Though being struck by lightning is usually bad, the tropical tree Dipteryx oleifera benefits. A strike kills other nearby trees and parasitic vines.

Trees with white flowers have a way of lifting and lightening a garden’s mood—as well as soothing the mood of the gardener.

Imagine an abstract modernist in Paris who went there as far back as 1967 on a French Scholarship from Cholamandalam, dabbled ...