Achilleas are cheery border, wildflower and rock garden plants with flattened heads in a range of bright colours from white to lemon, pink and red. Recommended varieties
New colourful varieties keep coming on the market. Easily grown, they look after themselves and give a failsafe show.
Achilleas are usually deciduous perennials best suited to cottage rather than formal gardens.

Growing tips
Site and soil preferences
Provide good sun and light, sandy soils. They almost invariably die over winter if there is any clay in the ground.
Deadheading
Achilleas flower from June to July, and sporadically in August and September if the plants are deadheaded.
Cutting back and dividing
Some varieties stand a better chance of surviving if they are cut back hard after flowering. Divide and rejuvinate the older plants in autumn or spring, although these new plants usually have inferior flowers to their parents.

Deciding what to grow is one of the best things about vegetable growing, but it's important to choose carefully and not get too carried away. Choose vegetables you really like, and look out for interesting varieties that you can harvest progressively. This will ensure that you have a ready supply of delicious vegetables throughout the growing season.
Once you've made your selection, divide up your plot into four beds. Grow vegetables in four separate beds, grouped according to our guide. The reason for this 'grouping' is that you should not a grow the same vegetable in the same place year after year. Continuous cropping of the same plant can exhaust the soil of nutrients and pests and diseases can build up.
The answer to this potential problem is consistent plot rotation: in your second year of vegetable growing, your vegetables will 'move up' one bed. Your group two vegetables will be planted where the group one vegetables previously were, group three moves to the group two bed and so on. This allows the soil to recover, and the rotation can even be beneficial to future vegetables: for example, the nitrogen that peas and beans naturally deposit in the soil is perfect for encouraging growth in cauliflowers and cabbages.

Buy ready grown plants of sweet pepper, chilli pepper, cherry tomato and aubergine, strawberries and herbs or try cut salad mixes grown from seed.
Mix a handful of water-retaining crystals into your compost and fill your pot to the top. Gently tap to settle the compost and firm down with your fingertips. Leave a 2cm (1in) gap between the compost and the top of the pot for watering.
Scoop out compost in the centre to leave a hole slightly bigger than the rootball of your plant.
Gently remove plant from pot and place in hole. Replace compost around the plant and firm, making sure the surface of the plant is level with the top of the compost.
If growing from seed, check the instructions on the packet. Either raise in small pots before planting into larger ones or scatter across the surface of the compost and water in.
For larger fruit bushes such as blueberries, figs, peaches and apricots, select a larger pot and make sure you check the compost requirements on the plant label.