Nigella 'Miss Jekyll Mixed' (Love-in-a-mist)

The full Miss Jekyll palette in one packet: sky blue, deep violet-blue, white and soft rose, each flower nestled in the same ruff of thread-fine foliage. At 45 to 60cm a drift reads as an impressionist haze rather than as individual plants.

You get two performances from it. The flowers come first, then each one swells into a striped balloon-shaped seed pod that stands through autumn and dries beautifully for a winter arrangement. You have to choose which you want, though. Deadhead for more flowers over a longer season, or leave them alone for the pods; you cannot have both from the same plant.

Sow it where it is to grow, because the taproot resents moving and a transplanted nigella sulks. September sowing gives earlier, stronger plants than a spring one. Keep it lean, because rich ground gives you more mist and fewer jewels. The black seeds in the dried pods are kalonji, the nutty peppery black cumin used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking. It self-seeds freely and the mix largely holds, though the proportions drift over the years.