Waitrose is set to make further inroads into the garden market with the launch of a new range of grow-your-own fruit and vegetables in association with Alan Titchmarsh.
The gardening celebrity has been working with Waitrose for around a year, bolstering the supermarket's drive to increase significantly its share of the gardening market.

During that time the company has introduced an extensive new range of plants, bulbs and garden care products, launched waitrosegarden.com, which offers garden products and tips and advice from Mr Titchmarsh, and launched a gardening TV channel, waitrose.tv.

The latest launch consists of grow-your-own onion sets, shallot bulbs and seed potatoes, and a range of fruits and vegetables including rhubarb and asparagus crowns, strawberry and raspberry roots and horseradish, all at £2.50 each and all bearing Alan Titchmarsh's name.

The range also includes butterfly mats and bee mats, which are ready seeded with a mixture of flowers specifically designed to attract the insects.

Said Karen Thomas, Waitrose's manager, product development: "This launch means Alan will bring his expert knowledge and passion for gardening directly to our customers, beginning with a range of specialist varieties of fruit and vegetables.

"We know our shoppers love both cooking and gardening and we're very pleased to be able to explore the possibilities of the kitchen garden even further with some exciting new seed varieties."