Top veg patch flowers

Borage

The blue or white star-like flowers of borage are traditionally used as a decoration for a glass of Pimms – they can be used fresh or frozen in ice cubes. The blooms are a magnet for bees, so it’ll also boost crop pollination, but handle with care, as the hairy leaves can cause skin irritation.

Calendula

Pot marigolds are a hardy annual that can be sown in spring and autumn. The cheerful orange or yellow flowers have a peppery taste and are often added to salads. They also make a good cut flower and are attractive to insects.

Poached egg plant

Amid mounds of low-growing foliage, the masses of white and yellow, cup-shaped blooms are a favourite of hoverflies. It makes ideal path-edging groundcover, where it’ll look fabulous and also suppress weeds. A hardy annual, it’ll self-seed, returning every spring.

Sweet William

It’s hard to beat this cottage garden plant for a long-lasting cut flower. The clovescented blooms come in white, pink, purple, red and almost black. Some need to be treated as biennials, sown in early summer for flowers the following year, others will flower in the first year if sown in February.

Scabiosa atropurpurea

These pincushion-like flowers on tall, wiry stems come in a great variety of colours, from white, lilac and shades of pink to rich berry tones and apricot. Loved by bees and butterflies, the flowers will last for 10 days when picked and new ones are produced throughout summer.

Nasturtium

This versatile annual has edible leaves, flowers and seeds, all with a peppery kick. They can also lure large and small white butterflies away from brassica crops. Use bushy nasturtium varieties to edge paths, and the climbing types can be allowed to scramble across the soil or trained to grow up plant supports.