Regions: north

The fastest useful tree there is — 3 m in a year, with edible leaves and pods.

Peppery leaves in five weeks, and yellow flowers for the bees if you let a few stalks run on.

Cut-and-come-again greens for a kitchen garden — ready in six weeks from a shallow trough.

Sow thickly in a wide tray and cut the whole crop at three weeks — the fastest green there is.

Grows from a cutting in a glass of water. Keep it in its own pot — it will take over any other.

A clump of scented grass that mosquitoes avoid and tea drinkers cannot do without.

A creeping marsh herb happy in a wide bowl of wet soil — the one plant you cannot overwater.

A hardy monsoon spreader with long traditional use, easy to grow and valuable for small insects.

The household holy basil — thrives in a pot, keeps pests down and brings pollinators to a balcony.

Rewards routine: feed, prune, and watch for aphids. Water the soil early in the day and keep the leaves dry.