Most bedding plants are easy to raise from seed, but some smaller seeds, such as begonias, can be difficult to grow. We do not need a greenhouse to germinate seeds. Placing a seed tray or pot with a polythene bag over it on a window-ledge is also effective.

We can purchase seedlings with just two or three leaves. They are usually purchased by mail order and come in trays containing between 100 and 400 plants. They will require pricking out soon after they arrive into seed trays or pots.

Smaller plants called plugs and are more advanced in their growth than seedlings and are ready to plant out immediately. Plugs mean you can grow plants that would be difficult to germinate yourself. When buying trays of plugs, check they have good root growth and the leaves and shoots are not damaged, mouldy or turning yellow. Prick out the plants into individual pots and keep them in a greenhouse. Plants regularly need water then we could put them in a cold frame to harden them off two or three weeks before planting.

The smaller plants will have been kept in warm conditions, so slowly acclimatise them, or harden them off, before planting outside. This can be done by placing the plants in a cold frame for a couple of weeks.

The cheapest plants are the plants which are grown from seeds. Plants produced in this way will not be identical to the parent plant or to other plants from the same batch of seeds.

The very best bedding plants have been specially bred, and to make certain that the young plants are identical to the original, they have been produced from cuttings taken from the parent plant.

You will pay more for a plant that has been grown from seed if it has been specially bred to provide the best flowers or leaf colour, because the breeder charges a Royalty Payment for allowing production to take place.