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three metres.M. soulangeana is much bigger - you can see it dominating many front gardens in streets all over the country. It has bigger cup shaped flowers which carry a striking pink tinge to their petals. They reach up to eight metres in height

' - a small tree, with a height of just 4mPrunus 'Kanzan' - its great big flowers are knicker-pinkPrunus serrula - its bark is as shiny as a Sergeant Major's broguesOne thing you should be aware of, as I mentioned, is the length of the flowering season

(you will see a fair bit of this plant at the Chelsea Flower Show next week as it is perfect for the time of year). Another one that I love is Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum', which has flowers of softest fairy pink that fade to white.* A biennial

nearly as long flowering it has spikes of flower where bonariensis and rigida have plates. It also comes in blue (hastata), pink (hastata rosea) and white (hastata alba). Even more hoorays all round (and perhaps the occasional whoopee.)

, to custard coloured daisies (Layia platyglossa), candy pink campion, mallows, coreopsis, gypsophila, corncockles and grinning sunflowers. My favourite is probably the little Linaria reticulata (you can see its little magenta and orange flowers in this picture

. Persicaria officinalis (or orientalis) is about 2m high with sturdy stems that don't need staking and heavenly hanging pink flowers. In America it goes by the name of Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate, which is another big selling point.I'm sure there are lots

-sized shrub with ditzy white flowers dotted along its semi-naked branches. It has a sharper, slightly spiced scent - more aftershave than soft florals.The most common is Viburnum bodnantense, which has boudoir pink flowers and smells of a Duchess's swansdown

and has been a pleasure since the beginning of May. It sends out great plumes of white flowers that fade to dusty pink as time passes.Third on the list is Datisca cannabina: a plant I bought from Marina Christopher at Phoenix Perennial Plants. A towering

major disaster has come to light. Due to a mix up in the bulb warehouse, a batch of tulips that should have been pure white Tulipa 'Purissima' turned out to be unidentified huge-flowered red things, which do not agree at all with the neighbouring pink

colour, from frilly-knicker-pink and daffodil yellow, to navy blue ruffs and watery marmalade. Some seek to combine all the colours of an ice-cream shop in one flower - which I think is a bit of an insult to a noble stalwart. Personally, I prefer