Start sowing in June

Pak choi

I love the crisp, juicy texture and umami flavours of pak choi, but I find it takes some careful growing to persuade it to grow to full size and form that elegantly waisted, vase-like shape: you’ve got a better chance if you grow it in the cool of autumn, but in summer it tends to bolt. So I cheat! If you grow pak choi as baby leaves instead, sowing direct into the ground and snipping the seedlings at 10cm tall, you get all the flavour with none of the hassle.

• How to grow pak choi

Night-scented stock

I love to take a cuppa out into the garden in the evenings as the sun goes down: and even more so when I catch the heady, sweet perfume of night-scented stock on the air. You’ll almost always find it aflutter with moths of all kinds, as they adore its nectar-rich, soft, lavender-blue flowers. It’s so easy to grow – just sow direct into any patch of ground and poke a few peasticks among seedlings for them to lean on as they grow.

• 12 plants for evening scent

Poached egg plant

The poached egg plant is my go-to flower for cheering up a dull corner of the garden: you can’t help but smile when you see its cheery little cupped flowers with their egg-yolk yellow centres popping from the dense, ground-covering foliage. They’re full of nectar and absolute magnets for pollinating insects – I often sow them in the veg garden in the hope the bees they attract will boost my beans while they’re there.