GINA PARKINSON picks out the highlights from a new seed catalogue.

Seed catalogues are beginning to drop through the letter box and the first to arrive is the one from Thompson and Morgan.

As usual, the full colour catalogue is overflowing with tempting pictures of gorgeous plants with several new varieties for 2004 as well as all the popular ones gardeners like to see.

The company's 2004 Flower Of The Year, which is illustrated on the front of the catalogue, is Sweet Pea 'Sugar 'n' Spice' (25 seeds/£1.99) a hanging basket variety with a neat, compact growing habit. Growing to about 18cm, 'Sugar 'n' Spice' is sweetly scented with blooms in a wide range of colours including pinks, lilacs and bi-colours.

Among the new plants is Viola x wittrockiana 'Envy' (20 seeds/£1.99) an olive-green flowered pansy that will bloom over a long period. A hardy perennial, 'Envy' will grow in full sun or partial shade and is suitable for borders or containers. Occasionally some of the flowers will be affected by changing weather conditions becoming washed in shades of blue and yellow.

Viole x williamsii 'Tiger Eyes' (100 seeds/£2.49) is also new for 2004 and is the result of an extensive breeding programme that has produced old gold flowers veined with black. Like 'Envy' it is suitable for winter or summer displays in the garden or in containers.

Following the pansy path, the company has introduced a sweet pea with flowers that echo the shape of those on a pansy. Lathyrus odoratus 'Pansy Lavender Flush' has two-tone mauve blooms on stems that grow to 120cm, shorter than many annual sweet peas making it useful in the border for growing through shrubs and larger perennials.

Nemesia are popular half-hardy annuals and there are some striking varieties on the market already including bicoloured 'Mello Red & White' (300 seeds/£1.49) and blue and white petalled 'KLM' (400 seeds/£1.89). Nemesia cheiranthus 'Shooting Stars' is the latest addition to the family with unusually shaped yellow and white flowers that smell of coconut. Growing up to 30cm tall in full sun or partial shade, 'Shooting Stars' flowers throughout summer and into autumn and is, according to Thomson and Morgan, easy to grow and care for.

For a copy of the Thompson and Morgan Seed Catalogue 2004 telephone 01473 695224.

Updated: 09:54 Saturday, September 27, 2003