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Magnolias are some of the most magnificent specimens in the garden. Magnolia kobus is a beautiful small tree which displays upright oval growth in youth, bearing flowers at an early age, it spreads and mounds with maturity. They can be used as specimens or as lovely backdrops for other plantings.

Malva is one of the truly grand old-fashioned flowers of that almost mythical English Cottage Garden, which so many people strive to recreate. With lovely ice-pink flowers and finely lobed foliage that possesses the elegance of some ferns, Malva will bloom profusely given a sunny position.

Shorter than the species, Malva moschata 'Appleblossom' grows 45 to 60cm in height. The satiny, single flowers in a lovely soft shade of silver-pink, are textured and striated like crepe, they have a lustrous lacquered quality in sunlight. Wonderfully appealing to bees and other pollinators, they also make a good cut flower.

Considered by many gardeners to be the most desirable of the Malva species, this rare white-flowered form is even lovelier than the normal rose-pink Musk Mallow. Flowering throughout the summer, the pure white, scented flowers contrast beautifully with the ferny foliage.

Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina' is an easily raised perennial which thrives in sun or part shade, producing strong, erect stems crammed with white to pink flowers with purple, almost black 'flamed' markings. The purple veins out as if stroked on with a paint brush.

Malva 'Bibor Felho' feature velvety, plum-purple flowers with deep purple veins which emerge from distinctive purple flower buds. A short-lived perennial that is often grown as a biennial or as an annual, this electric, willowy plant mingles well in the herbaceous border with plants of equal stature.

Matthiola ‘Cinderella’ is an extremely early and long flowering series of stocks that is now available in a series of modern colourways. Ideal for the border or for container growing, the flowers bloom uniformly across the colour range and are selectable for 100% doubleness.

Matthiola ‘Cinderella’ is an extremely early and long flowering series that produces a high percentage of double flowers. Magnificently fragrant with a sweet and spicy clove scent, there is very little to match Stocks for their fragrance, flower displays and ease of growing.

Matthiola ‘Cinderella’ is an improved series of dwarf Stocks, extremely early and long flowering series with a high percentage of double flowers, they are magnificently fragrant with a sweet and spicy clove scent. From sowing to flowering takes around 90 days.

There is very little to match Stocks for their fragrance, flower displays and ease of growing. Matthiola ‘Cinderella’ is an improved series that is extremely early and long flowering. Sow anytime from January to July for flowering April to October.

Matthiola ‘Lucinda’ is a fabulous series of mid-season Stocks that have been bred for especially for cut flower production. They bloom uniformly across the colour range to facilitate cutting at the same time. This fabulous series is now available in range of single colours including Deep Blue.

Matthiola ‘Lucinda’ have been bred with stronger stems in order to improve both the vase life and the suitability for using this cut flower in bouquets. The plants have an upright habit and grow to a height to 75cm. The vase life is usually 7 to 10 days in water at room temperature.

The Brompton Stocks have been in cultivation for well over a hundred years, and no wonder. The robust, branching, fast-growing, vigorous plants, are wonderful for flowering in late spring and early summer. They produce gloriously scented flowers in a good colour range and are splendid for cutting.

Florists’ bouquets often include stocks. They enchant us with the soft colours of the double flowers and with their intensely sweet scent. The Miracle series is specifically cultivated for cutting. With extremely large flower heads and upright strong stems, they do not branch but grow neatly to about 70cm tall.

A pure white variety of our familiar Stocks, Matthiola incana ‘Pillow Talk’ is utterly gorgeous. An excellent flower for spring and a great addition to the cutting garden. They enchant us not only with their beautiful blooms, but above all, with their intensely sweet scent.

Night or Evening-scented Stock is one of the easiest and rewarding scented plants to grow. The flowers open in the late afternoon and emit a most delightful fragrance. The scent has been compared to vanilla, rose, spice and even cloves. It will become a summer fragrance you will never want to be without!

The Meconopsis genus contains some of the most exquisitely beautiful of all flowering plants. M. cambrica is the easiest to grow, and is reliably perennial. The delicate cup-shaped, golden-yellow flowers are borne in abundance from late spring to early autumn.

This is the familiar Livingstone Daisy or, as it seems to be generally known, just "Mesembryanthemum". A cultivated strain of this splendid annual plant with a spreading habit, the plants are covered with flowers in a wide range of brilliant shades of gold, salmon, pink, purple and carmine red.

Mimosa pudica, the 'sensitive plant', is a source of fascination to adults and children alike. When touched, the narrow fern-like leaflets they almost instantaneously fold together and the leaf stalk droops. This sometimes sets off a chain reaction, with several leaf stalks falling on top of one another.