Regions: South India

Host plant for tiger butterflies — plant one and the caterpillars arrive.

A relentless nectar plant — and an invasive that must be kept in a pot.

Flat clusters of small stars that butterflies can actually land on.

Yellow chandeliers in May, when the city most needs something to look at.

The flame tree of Indian summers; fast, spectacular and shallow-rooted.

Huge red cups in February that feed every bird in the neighbourhood at once.

A fast native shade tree with scented ball flowers and city birds in it.

Scarlet flowers on bare branches in spring; grows from a stuck-in cutting.

A cement tub of still water becomes a dragonfly habitat in one season.

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