Summer scents don’t come much sweeter than those produced by the heliotropes, or cherry pie as they are sometimes called. The old varieties grew into shrubs, but ‘Baby Marine’ is far more compact, making it ideal for small gardens and for edging borders. The flower colour is much improved over the old varieties. It’s a gorgeous, dark, purply blue, great for mixing with a wide range of flower and foliage colours. Try it with some of the exciting new perennials, such as Echinacea ‘Kim’s Knee High’ which has masses of beautiful deep pink blooms on sturdy, 60 cm high stems in summer, or ‘Guara ‘So White’ which goes on producing its masses of elegant, small white flowers on long stems all summer long.

‘Baby Marine’ is also great fun among summer annuals, from marigolds to petunias, with smaller growing English lavender varieties such as ‘Foveaux Storm’ and as a foreground to marguerite daisies and bush roses. Try it with deep red roses for a rich colour scheme - it won’t matter if the roses don’t have much perfume for the fragrance of the heliotrope will dominate anyway.