SPOTLIGHT ON... cut flowers

These are one of life’s little luxuries, but even when you’re tightening your belt there’s no need to stint yourself – simply grow your own.

Annual varieties bring all the charm of a country garden indoors. They are easy to grow in gaps in borders or a spare row in the veg patch.

Sweet peas are a must. Sow some now even if you have young plants coming on.

Autumn-sown sweet peas start flowering early but they will have run out of steam by midsummer so have a second batch to follow on.

As they’re hardy annuals, you could sow them outside now but rodents, pigeons and the cold, wet weather could take their toll. Play safe and sow under cover, then plant out in better conditions.

Many of our favourite cut flowers are half-hardies. These want sowing on a warm windowsill indoors now and can’t be planted out until the frosts are safely past, getting on for the end of May.

When you’re shopping for seeds don’t choose bedding varieties since they will be too short for this job. Instead, go for long-stemmed options, which are far better for vases.

Stocks are essential if you want glam flowers combined with an intoxicating spicy scent.

The sort to sow now are 10-week stocks. Even if they don’t flower to their exact timescale they’ll soon have straight spikes of colourful pastel blooms growing to about 18 inches.

You might add cosmos, which have tall, feathery-foliaged stems topped by enormous, single, daisy-like flowers in vibrant colours. There’s also a beautiful pure white variety. And China asters are old favourites, too.