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The sweet pea is a British favourite; not quite as popular as the rose but definitely up there in the top five. However, while there are numerous songs and poems about roses, the poets and wandering minstrels have been a bit sluggish when it comes

year when I got really obsessed trying to grow the very best sweet peas – just like the show growers. To produce flowers with really long straight stems you need to grow plants as single stemmed cordons. Each plant is only allowed to produce one shoot

What a magnificent year for sweet peas. We've had a constant supply, with bunches of them in every corner of the house. They're lovely, until the pungent, all-pervading pong hits you, when you know you've left them in vase/glass/mug just a few too

Brighter days and lighter evenings are really cheering me up, as is the anticipation of borders packed with sunflowers and sweet peas this summer.Seeds from the free packet of sunflower 'Russian Giant' and sweet pea '20th Anniversary Mix' that came

sweet peas that ended up in the border, but they're no giants.I've succeeded in my personal mission to beat Adam Pasco in the height stakes, as did our our colleague Ross, who managed to grow his sunflowers to a respectable 2m. Others weren't so lucky

and scented sweet pea. The list goes on.Hardy annual seed can be sown directly into your garden borders where they will flower - no messing round with pots, seed trays or pricking out. Just sow where you want colour, and leave them to it (well, a little bit

Aquilegia, astilbe, campanula, comfrey, everlasting sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius), fennel, foxglove, geranium, potentilla, snapdragon, stachys, teasel, thyme, verbascum.Early-summer flowersAngelica, aster, buddleia, cardoon, cornflower (Centaurea), dahlia (single

The April 2011 issue of Gardeners' World magazine comes with two packets of free seeds: sweet peas and sunflowers. The sunflower variety, 'Russian Giant' promises to reach a height of around 2m, but we think it can do a little better than that