Illustrated List: O

Oenothera lamarkiana Black Magic

An attractive selection of this common annual. Rich, dark, almost black foliage is enhanced by bright golden yellow flowers, opening in the morning, closing again by afternoon and sweetly scented in the evening, adds height and interest to your borders.

Height: 90-120cm (3-4ft)

Oenothera Lemon Sunset

An exquisite Evening Primrose with beautiful 10cm (4in) soft-yellow flowers that mature by changing to an attractive sunset-red. Ideal for adding height to borders, as well as a delicate evening fragrance to your garden.

Height 90-100cm (36-40in).

Oenothera odorata Apricot Delight

A delectable back of border plant, at whatever stage the flower is at! Tightly scrolled buds open to 7cm (3in) in palest lemon, maturing to yellow, apricot and finally salmon-pink. The delicately scented blooms are at their best in the evening. Height: 60-100cm (24-40in)

Oenothera speciosa Pink Petticoats

Soft, shell-pink blooms which fade to white in the centre and are veined in a deeper pink. Bright yellow/green throats, free flowering, opening during the day and delicately scented in the evening. An excellent free flowering plant for beds, borders etc which look particularly lovely when grown in drifts. Flowers summer. Height 30-60cm (12-24in).

Olea europaea olive - Olive Tree

Try growing your own olives with this ornamental evergreen with fragrant small white flowers when established.

Ideal grown as an indoor houseplant or to add a touch of the Mediterranean to your patio during the summer.

Protect plants from frost.

Height: Up to 3m (10ft)

Onion : Ailsa Craig : Giant/Show Vegetable

A splendid exhibition variety of golden merit producing large globe shaped onions with a rich, golden straw coloured skin. As well as being a super show variety, Onion Ailsa Craig is also one of the best varieties for general cultivation producing large onions with an excellent mild flavour. Onion Ailsa Craig can also be autumn sown.

Onion : Bedfordshire Champion

A very popular and reliable variety for well over 100 years. Ideally suited to our climate producing large globe shaped, golden brown skinned bulbs with crisp white flesh.

Late summer maturity. Well grown bulbs have excellent storing capabilities.

Grows best in well-drained, rich soil in full sun.

Onion : Bulbing Cipolla Tonda Musona

Large, round, white skinned and fleshed bulb onions for storing through the autumn and winter. Bulbing Onion Cipolla Tonda Musona is delicious sliced and added to salads or used for all cooking purposes.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Apache (Deep Purple)

Salad Onion Apache (Deep Purple) is an attractive deep purple-red skinned spring onion with a mild flavour and a crisp texture. The purple outer skin merges with the silver when peeled, adding a colour contrast to salads. Salad Onion Apache is ideal for growing in containers, or outdoors throughout the season. Seeds are in the RHS Vegetable Collection.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Eiffel

An improved White Lisbon, Spring Onion Eiffel has upright leaves for successional sowings for spring, summer and autumn production. Spring Onion Eiffel is slow to form bulbs during the long days of summer, with improved disease tolerance.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Ishikuro

A new type of spring onion. Spring Onion Ishikuro does not form bulbs, yet stays white and very straight. Can be harvested pencil-thin or thinner, yet left till it's grown as thick as a mature carrot. Because Spring Onion Ishikuro has such a long harvesting period, you rarely waste any and unlike normal types there is not the need to be sowing every three weeks for a continuous crop.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Lilia (Red Onion)

A dual purpose Italian variety with a pungent flavour. Spring Onion Lilia is best grown as a salad onion with nice, dark green leaves and a shiny, intense red inner core.

Onion Lilia can also be grown as a maincrop, storing bulb onion. When fully mature it shows off its defined red and white inner rings.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Performer

For all the year round production of delicious spring/bunching onions, Spring Onion Performer produces upright, dark green leaves and mild flavoured stems which do not bulb. You can successionally sow Spring Onion Performer throughout spring and summer, continuing into autumn. Prefers fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. A source of vitamin C and the B vitamins. Their pungent flavour indicates they are full of the polynutrients thought to endow onion.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Pompeii

Allium cepa. A quick growing, silver skinned cocktail/pickling onion. Spring Onion Pompeii is succulent and ideal for sowing thinly in containers or window boxes.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Shimonita

A novel Japanese salad onion with extremely thick tubular foliage. Plants given a wider spacing can achieve huge stems similar to leeks. The flavour of Spring Onion Shimonita is unusually sweet lower in the stems and more pungent towards the leaves.

Winter hardy.

Onion : Bunching/Spring : Summer Isle

A superb Japanese bunching onion, Spring Onion Summer Isle has been bred for its sweet flavour and low pungency. Sow in succession for harvests during summer and autumn. Spring Onion Summer Isle is fantastic in salads and stir-fries. (Allium cepa)