Colourful and compact, these 'Festival Mix' dwarf lupins have been specially blended to combine glorious jewel-like tones ranging from soft white and pale lemon-yellow to darker hues of pink, cerise and purple. The beautifully bold, candle-like blooms rise up through starry mounds of lush green, palmate leaves and are perfect for bringing joyful colour and structure to your summer garden. Members of the legume family, the petals on the tall flower spikes have a pea-like structure, giving off a delicate, peppery aroma that will attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Reaching a height and spread of 60cm (24in), their compact habit means that they don't need staking, so they are an ideal choice for patio containers or small-space gardening. For an informal look, try planting in clumps or drifts through other flowering perennials such as iris, delphiniums or geraniums - or even ornamental grasses. An eternal cottage garden favourite, they will also look good in contemporary schemes as well as making a fabulous cut flower for your vase. 'Festival Mix' lupins are easy-to-grow hardy perennials that will thrive in a light but moist, well-draining soil, preferring a sunny position that has some shade during the hottest part of the day. An early sowing will bring flowers in the same year, usually between August and September. In subsequent years they will flower from May to July. Supplied as a packet of 30 (approx.) seeds ready to sow indoors in a seed try from January to March, or outdoors into a seed bed from April to June, for transplanting into their final flowering position from May to October.
True to its name, this giant among sunflowers is one of the tallest you can grow, with huge, long-lasting daisy-shaped blooms measuring up to 60cm (24in) across and reaching a height of up to 360cm (144in). Having the best record-breaking potential, this heirloom variety is the obvious choice for nurturing children's interest in gardening as well as for indulging your competitive streak - even if just to impress the neighbours as the enormous flowers stand tall well above fence height! Originating in North and South America, sunflowers were worshipped by the ancient Incas as a symbol of their sun god. They reached Europe by the sixteenth century, since when they have been grown in abundance by generations of gardeners and commercial growers for their impressive proportions as well as their highly nutritious seeds and oil. Capable of bringing a touch of sunshine to your garden even when days are dull, they are brimming with optimism and the joys of summer. With enormous dark hearts fringed by glorious bright yellow petals, the flowers soak up the sun and redistribute its goodness in the form of large seeds, which you can roast and eat as a snack, scatter over salads or use in your baking - but don't forget to save some for the birds! When the flowers have reached their peak, hang them up to dry naturally and they will provide a welcome autumn and winter buffet for our feathered friends. However tall they grow, the sturdy, slightly prickly upright stems shouldn't need staking, even in exposed positions, although for peace of mind you may want to provide some support, particularly if you are growing for a competition. The immature flowerheads will follow the sun through the day but once the petals have opened, the flowers will remain facing one direction Supplied as a packet of 25 (approx.) seeds ready to sow indoors or outdoors. For best results, sow the seeds outdoors, directly into their flowering position, to allow the roots to establish firmly with uninterrupted growth. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot with well-draining soil. If necessary, add plenty of well-rotted manure or compost to the ground before planting. Sow from March to May either indoors for planting out in June to July, or outdoors directly into their growing position. These hardy annuals will flower from June to September, in the same year as sowing.
A cottage garden favourite with an extra dimension, 'Starlight Scentsation' is an exquisite night-scented stock. What a glorious flower to enhance those balmy summer evenings spent outdoors while their perfume becomes more intense as the dusk descends. Gloriously pretty, with petals in shades of white and palest yellow to the softest lilac pink, mauve and purple, they will dance in the half-light on slender stalks amid delicate grey-green leaves. Indeed, their heady scent and translucent, pollen-rich blooms seem to come alive at night, attracting a whole host of night-feeding bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths to your garden. This half-hardy annual germinates rapidly and with staggered sowings will perform all summer long, well into early autumn. Its dwarf, bushy habit makes it an ideal choice for the fronts of beds and borders - and perfect for patio containers, where a profusion of these gorgeous flowers can be enjoyed best close at hand. They make a fabulous cut flower too, so you can bring those pretty pastel colours and glorious fragrance indoors. The flowers are edible, with a delicately perfumed flavour. Pick them fresh as a garnish and for scattering over salads, or as a pretty decoration for desserts and cakes. They can even be candied to keep in your store cupboard ready for those sweet dishes. Easy to grow, these night-scented stocks will thrive in a sunny position in well-drained soil or compost, growing to a height of 30cm (12in) and spread of 20cm (8in). Sow outdoors from May to June, directly where they are to flower. The blooms will appear continuously from June to October, in the same year as sowing. Supplied as a packet of 700 (approx.) seeds ready to sow outdoors directly into their flowering position.
