If you've space in your greenhouse or on the windowsill, start sowing your French beans now for a summer crop which will be both tasty and highly ornamental.

They need a warm, sunny site with fertile soil. Sow them with two seeds per pot at 5cm (2in) deep and plant out once they are around 8cm (3in) tall, once all danger of frost has passed.

Set up a wigwam or double row of canes around 20cm (8in) apart for climbing French beans, which produce white or pale mauve blooms followed by green, yellow, purple and red-flushed pods.

Unusual varieties include Violet Podded Stringless', which has slim pods that are bright purple but turn dark green when cooked, or Borlotto', which produce light green pods flecked with red which turn bright red when mature.

Dwarf French beans are best grown in small blocks when nearby plants provide support.

Alternatively sow them in single or double rows. Good varieties include Kenyan', which produces slender, stringless pods, and Purple Teepee', with beautiful purple pods.

Harvest the pods when they are large enough and snap crisply in half.

I always find that planting some sweet peas with beans helps increase the crop, as the sweet peas encourage bees which will pollinate the flowers of the beans.