Award-winning sweet pea collection
sweet pea collection
- Position: Full sun
- Soil: Moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: Fast
- Hardiness: Frost tender (will need winter protection)
Soft pink, lavender-blue and clotted-cream coloured blooms have been artfully blended to create this beautifully fragrant trio of sweet peas.
In this award winning collection you will receive one packet of approximately 20 seeds of each of the following three RHS AGM winnning cultivars (approximately 60 seeds in total).
- Lathyrus odoratus 'Gwendoline': Creamy-white petals, which look like they have been dipped in pink icing sugar, form luscious sprays of flowers that appear in profusion in summer. This headily-scented variety looks great scrambling over an obelisk or sprawling over a hospitable, neighbouring shrub. Grows to 1.8m.
- Lathyrus odoratus 'Charlies Angel': Without question one of the best sweet peas for scent, the lavender-blue flowers add an alluring touch to cottage gardens or informal planting schemes, where they can be allowed to scramble over supporting obelisks, arches or trellis. The first sweet pea to ever receive the Award of Garden Merit by the RHS. Grows to 1.8m.
- Lathyrus odoratus 'High Scent': The delicate purple picotee colouring of this cream sweet pea, coupled with the flower's unusually powerful scent, make this a beautiful addition to the flower garden. Grows to 1.8m.
Gradually harden off the seedlings before planting them out into well-prepared soil, enriched with lots of well-rotted organic matter. Pinch out the growing tips of the young plants as they grow to encourage bushier growth, and provide support for the stems. Apply a balanced liquid plant food every two weeks while in growth. Removing the faded flowers before they set seed will encourage even more to form - which makes them perfect for adding to vases or posies.
From October to late February, sow seeds into deep pots or root trainers filled with good-quality seed compost and place them in a cold frame. Then, after the worst frosts have passed, the seedlings can either be planted out or potted up for the patio. Alternatively, direct sowings can be made in October, or March to April.
- Humans/Pets: Pods and seeds are not edible