Calendula 'Art Shades', otherwise known as English or pot marigold, is an enduring cottage garden favourite that looks equally at home in traditional or contemporary planting schemes, where the richly coloured flowers will add cheerful character to your beds, borders or pots. They make a great cut flower for your vase, too, and the dried flowers are also excellent added to pot pourri. This easy-to-grow hardy annual produces masses of frilly petalled, fully double blooms in shades of creamy peach, orange, gold and yellow. They are hugely attractive to many beneficial insects, so make a great companion plant for your kitchen garden. In fact, the petals are edible, with a slightly peppery taste, and make a colourful garnish or addition to salads. They can also be used instead of saffron for colouring rice dishes, or in soups, stews or curries - or even as a substitute for nutmeg, sprinkled over rice pudding. The ancient Egyptians used calendula as a rejuvenating herb and the flowers have been used for centuries in cosmetics and creams for their therapeutic properties. The seeds can be sown directly into their flowering position or started off in seed trays indoors. Either way, they will flower in the same year as sowing. Calendulas thrive in a sunny spot in well-prepared, fertile soil or compost. Once established, these robust little beauties will do equally well through a wet or dry season, and with regular watering and dead-heading will flower all summer long, well into the first frosts of autumn. Supplied as a packet of 200 (approx.) seeds ready to sow outdoors in their flowering position or indoors into trays of compost. Growing to a height of 60cm (24in) and spread of 30cm (12in), sow or transplant outdoors from March to June and again from August to October, directly where they are to flower. Late summer and autumn sowings will flower the following year. Spring sowings will take 10-12 weeks to flower.
An opium poppy in jewel-like shades of rich velvet-plum, this hardy annual is best sown where it is to flower. The large bowl-shaped blooms rise tall on twisty stems atop attractive clumps of subtle, grey-green foliage. With gorgeous open, papery petals and exquisite pale yellow stamens, they will attract a variety of beneficial insects to your garden - a great companion plant to aid pollination and encourage wildlife. 'Lauren's Grape' will sit equally well in contrasting or complementary colour schemes - perfect for mixed beds, borders or containers, or scattering through wildflower areas. For pleasing displays, plant in groups or small drifts. Regular dead-heading will prolong flowering although the seeds pods are highly ornamental and provide great structure for fresh or dried flower arrangements. Remove the seed pods in late summer before they mature unless you want them to self-seed for an informal or wildflower look. The seeds can be used in baking. These poppies will thrive in full sun or part shade, in well-drained, preferably poor soil. Sow outdoors from March to May, or August to October, and you can expect blooms from June to September. Staggered sowings will ensure a longer flowering season. Supplied as a packet of 500 (approx.) seeds ready to plant outdoors directly into their flowering position. Grows to a height of 90cm (36in) by 30cm (12in) spread.
Our finest mixture of premium quality varieties brings colour and fragrance to your home and garden. Pick armfuls of bright, fragrant stems every day throughout summer. Sow in pots or directly in the soil until early May. Richly fragrant Sweet Peas go together with warm summer days no wonder they are the nations favourite annual flower! This unique selection of scent laden kinds, made after testing more than a hundred varieties, rank among the most fragrant of all. You'll get well loved, wavy Spencers and colourful grandifloras and the blend includes High Scent and Matucana, already renowned for their unsurpassable perfume. With at least one fresh flower per plant per day at the height of summer, you'll get hundreds every week.
Bred specifically for growing in the Northern Europe climate, you can enjoy a rewarding crop of refreshing, sweet-tasting fruits from Watermelon ?Mini Love?.
This heavy cropping, super-sweet, large cherry tomato is a top choice for both the beginner and experienced vegetable grower. An indeterminate variety (needs support), it can be reliably grown in a greenhouse or outdoors, producing and abundance of long trailing vines with 10-14 fruits per truss all summer long - quite literally, a gardener's delight! Cropping from early summer right into October, 'Gardener's Delight' will reward with super-sweet, richly flavoured fruits with red, glossy skins - perfect for salads and sandwiches as well as for cooking. Try roasting whole trusses with fruit still attached for an attractive addition to pizzas and other savoury dishes - the deliciously sweet flavour will intensify as they cook. Easy to grow, all you need is a warm windowsill for the seeds to germinate and seedlings usually appear within 7-14 days. When large enough to grow on, they can be transplanted into moist but well-drained, fertile soil or compost in large pots, growbags or border in the greenhouse, or positioned outside in a sunny, sheltered position once the frosts are over. All they need is a sturdy support and some pinching out of sets to encourage a tall, upright central stem. Sow indoors into a pot of compost, January to April to plant out April to June, 45cm (18in) apart into warm, well-drained, fertile soil or compost in a sunny, sheltered position outdoors or in a greenhouse. Harvest from June to October, depending on position. Supplied as a packet of approx. 75 seeds ready to sow indoors.
