4 Sensitive Plants For A Mobile Garden!

Gardening

oi-Anwesha

By Anwesha Barari

Thursday, December 15, 2011, 18:07

How can you define a plant as sensitive? It is quite simple; you have to define the object or impetus it is sensitive to. Some plants are defined as 'shy plants' while others respond to stimuli like light or sound. Either ways plants can respond to any kind of stimulus from their environment, be it touch, sound, warmth or light. All plants do react to the environment but the ones that react distinctly and immediately are put together in the 'sensitive' category.

Here are some of the most talked about sensitive plants that respond to different stimulus.

Top 4 Plants That Are Sensitive:

1. Touch Me Not: This is probably one of the most famous shy plants. It is so well known that even the scientific name, Mimosa pudica might ring a well. It is known by different names like Tickle Me plant or Shame plant and there are also various species of this plant. The standard Touch me not plant is a legume from the bean family but it has an special trait. As soon as you touch the leaves, the shredded leaves droop or 'close in'. The leaves retract after a certain time interval that is different for different species (about ten minutes usually).

2. Sunflower: This is a flowering plant that is extremely photosensitive. Not only does the flower owe its name to the sun because it looks like it but also because it turns its head to face the fun wherever it is. If you map the turning of the flower from morning when the sun is in the east to the evening when it sets in the west, the movement is very apparent.

3. Water Lilies: This is shy plant of the night. This plant displays a phenomenon called nyctinasty that means 'movement at night'. If you notice, the petals of the water lilies close during the night. Even if there is bad weather and the sky clouds densely, the water lily will draw its petals together. This is an example of photo sensitivity but of another kind.

4. Venus Fly Trap: Contrary to popular notions this carnivorous plant is a great choice for indoor gardening. You will get rid of flies and mosquitoes without any chemicals and it is not strong enough to eat humans! This plant is sensitive to touch just like the Mimosa pudica but it doesn't close on touching, it swallows. It is in fact called the Venus Fly trap because it eats small insects like flies when the sit on its hairy flowers. It is not like these plants cannot survive without meat; you have to cultivate them in soggy soil to make them hunt.

Use these gardening tips to grow these sensitive plants in your garden. Not all of these you may consider appropriate for your apartment gardens but it is worth the try to experiment with a 'mobile' or 'sensitive' garden that is dynamic not stagnant.