Sow floriferous: seeds of new and trusted varieties to look out for
1. Tagetes Cinnabar
A form of African marigold that’s nothing like the stunted, big-headed hybrids that plant breeders seem to like. About 3ft tall, with wiry stems, this is an airy plant that’s covered in small coppery-red flowers with petals that are delicately edged in gold. It was raised in the gardens at Great Dixter, which is a pretty good pedigree for a plant.
2. Calendula Snow Princess
I saw this for the first time during the summer and will be growing it next year. It’s maketed as a white marigold, but it’s more creamy than that. Paint manufacturers would describe it as ‘white with a hint of lemon’. The petals have a very fine crimson fringe, which fades as the flowers age.
3. Tithonia Torch
This is a big and bold plant I’ve been growing for years and never tire of. The luminous orange flowers have a velvety texture and are about 3in in diameter. It varies in height between 5ft and 8ft, but even in the dry summer we had this year, mine reached 6ft. It’s a slow starter, coming into flower in July, but sailing on until the first hard frosts sink it.
4. Amberboa muricata
I’ve admired this for a number of years, but only grew it for the first time last year. I was impressed by its stamina, as it flowered until the end of October. The flowers resemble thistles, but have very fine, soft petals. Bees and butterflies like the flat, open shape of the flower. It grows to about 3ft tall and is supposed to have a slight scent, but you need a better nose than mine to discern it.
5. Zinnia Queen Red Lime
Part of a new Queen series of Zinnias with full-headed flowers of chartreuse-green petals that don’t fade. I think that this is the best of the hybrids that have been proposed for the once-popular Z. Envy. Zinnias have a reputation for being difficult to raise; the seedlings hate being waterlogged, which can happen with modern multi-purpose composts, so use a traditional loam-based one.
6. Salpiglossis Kew Blue
This is like one of those old friends you enjoy spending time with, but then don’t see for a couple of years. I’m growing it again next year after a break and looking forward to its inky-blue flowers, which have a luxurious purple sheen. If it’s not rigorously deadheaded, the stems become leggy and untidy and it stops flowering.
7. Cosmos bipinnatus Double Click Cranberries
Cosmos have seen a revival in recent years, due in part to the rather oddly named
Double Click Series, which has semi-double, slightly tousled flowers. Double Click Cranberries has flowers that resemble crumpled chiffon, with carmine petals that have a pale reverse. It will grow to about 3ft tall and produces masses of flowers.
8. Nigella papillosa African Bride
Love-in-a-mist is irresistible, both in flower and later with its inflated seed pods. The flowers are usually a shade of blue, but this one has sparkling white petals with a central boss of chocolate-coloured stamens. It will seed itself everywhere, but there are worse plants you could be overrun by and, if it becomes too unruly, the seedlings are easily hoed away.
9. Dolichos lablab Ruby Moon
A fast-growing climbing member of the bean family, with mauve and pale-pink flowers and purple foliage. It’s the beans that attract most attention: large, glossy purple pods that tumble over pots or flow down bean poles until the first frosts.
10. Orlaya grandiflora
An elegant umbellifer with clear-white flowers that resembles a compact and well-behaved cow parsley. It looks equally at home in wilder parts of the garden as it does threaded through traditional borders. The petals in the outer ring act as landing pads for hoverflies and other insects.