Follow the number guide in the above image. 

1. The giver: Potted lemon tree
Sure-fire sign of being terminally grown-up? Picking your first harvest of homegrown lemons, and using them to make lemon-drizzle cake, garnish your G&T, and impress your neighbours by passing on the extra fruit. Bees, birds and butterflies adore these hardworking citrus trees just as much as we do. The nectar-rich blossoms smell amazing, and if you’re lucky, you may witness the full life cycle of an orchard swallowtail butterfly play out on its leaves and branches. (I did!)

Grow guide: Meyer lemon trees do great in pots. They love full sun, well-drained soil and plenty of fertiliser and water – but hate wet feet, so lift your pot off the ground using pot feet.

2. The works of art: Pansies
Yes, they were bitchy to poor Alice in the 1951 Alice in Wonderland animation, but pansies (and their cousins violas and violets) are vibrant works of art, so I’ll forgive their vain little hearts. Delicately scented, these living jewels come in a range of captivating colours. Press them for crafting projects, plant them in pots for a splash of cold-season colour or impress your friends by tossing them in salads or sprinkling over cocktails – pansies are edible and make a delightful garnish.

Grow guide: Viola ‘Heartsease’ (Viola tricolor) is a wild pansy that blooms from late winter through to summer. Once planted, they’ll keep on coming back – hence their other name, ‘Johnny-Jump-Up’.

3. The smile spreader: Nasturtiums
Repels pests in your veggie patch? Check. Adds peppery flavour to your salads? Check. Fills a pretty vase ‘just so’ for your latest still-life watercolour, upping your cottagecore cred? Check, check, check. Nasturtiums are cheap and cheerful must-have spreading herbs. They’re great companion plants for radishes, zucchini and cucumbers, and their bright flowers attract beneficial garden critters. They’re also super rich in nutrients like vitamin C, manganese and calcium, if you fancy plating them up.

Grow guide: Nasturtiums aren’t fussy about soil, water, or light, and can grow in pots or garden beds – just press the seeds into soil and watch them grow! If you leave the seed heads on, they’ll keep on giving.

4. The helper: Peace lily 
Meet your starter plant! Pretty, fuss-free and super easy to keep alive, peace lilies also happen to be great at filtering stale office air. They should come standard as part of welcoming packs offered to new employees in businesses everywhere. (A girl can hope for savvy HR departments who understand the desk-beautifying and loyalty-earning potential of a pretty plant.)

Grow guide: Peace lilies love a good drink – when in doubt, water it. Position in bright light but not scorching direct sun. You’ll know it’s happy if it blooms.

5. The soother: Lavender
One day when I’m all grown up, I’m decamping to a lavender farm in Provence to walk between sweetly scented, sun-drenched rivers of purple. In a flowy dress, of course. Forever. This iconic perennial herb is much loved by bees and butterflies and a culinary and medicinal wonder to boot. Besides lending delicate flavour to all kinds of desserts and treats, it’s known for its soothing properties, aiding in sleep and relieving stress and anxiety too. (It might even remind you of your nan just a little bit.) Stick a dried sprig under your pillow and dream away!

Grow guide: Lavender grows well in pots: give it plenty of direct sun, well-drained soil, and just a small drink to get by once established.

6. The memory-keeper: Daisies
Daisies are the quintessential flowers of childhood. They’re the shapes we instinctively draw as kids: soup-plate petals on green stems dotting emerald fields. We pick them by the handfuls and pluck their petals to determine if ‘they’ love us – or not. And don’t forget puffing on a dandelion clock and making a wish… (Yes, dandelions, Taraxacum officinale, are a type of daisy too – and they’re edible.) On days when you need to reconnect with the innocence of your inner (flower) child, just stick a daisy in your hair.

Grow guide: Choose a perennial like Shasta daisies, which will keep on giving season after season. (And leave the dandelions on the lawn!)

7. The reliable friend: Cacti
There’s something so homey about a little cactus nestling in a pot on a windowsill. Cacti don’t seem to need us, but they do like having us around. And every so often they pop out a ridiculously beautiful flower, just because. My favourite is a weird little brain cactus (Mammillaria) nestled in a skull-shaped pot, a gift from a friend. It does nothing – it barely even grows. Its main purpose? Allowing me to recreate the Yorick skull scene from Hamlet every so often.

Grow guide: Avoid planting your cactus in regular garden soil or potting mix – it will die, dramatically. Use open, sandy, free-draining soil, water frugally, and keep in full sun.

8. The mojo booster: Jasmine
No other scent quite captures a sultry, seductive summer as well as wafts of jasmine pouring through your windows. It’s sexy, edgy and, yes, may sometimes be overpowering – a chemical called ‘indole’ give jasmine its unique scent, but, er, can smell a bit like pee in high concentrations. Jasmine remains one of the most popular scents used to build fragrances – and when blended with green tea, it can settle your stomach after a rich meal. (Also sexy.)

Grow guide: Common jasmine (Jasminum officinale) or ‘poet’s jasmine’ is one of the most popular and aromatic varieties, best grown in a large pot if you don’t want it to take over your garden – give it a trellis to climb, feed every so often and keep well-watered.

9. The conversation starter: Orchids
Want to feel sophisticated and accomplished? Adopt an orchid. And keep it alive. There are over 28,000 species (and counting) of orchids identified – Australia is home to more than 1500 named species, 90 per cent of them not found anywhere else in the world. Orchids are notoriously tricky to please, but if you buy one in flower and manage to get it to bloom a second time, the sense of achievement is better (and, well, more likely) than getting a pay rise at work.

Grow guide: Start with phalaenopsis orchids, the big-bloomed beauties you buy as a last-minute gift at grocery stores. Keep in a brightly lit room with plenty of humidity – bathrooms with frosted windows facing east or south are perfect. Feed often!

This article was featured in frankie feel-good volume four. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.