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theory that the lack of light 'forces' sunflowers to grow taller, and some would-be record-breakers place upturned plant pots over their sunflowers to achieve the same effect. Last year I grew a sunflower to a height of about about 2.5m without trying

Last month, we challenged you to break the World Record for growing the tallest sunflower. Free seeds of 'Russian Giant' were given out with the April issue of Gardeners’ World magazine, and many of you emailed us to register your interest in taking

hoverfly). Both of these are supposed to resemble the common wasp to deter predators, and are completely harmless. They lay their eggs on plants and their larvae eat aphids.Having abandoned hopes of growing the world's tallest sunflower, I'm now content

, then leave the main shoot to grow and remove any side shoots. Let each plant concentrate on forming a single stem and the resulting flowers should be bigger. You'll get less of them, but these long-stemmed fragrant flowers will look perfect in a vase.Some say

on growing summer displaysSowing sunflower seeds, demonstrated by Monty DonSarah Raven gives advice on taking dahlia cuttingsPlants for late-summer colourCreating a daisy window box

. Foxglove14. Heather15. Honeysuckle16. Lavender17. Poppy18. Pussy willow19. Raspberry20. Red Campion21. Rosemary22. Scabious23. Sea Holly24. Sunflower25. Teasel26. Thistles27. Viper's bugloss28. WisteriaI'm growing 21 of the above plants in my garden

. In terms of value, a single perennial could cost you, say, £5.00 to buy, but you could pick up a packet of Godetia Dwarf Mixed flower seed for just £1.39, and grow 1,000 plants! Yes, 1,000 seeds in a packet, and other hardy annuals offer similar great value

'. This is a half-hardy annual from central Australia, and is heat and drought tolerant, as you'd expect of plants from this part of the world. 'Joey' grows to about 30-35cm tall and produces glorious feathery, silvery-pink plumes. I've never grown anything