A long-standing favourite for beginner and experienced gardeners alike, this British-bred, early cropping variety is proven to have the best resistance to the dreaded carrot fly, whose larvae like to burrow into carrot roots and make them vulnerable to rot. In addition to its excellent pest-resistant properties, 'Flyaway F1' is deserving of its coveted RHS Award of Garden Merit because it is just such a good all-rounder, being easy to grow and producing plenty of tasty roots to harvest over a long growing season. One of the best-tasting carrot varieties you can grow, it produces sturdy, blunt-ended roots, typically 12-15cm (5-6in) or longer, with a smooth skin and deep orange colour. Its deliciously sweet flavour is balanced with a tender but crunchy texture - great for eating raw or in stir-fries, or conventionally boiled, steamed or roasted to make the most of its superior flavour. This reliable, trusted variety is a great companion plant to grow alongside onions, leeks or mint as their aroma will repel carrot fly, providing an extra line of deterrence to ensure good cropping. Supplied as a packet of approx. 350 seeds. Sow from March to July, directly where they are to crop in well-drained, light but fertile soil in a position that will enjoy full sun. Harvest from June to November. Early crops can be lifted from 9 weeks after sowing with main crops maturing up to 12 weeks and beyond. Successive sowings will provide continuous crops over the growing season.
This superb 'spring' onion - a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit - is a tried-and-tested heritage variety that has been a firm favourite with beginner and experienced gardeners alike for more than 300 years. With tall, pure white-skinned stems progressing to bright green tops, its mild flavour nevertheless has a distinctive, crisp and piquant 'bite' when harvested young. Left to mature for a while longer, it will develop a stronger, more pungent flavour - equally delicious whether eaten raw in salads, slaws or potato salads, or added to stir-fries or other savoury dishes during the final stages of cooking. The definitive traditional 'spring' onion, it is fast-growing, compact and sturdy - ideal for patio containers or gardens with limited space. It is an ideal choice for growing in between other crops such as slow-growing brassicas to make maximum use of space, as well as a great plant for encouraging children to garden as they will quickly see the results of their efforts. Being a hardy annual, you can be sure of achieving successful early crops. Sow in succession every 2-3 weeks to ensure a continuous harvest from May to October. These onions will thrive in full sun; plant them 15cm (6in) apart in well-dug, fertile soil after the danger of frosts has passed. Supplied as a packet of approx. 650 seeds ready to sow outdoors directly in their cropping position.
This superb all-rounder will produce plentiful crops of medium-sized, bright red, juicy fruits whether placed outdoors or in a greenhouse. Easy to grow and having good resistance to disease, it is a great choice for beginners or experienced gardeners who want a harvest to be proud of. An indeterminate, or cordon type tomato, it will fruit most prolifically when side shoots are pinched out to encourage an upright central stem that requires a support. Each plant will then produce a succession of fruit-laden trusses that ripen from July onwards to give a continuous crop. If left unpruned they will still fruit well, although these will be smaller than those of pruned plants and will ripen later in the season. Being a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, 'Alicante' is a dependable variety that rewards with super quality fruits full of that traditional rich tomato flavour. Their natural sweetness makes them a delicious component in salads and sandwiches and also ideal as a cooking ingredient. Green or immature fruits picked at the end of the season will ripen well on the windowsill - or even make a tasty green tomato chutney. Supplied as a packet of approx. 75 seeds ready to sow indoors from January to April for transplanting into larger pots when 10-15cm (4-6in) tall. Plant on into pots, growbags or a greenhouse border, or place in a container outdoors in sunny position in humus-rich, moisture-retentive soil or compost. Harvest from July to October.
A popular and reliable variety of beetroot, 'Boltardy' is an award-winning, proven gardener's favourite that produces plentiful crops of deep red, globe-shaped roots with a superbly sweet flavour. With fabulously sweet and tender roots, this delicious variety is perfect for cooking - whether roasting or pickling, or for soups and salads. Not only tasty, it is good for you, too, being an excellent source of folate, with good levels of potassium and vitamin C. The green leaves and stems also make good, nutritious eating when harvested young, at about 5-8cm tall. Rich in iron and vitamins, they have a similar flavour to leafy veg such as spinach, kale or Swish chard - delicious when steamed, sautéed or added to soups or stews, or even raw in a salad. Holding the RHS Award of Garden Merit, 'Boltardy' is guaranteed to give high-yielding, high-quality crops that are bolt-resistant, so can be sown for early to late harvesting. The roots' smooth skin, vibrant colour and ring-free flesh also make it a top choice for showing - and popular for organic gardening. Sow outdoors from March to July where they are to crop. They will thrive in a sunny position in fertile, light soil that is moist but well-drained. For maximum yields, sow every 2 to 3 weeks from February to June to ensure a constant supply through the season. Lift young roots to use as 'baby beets', leaving every other in a row to mature to a larger size, if desired. The larger beets can then be stored in dry sand, soil or peat in a cool position to ensure supplies through the winter. Supplied as a packet of approx. 180 seeds ready to sow outdoors March to July, 30cm (12in) apart, directly in their growing position, for harvesting June to October.