Regions: South India

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.

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

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.

A pot by an open window does more for a summer evening than any air freshener.

Jowar — drought-hardy grain and fodder in one, on almost no inputs.

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

An old and quick millet, sown as a catch crop when the rains come late.

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