Pink

Ideal in cottage gardens packed with old-fashioned plants, 'Mrs Sinkins' (named after Catherine Sinkins, who raised it and died in 1917) has attractive, ragged petals with a pale green centre. It is best grown right at the front of a border where you can fully appreciate its gorgeous sweet scent. It blends nicely with other old-fashioned, subtly-coloured pinks such as the white 'Dad's Favourite' with maroon lacing, but for stronger contrasts go for the bolder, modern, repeat-flowering, weakly-scented kind like the red and white 'Alice'. If you haven't got a flower bed in full sun with quick-draining soil, you can grow pinks in troughs or old sinks where you can guarantee the right conditions.