Daffodil

French marigolds are the workhorses of companion planting — their pungent scent confuses pests and their roots release chemicals that suppress soil nematodes. They're particularly effective planted alongside tomatoes, peppers, and brassicas. Beyond pest control, they're genuinely beautiful, producing a non-stop display of orange, yellow, and red blooms from June until the first hard frost. They're among the easiest flowers to grow from seed, germinating quickly and flowering within 8 weeks of sowing. Deadhead regularly to keep the display going. In the allotment context, scatter them generously between vegetable rows — they attract hoverflies whose larvae devour aphids. The flowers are also edible, adding colour to salads.

Sunflowers are the flowers that children grow and adults never tire of — their cheerful, towering presence lifts any garden. Giant varieties like 'Russian Giant' can reach 3 metres or more, turning any allotment into a dramatic backdrop. For cut flowers, try multi-headed varieties like 'Velvet Queen' (deep burgundy) or 'Lemon Queen' (pale yellow). Sow seeds directly where they're to grow from late April — they germinate quickly and grow at an astonishing rate. In exposed positions, stake tall varieties to prevent wind damage. The seed heads provide valuable food for goldfinches and other birds in autumn — leave them standing rather than cutting them down. Sunflowers also have practical uses on the allotment: they can act as living supports for climbing beans, their deep roots improve soil structure, and they attract pollinators to your plot. Slugs can destroy seedlings, so protect them until they're large enough to withstand nibbling.

Sweet peas are the quintessential English cottage garden flower, grown primarily for their intoxicating scent and delicate, ruffled blooms. They're climbers, reaching 1.5–2 metres, and need support — wigwams of canes, trellis, or netting all work well. The golden rule is to pick, pick, pick: the more you cut, the more flowers the plant produces. Once you let seed pods develop, flowering slows dramatically. For the longest season, sow seeds in October in root trainers and overwinter in a cold frame — these autumn-sown plants flower weeks earlier than spring sowings. Alternatively, sow in March–April under cover. Nick or soak the seeds overnight before sowing to speed up germination of their hard seed coats. 'Matucana' has arguably the strongest scent; 'Spencer' types offer the largest, most ruffled blooms. Sweet peas make sublime cut flowers, filling a room with fragrance for days.

Nasturtiums are the allotment grower's best friend — effortlessly easy to grow, brilliantly coloured, and with multiple practical uses. They're a 'trap crop' for blackfly: aphids prefer nasturtiums to your beans and brassicas, concentrating the pests where they can be managed or sacrificed. Both the flowers and the young leaves are peppery and edible, excellent in salads. The unripe seed pods can even be pickled in vinegar as 'poor man's capers'. Sow seeds directly from late April — they grow in any soil and actively produce more flowers in poor, unfertilised ground. Rich soil produces lots of leaves but fewer flowers. Trailing varieties cascade beautifully over edges and out of containers; climbing varieties will scramble up supports to 2 metres. 'Empress of India' has dark foliage and rich scarlet flowers; 'Alaska' has cream-splashed variegated leaves. They self-seed freely in mild areas.