This year is the hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I (1914-1918) and a Suffolk seedsman continues to support the Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC).

Mr Fothergill’s has raised £73,000 for the charity since the first year of the partnership in 2014.

Mr Fothergill's gives 25p to the Royal Hospital’s charity for every packet of Poppy Victoria Cross sold.

Commercial director, Tim Jeffries, said: “We are proud to be supporting the Royal Hospital Chelsea and pleased to see so many gardeners joining with us to do that. While the centenary of World War I draws to a close in 2018, our close links with the RHC will see us supporting their important work for many years to come.”

Poppy Victoria Cross makes a fitting remembrance symbol with its bold white crosses across single red flowers. Easy to grow and quick to flower from a spring sowing, this form of Papaver somniferum is ideal for informal borders and cottage garden settings. Its distinctive ‘pepper-pot’ seedheads are also useful in dried arrangements when flowering ends.

Established in 1682 by Charles II to provide a safe home for military veterans ‘broken by age or war’, the Christopher Wren-designed Royal Hospital admitted its first pensioners in 1692. The scarlet tunics and black tricorns of its residents and the Royal Horticultural Society’s Flower Show held in the Royal Hospital grounds every May are equally well known and respected around the world.