Ask Alys: your gardening questions answered

I'm a primary school horticultural assistant, and our flowers have been devastated by snails and slugs. Could you provide a key list of flowering plants they hate, so I can do a better job next year. I'll start with annuals, because they make easy sowing projects. These are all hardy, are rarely bothered by either mollusc and can be sown now for spring flowering or from March for summer colour. Calendula officinalis is easy to sow from seed: 'Art Shade' and 'Neon' are pretty alternatives to the straight orange version. Godetia is another hardy annual that comes in a range of colours, some in very double forms. You can't fail with these: just scatter, water and watch them grow. Most poppies, too, are good at not getting munched: try the golden orange Escholzhia California , bright red field poppies, Papaver rhoeas or pastel-hued Shirley poppies. Again, just scatter and wait. For perennials, try aquilegias, Alchemilla mollis , astrantias, crocosmias and penstemons (these last two will be in flower as autumn term starts). For shade, try Japanese anemones, hellebores, astilbes and ferns. • Got a question for Alys? Email [email protected]