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We are now enjoying the wonderful displays provided by biennial plants in our gardens. These include sweet Williams, wallflowers, Canterbury bells, forget-me-nots and honesty. These old fashioned, cottage garden favourites need a little planning but they are worth that bit f extra effort because you do not need any special facilities like a greenhouse to grow them and you can save a fortune on buying them in the autumn from a garden centre. Wallflowers are slightly different to the rest because they are best sown in rows in the garden -- they do not thrive in multipurpose compost. Make shallow drills (furrows) water them well, sow the seeds thinly and cover lightly with soil. As the plants grow they are thinned and the tips pinched out so you have good plants to set out in October, where they will flower. The rest can be sown in seed trays or pots now. You can leave them in a coldframe or outside -- they do not need extra heat. As they germinate, transplant the seedlings into trays or cell trays and make sure you give them liquid feed through the summer so they grow strongly. Plant them out in September or October. Top tip -- lupins and hollyhocks can be grown very successfully this way too.

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