Zinnias make sturdy plants in a North Indian garden. Despite the hot summer, these flowers do well in beds. And rich colours, chrome, ochre, mauve, pink, violet, carmine, vermillion, you name it…

The Star fruit tree! The Star fruit, Carambola or Amrak is very tasty in fruit salads. They make a beautiful decoration of the salad when you cut it into stars. Those stars are also very tasty and decorative in tea. They are sweet-sour but less sour than the lemon.

In Vrindavan’s Banke Bihari bazar, there is a street stall which sells not easily found sour fruit: in a salad or on their own: Star fruit, Tamarind, wild ber, to name a few.

A clump of Petunia flowers in summer, Nishat Gardens, Kashmir, India.

Saxifrage flower in Valley of Flowers, Nanda Devi National Park, Himalaya, India.

Valley of Flowers: In the Himalayan region of Garhwal, in Uttranchal state, the captivating Valley of Flowers is a paradise on Earth. With a touch of mystique and divine solitude, it inspires equanimity. A World Heritage Site since the year 1988, the Valley of Flowers has enraptured mountaineers and botanists alike much longer. Keep Reading

Saffron petunia flowers blooming wild at Tapovan near Joshimath, Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand, North India. The forests of Tapovan in their green shade hide the temple of Bhavishya Badri.

Lantana bushes grow wild in Jim Corbett National Park (Himalaya), Uttarakhand, India

Gerberas blooming in the garden leading to the principal's office at LaMartiniere Girls' College, Lucknow, (North India)