Ideal for gardening beginners who want flowers and perfume
I can go overboard with my enthusiasm for this lovely flower – luckily, when growing sweet peas from seed, you can do it in late winter, spring or autumn. I once bought nine packets in a season, most of which I gave away.
My recommendations include:
- Harrogate Gem: (www.sweetpeasonline.co.uk) Bred to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show. It’s a long-stemmed red variety with large, scented frilly blooms.
- Singing the Blues: (www.mr-fothergills.co.uk) A mixture ranging from rich deep blues to pastel shades.
- Eleanore Udall: Graduated pink petals and a good scent from Thompson & Morgan, raising funds for Thrive, the disability and gardening charity, visit www.thrive.org.uk. Named after the wife of Thrive’s founder, Geoffrey Udall. Fifty per cent of the money generated from each sale will go to Thrive.
- Night Sky: (www.sweetpeasonline.co.uk) A stunning mauve flake flower bred by David Matthewman in Yorkshire. Highly scented, purple and white flowers on long stems.
- Prince of Orange: (Plant World Seeds) A Grandiflora type, this sweetly perfumed beauty is orange with a touch of clashing pink. Introduced by the breeder Morse in 1928 and is still a rarity.
- Lady Salisbury: (www.mr-fothergills.co.uk) Very fragrant Grandiflora type with cream and white picotee blooms with a mauve edge to the petals. Beat the socks off the red Winston Churchill!
- Fragrantissima: (Thompson & Morgan) The best mix I’ve ever grown, flowering into November. Large-flowered hybrids from white, pinks, reds, blues, purples, bicolours and stripes.
Potted guide: growing sweet peas from seed
- SOWING TIME: January-March or September-October under glass; April-May directly outdoors.
- FLOWERING TIME: May-October. Pick blooms regularly to prolong the flowering season.
- PLANTING DISTANCE: 30cm (9″-1ft) apart.
- ASPECT AND SOIL: Full sun, well-drained – support needed for tall varieties.
- HARDINESS: Protect against frost.
- DIFFICULTY: Quite easy – but wait until March if you are sowing indoors without a propagator or light source. Protect seedlings against bird damage with short twigs.
Spring sowing
There are rituals surrounding sweet pea seeds: soaking them overnight to soften the seed case or filing a spot on the coat.I don’t do either of these and have always had a good germination rate, as long as the soil is moist and the temperature is constant.
Sow indoors, January-March,1.5cm (½”) deep, either five seeds per 12cm (5″) pot of compost or 3-4 seeds in a family-sized yoghurt pot. Water well and place in a greenhouse, cool windowsill or thermostatically-controlled propagator at a temperature of 15°C (60°F). Keep the pots moist, germination occurs in 12-21 days.
Once through, make sure the seedlings have good light to avoid leggy growth. Pinch out the growing tip when two pairs of leaves have formed, to encourage bushy growth. Gradually harden plants off before planting out into well-drained soil, during April-May, 30cm apart and support with tall canes or netting.
Protect from frost. You can sow directly outdoors in April-May, where they are to flower, 1.5cm deep. Station sow two seeds together, every 30cm, then remove the weaker seedling. Easier, but the flowers are much later.
Autumn sowing
Some people swear by sowing sweet peas in pots in September/October, for earlier flowering, but they need to be overwintered in frost-free conditions. Sow 1.5cm deep, either five seeds per 12cm pot of compost. I find 3-4 seeds in a family-sized yoghurt pot works well, as they like a deep root run.
Water well and place in a greenhouse, windowsill or thermostatically-controlled propagator at a temperature of 15°C. Keep the pots moist; germination occurs in 12-21 days. Once through, grow on in cooler conditions, making sure the seedlings have good light, to avoid weak, leggy growth, especially important when overwintering. Pinch out the growing tip when two pairs of leaves have formed, to encourage bushy growth.
To overwinter seedlings, aim for plants with maximum root growth, not top growth. Keep them in a frost-free place, such as an unheated greenhouse, porch or cold frame. They will survive temperatures as low as -5°C, but not prolonged freezing. Even if all top foliage dies off, if there’s a strong root system, there’s a chance they will recover.
Growing sweet peas from seed – give them ventilation
The last thing they need is being too warm, as that will lead to weak growth, susceptibility to colder weather and pests. Give them plenty of ventilation – you should only have 10-15cm of growth by spring.
Protect from slugs, snails, and mice. Gradually harden plants off before planting out into well-drained soil, from mid-March (if your soil is drying out and warming up. If in doubt, wait), 30cm apart and support with tall canes or netting. Protect from late frosts with fleece.
Cottage garden plant’s exotic heritage
Although seen as an English cottage garden plant, sweet peas most probably came from Sicily or Malta. Francisco Cupani recorded it as a new plant on Sicily in 1695. He cared for the botanical garden in Misilmeri, near Palermo. British botanist Dr Robert Uvedale introduced the sweet pea in his garden, with a herbarium specimen from 1700 surviving, now in the Natural History Museum.
Both men have varieties named after them – Cupani is a Grandiflora heritage variety, similar to the old plant, with very strongly-scented small bicoloured flowers. Robert Uvedale made its debut in 2014, bright pink with large frilly blooms. Silas Cole, a gardener working for the Spencer family (of Diana, Princess of Wales fame), bred a plant with bigger flowers and a wavy petal edge in 1900. It was bright pink and named Countess Spencer, the first of many ‘Spencer’ introductions.
