Zinnia Lilliput Mix

Small round pompon balls of three to five centimetres in the bright cottage primaries, red, pink, orange, yellow, white and bicolours, on bushy plants at 45 to 60cm. Dozens of flowers per plant rather than a few big ones.

It is the zinnia for a container, a small garden or the front of a border, where 'Giants of California' would be out of scale. It also starts earlier, often opening in the first week of July, and keeps going into October. For butterflies the many small heads work better than a few large ones, because each is a landing platform and there are more of them.

The usual zinnia rules apply, and the first is the important one. They loathe cold wet ground: a plant put out in May sits yellow and sulking and frequently never picks up. Wait for June. Sow them individually so the roots are never disturbed, pinch at 10 to 15cm for a bushy plant, and water at the base rather than over the foliage, because mildew is their weakness. Deadhead and they keep producing.