Goals: beauty

Yellow bells almost all year on a shrub that survives a forgotten terrace.

A sub-Himalayan scrambler with brick-red bracts through the cool months.

The flame tree of Indian summers; fast, spectacular and shallow-rooted.

Orchid-like flowers in February, and buds that go into the north-Indian kitchen.

Huge red cups in February that feed every bird in the neighbourhood at once.

Scarlet flowers on bare branches in spring; grows from a stuck-in cutting.

The national flower — a big tub, full sun and patience is all it takes.

The kewda of Odisha — spiny leaves and a male flower distilled for scent.

A monsoon annual of verandah pots, with seed pods children cannot leave alone.

Velvet crested heads that hold colour for weeks, in sun or half shade.