Best of the bunch - fuchsia.

They can now be seen adorning beds, borders, hanging baskets and containers, their multi-coloured pendulum flowers, in singles, doubles, semi-doubles and clusters, hanging daintily in a variety of situations, from the trailing to the standard and bush.

The colours ( white, mauve, violet, pink, red and cream, often with two colours on a single flower ( make fuchsias one of summer's most popular plants which can survive the winter if taken indoors. They do need plenty of water, though, so I personally find that they are not a particularly low-maintenance option if you find hosepipe duty a chore.

Good bedding varieties include Mission Bells, with red sepals (outer petals) and purple corolla (inner petals), Fascination (deep pink sepals, pale pink corolla) or Checkerboard (red and white sepals, red corolla).

There are some outdoor varieties which are hardy but frost may cut down the top growth in winter. These include Brilliant which is scarlet and magenta, and Tennessee Waltz, with pink outer petals and lilac inner petals.