Popular biennial garden flower. Large flowering, sweetly- scented double blooms in colourful combinations of reds, pinks, and whites with some bi-coloured. Blooms the year after planting in mid-spring to mid-summer. The beautiful colours and the amazing scent make this Sweet William an ideal cut flower. This tall variety of an old-fashioned favourite is an excellent background plant in beds and borders. Grows best in full sun.

Sow sweet william seeds on the surface of a good free- draining compost and slightly cover them with vermiculate or compost. Seal the seed tray in a polythene bag and keep at 14-21 Celsius. Germination takes 10-20 days.Alternatively these flower seeds can be sown directly outside in late spring, 0.5 cm deep. Leave about 30 cm between rows and thin out the seedlings as they emerge leaving 20-30 cm between the plants.

Transplant the seedlings when large enough to handle into pots and grow them on in cooler conditions. Plant them to their final position in the autumn for flowering the following spring.