An African marigold released by IARI and still the benchmark for loose-flower growers. Carries large, tightly double orange heads on strong upright stems that stand up to picking round after round.

The yellow counterpart to Pusa Narangi, bred at IARI for the same heavy loose-flower yield. Even flowering makes it easy to harvest in batches for the festival market.

An IIHR African marigold selected for a high carotenoid content, which makes it a favourite where flowers are sold by weight rather than by stem.

A later IIHR release with a tighter flowering window than the original Bangara, so the crop can be cleared in fewer pickings.

A French marigold from IIHR with fiery orange-red heads on a compact bush. Neat enough for a border edge and free-flowering in pots.

A compact French marigold carrying honey-gold double heads in heavy flushes. Holds its shape without staking through the winter season.

An F1 African marigold bred for landscape uniformity. Large fully double heads sit on a short, self-supporting plant, so a bed comes into colour all at once.

The yellow Inca, matched to Inca Orange in height and timing so the two can be block-planted together without one running ahead.

An early F1 French marigold with crested double heads on a dwarf frame. Quick to colour, which suits balcony boxes and short-turn nursery pots.

A dwarf African marigold with unusually large heads for its height. Bred to hold flower size in warm conditions rather than running to leaf.

Broad dahlia-like double heads across the full colour range. The tall stems cut well and keep flowering as long as the plants are picked over.

Small, tightly formed pompon heads on a bushy plant. The most forgiving zinnia for a first-time grower and very heavy flowering.

The tallest of the garden zinnias, grown for long straight stems and heads that can reach ten centimetres across. Best given some shelter from wind.

A compact interspecific zinnia bred for disease tolerance in humid weather, where garden zinnias usually give way to mildew and leaf spot.

The double-flowered Zahara in a deep cherry rose, carrying the same humidity tolerance as the single types with a fuller head.

A spreading interspecific zinnia that covers ground quickly and sheds its spent flowers cleanly, so beds stay tidy without deadheading.

Large single trumpets across the full colour range. The biggest flowers of any bedding petunia, though they mark in heavy rain and prefer a sheltered spot.

Smaller flowers than the grandifloras but far more of them, and much better able to shrug off wet weather. The safer choice for an open bed.

An F1 grandiflora series bred for early, even flowering. Dreams Red holds a deep velvet colour that does not fade out in strong sun.

The full Dreams colour range in one pack, matched for height and timing so a mixed planting flowers as a single sheet.

A spreading petunia that trails rather than mounds, filling a basket or running a metre across open ground from a single plant.

Tall, airy plants in pink, rose and white. Grows in poor soil without complaint; rich soil produces leaf at the expense of flower.

A dwarf cosmos that flowers earlier and needs no staking, in a clean white that reads well against dark foliage.

The sulphur cosmos, with semi-double orange heads and finer foliage than the Sensation types. Tolerates heat and drought well.

An IIHR aster with quilled rose-pink petals on a long stem, bred for the cut-flower trade and good vase life.

A bicolour IIHR release with a white centre shading to purple at the edge, and stems long enough to cut without stooping.

A deep purple aster from IIHR grown both for cutting and for the loose-flower trade, where colour depth is what sells.

A cut-flower aster series with strong single stems and heads that hold their form for well over a week in water.

The classic scarlet bedding salvia. Upright spikes hold colour for weeks and read strongly from a distance in a mass planting.

A mealycup sage with slender deep-blue spikes. Cuts and dries well, and is one of the few true blues that comes reliably from seed.

Scarlet, purple and white spikes in one pack, matched for height so the planting stays level.

Indian pink in a mix of single and semi-double flowers, many with a contrasting eye. Compact enough to edge a path.

An F1 dianthus with a sharply defined white picotee edge, bred to flower early and keep going through cool weather.

A uniform crimson F1 with good branching, so each plant carries several flushes rather than one flat top.

Double camellia-form flowers packed along an upright stem. An old garden favourite that self-seeds readily once established.

A shorter balsam that carries its flowers clear of the foliage instead of hidden among it, which suits pot growing.

Long-stemmed double calendula running from cream through apricot to deep orange. Better for cutting than the dwarf types.

An early dwarf calendula that flowers weeks ahead of the taller strains, useful where a bed needs colour quickly.

Blanket flower in fully double ball-shaped heads. Thrives in heat and poor soil where more demanding annuals fail.

A bicolour gaillardia with tubular ray florets giving the head a honeycomb texture. Long flowering and very drought tolerant.

Moss rose in double form, flowering hardest on thin soil in full sun. Flowers close in shade, so give it an open position.

An F1 moss rose bred to open earlier in the day and stay open longer than the standard strains.

Sadabahar in the familiar rose, pink and white. Once established it flowers through the hottest months with very little water.

An F1 vinca with larger overlapping petals and a compact habit, bred for landscape planting in high heat.

A vinca series selected for tolerance to aerial phytophthora, the disease that usually ends a vinca bed in a wet monsoon.

Feathered plume celosia in hot colours. Cuts well fresh and holds its colour when air dried.

Cockscomb, with the dense velvety crest that gives the plant its name. Heads grow larger where plants are spaced generously.

A plume celosia bred to keep throwing new plumes instead of stopping after the first flush, so beds stay full much longer.

Tall snapdragon bred for cutting, with long well-filled spikes. Needs support on an exposed site.

A compact snapdragon for edging and pots, branching from the base into many short spikes.

Globe amaranth, with papery clover-like heads that dry almost unchanged. Handles heat and humidity better than most annuals.

A dwarf sunflower with fully double pollen-free heads that look more like a chrysanthemum than a sunflower. Short enough for a large pot.

A single-stem pollenless sunflower bred for cutting. Every plant gives one clean head, so a block can be cleared in one pass.

Large blotched pansy flowers in the full colour range. A cool-season plant that collapses once night temperatures stay high.

An F1 pansy with very large blotched flowers held clear of the foliage, and better heat tolerance than the open-pollinated giants.

Flat clustered heads on a spreading plant, useful for softening a pot edge. Germination is slower than most bedding annuals.

Annual phlox in dense clustered heads across a wide colour range. One of the most reliable winter annuals for north Indian gardens.

Compact nasturtium with semi-double flowers held above round leaves. Both flowers and leaves are edible and peppery.

Tall double hollyhock in the full colour range. Usually treated as a biennial, flowering in its second season against a wall or fence.

Tall branching larkspur spikes for cutting and drying. Sow where it is to grow, as it resents being moved.

Quick, undemanding annual candytuft in flat scented heads. Often the first winter annual to come into flower.

Frilled, strongly scented Spencer sweet peas for cutting. Needs a trellis and steady picking to keep flowering.

A low sheet of honey-scented white bloom. Useful as an underplanting where the soil would otherwise show.

Densely packed scented spikes, a proportion of which come fully double. One of the strongest scents of any winter annual.

Baby's breath grown as the standard filler in cut arrangements. Sow in succession, as each plant finishes quickly.

Papery winged heads that keep their colour indefinitely once dried. Cut just as the small florets open.

Grown for leaf rather than flower, in a wide mix of markings. Colour develops best in bright shade; deep shade turns it green.

An F1 busy lizzie for shade, flowering steadily where most bedding annuals will not. Keep evenly moist.

Wishbone flower, a shade annual that takes monsoon humidity in its stride. Neat mounding habit for a basket edge.

The painted daisy, with concentric colour bands around a dark disc. Unrelated to the perennial florist chrysanthemum.

A dwarf bedding dahlia from seed, flowering in its first season. Lift and keep the tubers to carry plants into a second year.

A scented double carnation that flowers from seed in its first season. Slow to start, so sow early and be patient.