Johnsons Launches Exclusive Verbena Scentsation Red for the 2023 Season

One of 28 new additions to the main range from Johnsons Seeds, exclusive Verbena Scentsation Red is a highly scented, compact selection ideal for baskets. Its free flowering, sweetly scented blooms turn from red to pink, with a striking white eye. Each packet contains 50 seeds and retails for £2.85.

Another exclusive for Johnsons - Gomphrena Atomic Purple (RRP £2.65 for 30 seeds), lives up to its name, producing striking coloured flowers which are great for containers, beds, borders and fresh or dried cut flower displays. Also known as prairie coneflower, Ratibida (Mexican Hat) is an easy to grow and unusual hardy perennial, ideal for dry sunny borders. New to the range, each packet contains 100 seeds for £2.40.

New Antirrhinum Cherry Twist (RRP £2.85 for 750 seeds) introduces new colourways for snapdragons, with a modern twist. The bicolour blooms are perfect for borders, bedding and containers. Medium tall with an upright habit, Celosia Sharon’s feathery flowers provide a lovely contrast in mixed borders and make excellent cut flowers. RRP £2.85 for 200 seeds. Cimicifuga racemose (50 seeds for £2.85) is a tall and attractive clump forming perennial, crowded with slender flowering stems, good for areas of moist soil in partial shade.

Pretty Linum Salmon flowers abundantly over a long season and makes lovely cut flower posies. RRP £2.40 for 300 seeds. Also new this coming season is Marigold (African) Buttercream F1 – a subtle and sophisticated shade of pale yellow, on sturdy, compact plants, for beds and containers. Each packet contains 20 seeds for £4.20. Also known as `Creeping Zinnia’, Sanvitalia procumbens (RRP £2.40 for 300 seeds) forms low, spreading plants, producing a mat of bright blooms to spill from baskets and containers. Candytuft Pink is a single coloured selection, for easy cottage garden flowers. Simply sprinkle the seed on any prepared soil in their flowering position, for charming displays of low growing flowers. 500 seeds for £2.40.

Introduced to support Fleuroselect’s Year of the Salvia, Salvia verticillate (50 seeds for £2.40) is favoured by garden designers for their vividly coloured and unusual flowers which provide beautiful, contrasting forms in mixed borders.

Three new organic flowers have been introduced to the Johnsons flower collection for 2023:

• Organic Coreopsis tinctoria (RRP £2.65 for 300 seeds) provide bright and breezy blooms on long slender stems, ideal for cut flowers, a wildlife garden and as an easy to grow filler for gaps in mixed borders

• Organic Lavender multifida Oregano is an unusual form of this versatile evergreen, great for patio containers. The downy fern-like foliage has a delicious fragrance similar to oregano. RRP £2.85 for 50 seeds

• Organic Tagetes lucida (150 seeds for £2.85) is a fragrant, anise scented plant with a mass of bright, long-lasting flowers. Perfect for borders or the herb garden

New to the herb and vegetable range, Coriander Filtro is a reliably productive variety, even in cooler conditions. With an RRP of £2.20 for 150 seeds, the plants are slow to run to seed, ensuring exceptionally high yields. High quality Aubergine Patio Baby F1 (RRP £3.65 for 10 seeds) produces attractive, compact plants with numerous glossy, egg-size fruits. Delicious picked fresh for barbecues or authentic Mediterranean dishes. Brussels Sprout Brechin F1 has been introduced for its high yields of top quality, tasty sprouts, making it an ideal Christmas variety. RRP £3.65 for 40 seeds. New Cabbage Marquis F1 (RRP £2.40 for 30 seeds) is a compact sweetheart type, perfect for small spaces. They can also be used for `greens’ when young.

Extremely productive and with disease resistance, Courgette Dynasty F1 is a bush variety with great tasting smooth-skinned, dark fruit. It is also slow to form seed, to provide a longer picking period. Each packet has 10 seeds, RRP £2.85. Onion (Spring) Snow Queen F1 (RRP £2.85 for 200 seeds) has a useful tolerance to cold weather, producing fast growing salad onions with reliable hybrid quality. Two new chilli peppers - Pepper (Hot) Jalapeno and Pepper (Hot) Jazz – provide medium heat and are ideal for container displays on a sunny patio. Pepper (Hot) Jalapeno (RRP £2.65 for 50 seeds) is one of the most versatile and best tasting varieties whilst Pepper (Hot) Jazz (RRP £2.85 for 10 seeds) provides a colourful display, on compact bushy plants.

New Spinach Amador F1 is a premium variety with smooth tasty leaves, showing good resistance to bolting and mildew, for extra reliable crops. RRP £2.40 for 300 seeds. Popular in rural France, Tomato St Pierre (RRP £2.40 for 100 seeds) is a traditional heirloom variety, packed with flavour. It is suitable for outdoor crops, producing large and fleshy fruits. Added to the Johnsons Seeds pea and bean range is Dwarf French Bean Atlanta, fast growing and compact. A favourite for its outstanding flavour and texture, these versatile pods also freeze well. RRP £2.65 for 50 seeds.

Other highlights in the vegetable range for next season include:

• Cabbage (Red) Kalibos with colourful, crisp and sweet tasting heads (RRP £2.40 for 150 seeds)

• Celeriac Neon F1 is high yielding with large smooth roots which remain white when cooked (RRP £2.40 for 250 seeds)

• Kale Red Russian, an ideal variety to grow as `cut and come again crops’ in raised beds or patio containers (RRP £1.90 for 400 seeds)

The ever popular Microgreens seed range from Johnsons has two new additions for next season - Cress and Mustard. Both with an RRP of £2.65, they provide a traditional taste, perfect for salads and sandwiches. The Microgreens range now has 18 varieties to choose from, all of which can be grown all year round on a kitchen windowsill.

Two new varieties have been added to Johnsons’ range with the UK’s herb expert - Jekka McVicar. Bergamot Lemon (RRP £3.10 for 500 seeds) has beautiful mauve flowers surrounded by paler bracts, with intense lemon-scented leaves. Also known as Lemon Bee Balm, it will also attract bees and other pollinators to the garden. Unusual Spinach Tree Spinach is easy to grow, with arrow shaped leaves for use in salads. It is also rich in iron, calcium, vitamin B1 and C. RRP £3.10 for 1000 seeds.

New to the Sarah Raven Cut Flowers flower collection is the beautiful Aster Tower Chamois - a chic new colour of a fashionable, stellar explosion-style of aster. Like many of the aster family, these flower long and hard into autumn and last for ages in a vase. RRP £2.65 for 150 seeds. Alyssum Oriental Nights (RRP £2.65 for 500 seeds) is the latest introduction to the Sarah Raven Wildlife Attracting range. This star pollinator plant is a wonderful low growing plant, ideal for honey scented table centre pots, path edging and early summer bedding displays.