Alcea ficifolia is a less-known variety of hollyhock. It is a perennial variety, with attractive palmate foliage. The plant produces many upright stems and has a busy form. Large, single saucer shaped flowers appear from May to October in a gorgeous variety of antique shades - cream, gold, rose, copper and plum.

Alcea ficifolia, with its pale butter-yellow single flowers is a most impressive plant. Reliably perennial, it produces many upright stems resulting in a bushy form. Very easy to grow from seed, it is extremely hardy and will flourish in full sun and rich soil. The long stems make for excellent cut flowers.

‘Chater’s Double’ give a wonderful mixed colour range of large, fully double flowers are nearly pom-pom in appearance. Rosettes of big hairy leaves will develop by autumn then die back before winter. It will bloom the following summer .... the word bloom being an understatement!

This gorgeous award winning Hollyhock has the distinction of being the shortest in the Alcea rosea family. “Queeny” is a dwarf Hollyhock that reaches only 60cm (24in) in height with fully double blooms. Unlike the tall varieties, it is a perennial that can also be used as an annual as it will bloom in its first year.

Hollyhocks are a mysterious and prolific flower with a long and rich history. Traditionally associated with cottage-style borders, the dramatic, near-black flowers of Nigra work equally well in a contemporary, minimalist garden. This unique variety creates an impressive impact against most backgrounds.

These wonderful old-fashioned flowers make an excellent backdrop for shorter flowers and blend into any garden with great charm and ease. If planted early in spring, Indian Spring will bloom the first year in wonderfully warm shades of ruby through pink and rose to white.

Hollyhocks are almost as easy to grow as sunflowers and would probably be grown as often if more gardeners were aware of their good nature. “Sawyers Single Mix”, with large single flowers in a range of colours from deep red to rose, grace this tall back of the border plant from summer to autumn.

This ever-popular annual is perhaps more versatile than you might imagine – good in the border, most effective as a cut flower in arrangements, a good pot-plant and, not often appreciated – if carefully dried, the colour of the spikes remains unchanged for a considerable time.

Amaranthus paniculatus 'Oeschberg' is a rather splendid ornamental addition to the garden: an erect annual, it bears showy red spikes of flowers that not only decorate the border but, fresh or dry, make exciting vase material as they keep their colour when dried.

Amaranthus tricolour ‘Early Splendour’ is grown for its beautiful foliage, the large bronzy-green leaves turn to rosy red leaves as the season progresses. Also known as ‘Summer Poinsettia’ due to the similarity of the bracts, this highly ornamental plant is easy to grow and fast to flower.

Designing a garden with the focus on flowers is missing half the fun, this fiery colourful foliage will add dimension to any planting scheme. ‘Illumination’ is a stunning tricolour variety of Amaranthus, with upper leaves that are a spectacular scarlet and golden orange set atop olive green foliage.

Fabulous foliage adorns this easy and fast growing annual. Also known as Joseph's Coat, this highly ornamental plant adds an explosion of colour to the garden in bright, stable tricolour blends of red, yellow and green. It is utterly breathtaking in mass plantings and very useful as a temporary shrub.

‘Mariska’ is a little known but hardy and compact variety of Dill. With starry bright yellow flower heads, abundant foliage and growing to only 60cm, this well behaved smaller dill is an excellent variety for use as a cut flower filler and is a great variety for the kitchen garden, windowsill or container.