Best annuals for colour

ANNUALS are easy to grow, cheap and long-flowering, and the brightly colored forms fill the garden with cheer. The likes of cornflower, cosmos, zinnia, snapdragon and calendula are available in vibrant paintbox shades of magenta, scarlet, orange and cobalt, which brighten bare patches in borders from June into autumn.

‘The bolder, brighter colour flowers are always a joy to grow,’ say florists Caroline Harding and Kate Dalton, who grow their own flowers at the Sussex Cutting Garden. ‘The paler blooms, especially whites, get very bruised and damaged by summer rain, but the bolder colours seem to withstand a lot more inclement weather.’

Taking centre stage

At Great Dixter in East Sussex, which is famed for its use of striking colour, poppies are one of the annuals that take centre stage. The Ferrari-red ‘Ladybird’ poppy is shown off by being