After a six year absence Busy Lizzies are back. Just when gardeners were beginning to reconcile themselves to the fact that Britain’s favourite bedding plant may have been gone for good, DIY and garden chain, B&Q, announced that it was stocking them again.

In the four weeks since they reappeared, B&Q has sold more than a million plants, confirming that this is one summer favourite that gardeners simply cannot do without.

The story of the Busy Lizzie’s disappearance began back in 2011, when an outbreak of the fungal disease Impatiens Downy Mildew devastated plants. Grey powder appeared on the underside of leaves, causing them to curl, turn yellow and finally drop off, leaving behind bare stems.The disease proved resistant to all fungicides and so growers and breeders took the decision to stop selling Busy Lizzies in order to preserve existing stocks.

Research company, Syngenta Flowers then went to work, attempting to create a disease-resistant strain of plants. They grew hundreds of thousands of Busy Lizzies and exposed them to fungal spores until they had identified one single plant that did not succumb.

From that plant, millions more have now been bred and they’ve been named ‘Imari Bizzie Lizzies’, after the Swahili word for ‘strong’, from the region of East Africa where Busy Lizzies originate.

The new plants are available in six different colours, priced from £2.50, and are suitable for both sunny and shady areas of the garden, providing continuous colour over a long flowering period.