Goals: beauty

A cement tub of still water on a terrace becomes a dragonfly and frog habitat in one season.

Compact evergreen with flower heads butterflies work all morning.

A fast native shade tree with scented ball flowers, and a favourite of city birds.

A pot by an open window does more for a summer evening than any air freshener.

Grows from a bare cutting pushed into dry soil; flowers scent a whole terrace.

Flowers best when slightly starved and thirsty — the classic mistake is watering it too well.

Needs space, sun and a lot of feeding, and gives back a bunch plus leaves for cooking.

A pest guard as much as a flower — plant it at the edge of vegetable beds. Deadhead often and it flowers…

Flowers on new growth, so prune hard after the monsoon. Loves a monthly dose of potash.

Grows in a bottle of water on a windowsill and keeps going. Best first plant for a child or a new gardener;…