The wallflower must surely be one of the toughest and most reliable of spring-flowering plants.

Although they prefer good drainage, wallflowers will grown in most conditions, requiring only poor to moderately fertile soil and frequently seeding themselves into places where there appears to be no soil at all.

Their brightly coloured and sweet scented flowers last for several weeks each spring.

While they are not British natives, wallflowers, or gillyflowers as they were known in Elizabethan times, have been grown in our gardens for centuries and are considered by many as an essential cottage garden plant.

In his Herbal of 1649, Nicholas Culpepper notes that the common wallflower is "a singular remedy for gout and aches and pains in the joints and sinews".

My current edition notes that it is not in use by today's herbalists and it is not recommended for domestic use.

Modern bedding varieties of wallflower, 'Orange Bedder' and 'Fore King', are grown as biennials.

Seeds are sown in late spring, plants set out in the nursery and grown on until the autumn, when they are transplanted to their final positions.

These plants will then flower the following spring, after which they are generally discarded.

Perennial varieties include 'Bowles Mauve', ' Wenlock Beauty' and one of my favourites, 'Constant Cheer'.

These will live for several years, though the plants tend to become woodier with time, and the flowers slightly smaller.

Perennial wallflowers are easily propagated from cuttings taken in late spring and early summer, so it is worth replanting your favourites every three years or so to keep them vigorous.

Wallflowers belong to the Brassicaceae or cabbage family and are prone to the same pests and diseases that affect cabbages, including club root, mildew and damage by flea beetles.

As with cabbages, rotation is the easiest solution, moving plants around the garden so problems do not have a chance to build up.

I noticed this morning that the blanket weed in my garden pond has begun to grow, despite the water still feeling icy cold to the touch.

If you have the same problem you should try to pull out as much as possible at regular intervals throughout the year.

This will keep it in check and prevent it from swamping other pond plants.

It is important to leave the pulled weed on the side of the pond for a couple of days before throwing it away, to give any wildlife caught up in it A chance to return to the pond.