Zinnia Elgans “Zinderella” Lilac – 10 seeds

Oh, Zinnia elegans ‘Zinderella Lilac’ is just the sort of flower one wants tumbling through a fashionable summer border. She has those rather fabulous scabiosa-like, pincushion blooms, in a soft, dreamy lilac-lavender, with a slightly vintage quality that feels wonderfully at home amongst airy grasses, cosmos and pale pink flowers.

What makes ‘Zinderella Lilac’ particularly chic is her ruffled, layered flower centres — far more interesting than your ordinary zinnia, and excellent for cutting. She’ll keep producing stems if you’re ruthless with the snips, which is precisely what a good cutting garden requires.

Give her full sun, reasonably fertile, well-drained soil and regular deadheading, and she’ll flower her socks off through summer. And frankly, if you’re after that slightly romantic, contemporary cottage-garden look, with a touch of florist-shop glamour, ‘Zinderella Lilac’ is rather the zinnia to grow.