I have chosen flowers for a 2.5m x 1.25m bed. They are easy to germinate from seed, and some can be bought as plug plants from garden centres or by mail order. A mix of hardy and half-hardy annuals and biennial plants and a tender dahlia will give you, from late spring to mid-autumn, enough flowers to make posies and fill small vases. SHOPPING LIST Dahlia ‘Karma Choc’ x 1 (pictured above) Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Candy Stripe’ x 2 Ammi visnaga x 2 Biennial stocks (Matthiola) x 6 – replace with dahlias in early summer. Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) x 12 Daucus carota ‘Black Knight’ x 2 Dianthus barbatus x 4 Scabiosa atropurpurea ‘Black Cat’ x 2 Narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête’ x 30 – plant these around the edge of your bed. Photograph: blickwinkel/AlamyCosmos bipinnatus 'Candy stripe'Photograph: Clare Gainey/AlamyAmmi visnagaPhotograph: Steffen Hauser/botanikfoto/Alamy
Biennial stocks (Matthiola incana)Photograph: WILDLIFE GmbH/AlamySweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) Photograph: John Glover /AlamyScabiosa atropurpurea 'Black Cat'Photograph: Jonathan BuckleySweet william (Dianthus barbatus)Photograph: Carole Drake/GAP PhotosNarcissus 'Tete a Tete'. Click here for more advice on preparing your soil for planting.Photograph: SJ Images /Alamy
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