What are these fiery beauties?
Q
I so loved these orange and yellow flowers I planted last year that I wanted to plant them again, but have forgotten what they are called. Can you tell me what they are? Adele Haddon (via email)
A
The bright-yellow one could be Tagetes ‘Lemon Gem’, whose large lemon-yellow blooms are so prolific that they tend to conceal the foliage. The red and orange performers are likely to be forms of Tagetes ‘Tangerine Gem’, another free-flowering variety that always commands attention.
If you wish to grow them again it is a little late for this year, but a sowing now would still yield a wealth of late-summer blooms. You can order seeds from Chiltern Seeds, which is based in
Wallingford, Oxfordshire. ✆ 01491 824675, 8 chilternseeds.co.uk.