Regions: East India

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

Golden champa — a tall tree whose flowers are sold by the handful at dusk.

Thrives on being ignored — the more you neglect it, the harder it flowers.

Regrows from the root end of a shop-bought bunch — the cheapest crop there is.

Companion-planting workhorse: keeps nematodes down and feeds bees all season.

Flowers nearly all year in a warm city, and sunbirds find it within a week.

One of the small millets of tribal central India, quick and undemanding.

Big-leaved and happy in a wet corner; corms below, edible leaves above.

One corm fills a large pot and returns a much bigger one in a year.

Ground cover, greens and tubers from a few cuttings pushed into soil.