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More gardeners choose pansies and violas as their favourite bedding plant than any other flower.These brightly coloured flowers with their cheerful faces brave the very worst of our weather to put on displays during winter and spring, and voting

, or a recent favourite, the fan flower (scaevola).But these large-flowered busy Lizzies kick many other summer bedding plants into second (or third) place. They're stunning! Find a spot they like, which is thankfully a shaded position that most other sun

Cosmos was one of the first bedding plants I ever grew from seed, and still remains a favourite. It provides height to displays with an airiness few other plants can match. Tall stems carry fine, feathery foliage, each topped with simple, brightly

Who could ever produce enough compost for all their needs? I remember watching the late Geoff Hamilton at Barnsdale week after week on Gardeners' World, using countless buckets of beautiful home-made compost. Every planting hole was filled

In the past, either greed or wishful thinking has tempted me to cram far too many sweetcorn plants into my vegetable beds, resulting in very disappointing yields. This year I was determined to supply my family with a decent crop of sweetcorn, which

of paying pounds for tubers. Of course they take time to grow and mature, just like any bedding plant, but seed-raised dahlias form tubers too. That means they can get through winter and grow up again the following year.The main gripe I've got with the seed

to everyone.For me it's the single colours that appeal. Bedding plant producers tell me that at retail it's always packs of colour mixtures that sell best, but I always avoid these. OK, so I must be an exception, but thankfully the seed companies cater to my

certainly flourished. It also provides support for a Clematis viticella planted alongside, and I loosely train new shoots up the camellia as they grow.Next come two camellias growing in raised beds in a shaded position. I built low brick walls to create

.Chrysanthemums are cheap, cheerful, and wonderful plants. Just when you've given up on the garden, with summer bedding displays coming to an abrupt end, along come chrysanths to provide the colourful punctuation every garden needs.I mostly use them in pots, pulling out

have to consider switching to alternative bedding plants. Clearly this also worries the plant breeders and growers who make a living out of developing and raising busy Lizzies.At present it appears that impatiens downy mildew only infects varieties