While you're sowing all your annuals, don't forget to add some calendula (pot marigolds), nasturtium and borage, which you can add to salads and drinks in summer for both flavour and colour.

The lovely orange and yellow nasturtium blooms and calendula petals can be used in salads, while borage flowers were traditionally used in Pimm's and lemonade.

Seeds can be sown in spring and summer directly into the ground, or in modules to plant later where you want them. They look great planted in the front of beds and will soften the look of gravel paths, adding a cottagey feel to your design.

Water well during dry spells and deadhead flowers regularly to encourage further flowering. If you stop doing this at the end of the summer you can collect seeds for next year.