Seasons: Monsoon

Orange flower clusters straight off the trunk — a sacred tree, now threatened.

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

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.

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

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.

The small-flowered jasmine of the monsoon, sweeter at dusk than at noon.

The Spanish jasmine of the perfume trade, grown widely in the north and west.