Sunflower Red Sun

A clean pure crimson without a trace of brown or orange in it, round a near-black disc. That cleanness is the whole distinction. It is not the warm burgundy of 'Chocolate' and not the red-and-gold bicolour of 'Ring of Fire' but a flat declarative red that reads as red from the other end of a garden.

It branches, so a single plant throws multiple lateral stems through the season and keeps producing from July into September rather than giving you one flower and finishing.

At 60 to 90cm it is manageable and does not need the staking a two-metre giant does. Sow one seed per pot, because the taproot comes fast and hates disturbance, and protect the young plants from slugs for the first two or three weeks after they go out.

For cutting, take it when the outer petals have fully unfurled but the disc is still firm, recut the stem at an angle under water and stand it overnight in deep water before arranging. Ten to fourteen days in the vase after that.