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on these as the only means of support. The shoots will branch out and produce spectacular flowers in midsummer.AdamTry planting other exotic summer-flowering plants, like eucomis, tiger flower and calla lilyMore on summer colourPlant summer-flowering bulbs in pots

You can never have enough lettuce in summer, but sowing directly into the soil takes up valuable space in the garden. Keep a regular supply growing by sowing seeds in lengths of plastic guttering: short, 1m lengths are convenient and easy to handle

when the plants are less likely to wilt, and pot them up as soon as you can, keeping them out of strong sunlight.PinksCuttings compostGardeners' knifeSecateursSmall potsJune20 minutesSnip 10cm lengths from the tops of healthy, non-flowering shoots

Saving seed from your garden plants is easy to do and will provide you with plenty to sow next season. Leave a few seedheads on your plants after they've finished flowering, removing the rest to conserve the plant's energy. Alternatively

. Sweet peas dislike root disturbance so grow them in cardboard tubes or coir pots. This will enable you to plant them out in their containers without damaging the roots.Sweet pea seedsSeed compostCardboard tubesJanuary - May20 minutesSow seeds

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed and should germinate within two weeks. Compact cherry varieties can be grown in pots and hanging baskets, while larger, cordon types are more suited to being raised in the ground or in growing bags. Tomato seedsSeed

Sowing cyclamen from seed is surprisingly easy, but it's not a job for the impatient gardener: grown this way it can take a year or more before you are rewarded with beautiful blooms. To produce indoor plants you need to use seeds of tender large

on growing salad leavesGrow salad leaves from seed - video project with Joe SwiftGrow tomatoes from seed - with advice from Joe SwiftSow salad in gutteringPlant out lettuces

one small, inexpensive seed.Sweet peas aside, annual climbers are rarely seen in borders, but they're easy to grow from seed with a heated propagator in a greenhouse (or a frost-free porch or indoor window sill).Annual climbers are often grown as fast