
- Hops Humulus lupulus
- Myoga ginger Zingiber mioga
- Sweet cicely Myrrhis odorata
- Tasmanian mountain pepper Tasmannia lanceolata
Fruit (11)
- Banana passionfruit (curuba) Passiflora tripartita · invasive in some regions
- Chilean guava (murta) Ugni molinae
- Chocolate vine (akebi) Akebia quinata · invasive in some regions
- Feijoa Acca sellowiana
- Kiwano (horned melon, jelly melon) Cucumis metuliferus · invasive in some regions
- Kiwifruit Actinidia deliciosa
- Lemon tree (dwarf) Citrus limon
- Mountain papaya (chamburo, papayuela) Vasconcellea pubescens
- Riberry (small-leaved lilly pilly) Syzygium luehmannii
- Strawberry guava (cattley guava, araçá) Psidium cattleianum · invasive in some regions
- White sapote (zapote blanco) Casimiroa edulis
Flowers (26)
- Agapanthus Agapanthus praecox
- Angel’s fishing rod (wand flower) Dierama pulcherrimum
- Armand’s clematis (evergreen clematis) Clematis armandii
- Autumn gentian (Chinese gentian) Gentiana sino-ornata
- Blue flax lily (paroo lily) Dianella caerulea
- Bower vine (bower of beauty) Pandorea jasminoides
- Bulley’s primula (candelabra primula) Primula bulleyana
- Cape sundew Drosera capensis · invasive in some regions
- Chatham Island forget-me-not Myosotidium hortensia
- Chilean glory flower Eccremocarpus scaber
- Chilean rhubarb (nalca, pangue) Gunnera tinctoria · invasive in some regions
- Chocolate cosmos Cosmos atrosanguineus
- Cup-and-saucer vine (cathedral bells) Cobaea scandens
- Douglas iris (Pacific Coast iris) Iris douglasiana
- English lavender Lavandula angustifolia
- Garden rose Rosa x hybrida
- Giant Himalayan lily Cardiocrinum giganteum
- Himalayan cowslip (Sikkim primrose) Primula sikkimensis
- Japanese primrose (kurinsō) Primula japonica
- Mīkoikoi (New Zealand iris) Libertia grandiflora
- Orchid primula (Vial’s primrose) Primula vialii
- Puawānanga (New Zealand clematis) Clematis paniculata
- Regal lily Lilium regale
- Rengarenga (rock lily) Arthropodium cirratum
- Shirui lily Lilium mackliniae
- Snake vine (climbing guinea flower) Hibbertia scandens
Shrubs (51)
- Anemone clematis Clematis montana
- Augustine’s rhododendron (blue rhododendron) Rhododendron augustinii
- Bigleaf hydrangea Hydrangea macrophylla
- Big-leaf rhododendron Rhododendron sinogrande
- Box-leaf azara (vanilla tree) Azara microphylla
- Brown boronia (scented boronia) Boronia megastigma
- California flannelbush (fremontia) Fremontodendron californicum
- Chilean holly (taique) Desfontainia spinosa
- Chilean lantern tree Crinodendron hookerianum
- Chilean potato vine Solanum crispum
- Chinese witch hazel Hamamelis mollis
- Cinnabar rhododendron Rhododendron cinnabarinum
- Darwin’s barberry (michay) Berberis darwinii · invasive in some regions
- Delavay’s tree peony Paeonia delavayi
- Fatsia (Japanese aralia, yatsude) Fatsia japonica
- Flowering currant (red-flowering currant) Ribes sanguineum
- Foxtail agave (spineless century plant) Agave attenuata
- Grierson’s rhododendron Rhododendron griersonianum
- Heath banksia Banksia ericifolia
- Hebe Veronica speciosa
- Himalayan honeysuckle (pheasant berry) Leycesteria formosa · invasive in some regions
- Himalayan sweet box (Christmas box) Sarcococca hookeriana
- Italian buckthorn (alaternus) Rhamnus alaternus · invasive in some regions
- Japanese skimmia (miyama-shikimi) Skimmia japonica
- Japanese wisteria (fuji) Wisteria floribunda · invasive in some regions
- Kākābeak Clianthus puniceus
- Kāpuka (broadleaf) Griselinia littoralis
- Kawakawa Piper excelsum
