Larkspur Fancy Purple Picotee

Double white flowers, each petal edged in a fine violet-purple line, on spires of 100 to 120cm. The picotee is precise rather than smudged, and it is the detail that makes this the one flower farmers keep for themselves.

Larkspur is the annual answer to delphinium, and for most British gardens it is the more sensible plant: the same vertical drama, one season instead of three years, no staking regime, no slug war in spring.

Two things about the seed catch people out. It needs darkness to germinate, so cover it with about 5mm of soil rather than surface-sowing. And it is a cool-season plant that goes dormant if it gets warm; a week in the freezer before sowing breaks that dormancy. September sowing gives the tallest, earliest plants, and March or April works but gives you less. It has a sensitive taproot and must be sown where it is to grow. It cuts for seven to ten days and dries well, and larkspur petals are the traditional biodegradable wedding confetti.

All parts of the plant and the seed are toxic. Wash your hands after handling and keep it from children and pets.