Peonies are back, and they will not last

We buy three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at New Covent Garden before six. This page is written straight after the van is unloaded, so what you read here is genuinely what is on the bench today.

British peonies came in strong on Monday and the quality is the best we have seen this summer: tight buds, heavy heads, no bruising. They will run for roughly two more weeks and then stop until next May. If you have been waiting, this is the week.

Anemones are unusually good for August, and the Memory Lane roses are holding colour beautifully in the heat. Sweet peas, sadly, are finished — the last box was tired and we sent it back.