Goals: biodiversity

The lichen of the spice box — not planted, but a reason to keep old trees standing.

A hill herb of stream banks with aromatic roots and heads of small white flowers.

Camphor basil — a big grey-green bush that fills a terrace with scent.

A slow, tough native tree for a hot courtyard, with fruit that makes the summer sherbet.

An unfussy evergreen shrub with white throated flowers that carpenter bees work.

A high-altitude Himalayan herb — only worth trying in the hills, and only from nursery stock.

The spikenard of the high Himalaya, aromatic-rooted and strictly a mountain plant.

A dry-country shrub with yellow flowers, tough enough for a Rajasthan roof.

Feathery winter foliage, then umbels that hoverflies and small wasps work all day.

A marginal water plant for a tub, aromatic-rooted and steady for years.