Regions: North India

Opens in full sun on a terrace where nothing else will survive noon.

Flowers every day of the year and asks for nothing. Indigenous to the deccan.

Flame of the forest — bare branches and orange flowers through the dry spring.

Neat glossy shrub with pinwheel white flowers; the easiest good hedge there is.

Orange jessamine — flushes of scented white flowers after every rain.

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

Plant single cloves in October and lift whole bulbs in March.

Grown from sets or seedlings; needs depth, sun and patience.

A Himalayan ginger relative with scented white flowers and aromatic rhizomes.

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