- Kōhūhū Pittosporum tenuifolium
- Korokio (wire-netting bush) Corokia cotoneaster
- Lemon-scented tea tree Leptospermum petersonii
- Mānuka (tea tree) Leptospermum scoparium
- Native fuchsia (common correa) Correa reflexa
- Nepalese paper plant (lokta daphne) Daphne bholua
- NSW Christmas bush Ceratopetalum gummiferum
- Pink breath of heaven (confetti bush) Coleonema pulchellum
- Pride of Madeira Echium candicans · invasive in some regions
- Qantu (sacred flower of the Incas) Cantua buxifolia
- Red escallonia Escallonia rubra
- Rice-paper plant (tsūdatsu) Tetrapanax papyrifer
- Rough-leaved hydrangea Hydrangea aspera
- Round-leaf mint bush Prostanthera rotundifolia
- Spiral aloe Aloe polyphylla
- Spotted laurel (Japanese aucuba) Aucuba japonica
- Star magnolia (shidekobushi) Magnolia stellata
- Taupata (mirror bush) Coprosma repens · invasive in some regions
- Thomson’s rhododendron Rhododendron thomsonii
- Tiare (Tahitian gardenia) Gardenia taitensis
- Tree houseleek (aeonium) Aeonium arboreum
- Yunnan camellia Camellia reticulata
- Yunnan rhododendron Rhododendron yunnanense
Trees (41)
- Bangalow palm (piccabeen palm) Archontophoenix cunninghamiana · invasive in some regions
- Bhutan pine (Himalayan white pine) Pinus wallichiana
- Brush box Lophostemon confertus
- Cabbage tree (cordyline) Cordyline australis
- Cabbage-tree palm Livistona australis
- Campbell’s magnolia Magnolia campbellii
- Chilean firebush (notro) Embothrium coccineum
- Chilean myrtle (arrayán) Luma apiculata
- Cootamundra wattle Acacia baileyana · invasive in some regions
- Deodar cedar Cedrus deodara
- Firewheel tree (wheel of fire) Stenocarpus sinuatus
- Full-moon maple (hauchiwa-kaede) Acer japonicum
- Giant sequoia (Wellingtonia) Sequoiadendron giganteum
- Golden chain tree (laburnum) Laburnum × watereri
- Karaka Corynocarpus laevigatus · invasive in some regions
- Kashmir cypress (Bhutan weeping cypress) Cupressus cashmeriana
- Kauri Agathis australis
- Kōwhai Sophora microphylla
- Lacy tree fern (Cooper’s tree fern) Sphaeropteris cooperi · invasive in some regions
- Monkey puzzle (pehuén) Araucaria araucana
- Monterey cypress Hesperocyparis macrocarpa
- Monterey pine (radiata pine) Pinus radiata · invasive in some regions
- Moreton Bay fig Ficus macrophylla
- Native frangipani Hymenosporum flavum
- Nīkau palm Rhopalostylis sapida
- Norfolk Island pine Araucaria heterophylla
- Paperbark maple Acer griseum
- Père David’s maple (snakebark maple) Acer davidii
- Pōhutukawa (NZ Christmas tree) Metrosideros excelsa · invasive in some regions
- Pūriri Vitex lucens
- Red-flowering gum Corymbia ficifolia
- Rewarewa (New Zealand honeysuckle) Knightia excelsa
- Rimu Dacrydium cupressinum
- Sawara cypress Chamaecyparis pisifera
- Silver tree fern (ponga) Alsophila dealbata
- Smooth-barked apple (Sydney red gum) Angophora costata
- Snow gum Eucalyptus pauciflora
- Tarata (lemonwood) Pittosporum eugenioides
- Tōtara Podocarpus totara
- Tree rhododendron (lali gurans, burans) Rhododendron arboreum
- Windmill palm (Chusan palm) Trachycarpus fortunei
Grasses (2)
- New Zealand flax Phormium tenax · invasive in some regions
- Toetoe Austroderia richardii
Groundcovers (3)
- Hottentot fig (sour fig, ice plant) Carpobrotus edulis · invasive in some regions
- Native violet (ivy-leaved violet) Viola hederacea
- Red clover Trifolium pratense
Reference values for planning, not horticultural, veterinary or medical advice. Varieties, soils and local climates differ: check with a local nursery or extension service.