Goals: beauty

A big orange-flowered climber of central forest, dramatic on a strong pergola.

The silver-plumed grass of autumn riverbanks — Durga Puja in plant form.

Grown for fibre and calyces in the west and centre; a striking tall annual.

Desi cotton — the indigenous species, hardier than the imported kinds.

The dye plant of history, nitrogen-fixing and undemanding.

A scrambling hill plant whose root gives a lasting red dye.

The mehndi hedge of the dry west — scented flowers and dye leaves.

Buransh — scarlet trusses across the mid-Himalaya in March.

The Himalayan cedar — a slow, magnificent, cold-climate conifer.

Red February cups feeding every bird in the neighbourhood at once.