Goals: food

Purple fruit in June and dense evergreen shade for the rest of the year.

The fruit of the dry west, cropping where irrigation is impossible.

A century-tree with feathery shade and the sourness of half of Indian cooking.

Feathery-leaved and drought-hardy; one grafted tree feeds a household in winter.

A thorny hedge shrub that gives pickling fruit and keeps animals out.

Small sour-sweet berries in May, from a shrub that shrugs off a Delhi summer.

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

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

Blue butterfly pea — a light climber that fixes nitrogen and makes blue tea.

Edible flowers and leaves, and a magnet that pulls aphids off your vegetables.