Sweet Pea Gardening Trials 2024

There was an unintentional royal theme to my sweet pea gardening trials this year. Kings Seeds sent me ‘King’s Coronation’ to try, while Chiltern Seeds gave me ‘Monarch’s Diamond’, ‘Black Prince’, ‘Royal Wedding’ and ‘Queen of Hearts’ – I know that’s a playing card but it was also the name given to the late Princess Diana.

(All seed was supplied free of charge and there is no payment for this blog post.)

Yet, it was a ‘commoner’ that took the first to flower prize this year. ‘Fire and Ice’, from Chiltern Seeds, bloomed first and was prolific, covering its bamboo cane wigwam. It had pretty two-tone flowers and a good scent. The only disappointment was that the stem length did shorten quicker than some of the other varieties – this is quite normal as the season goes on but some are better at hanging on to long stems.

Another prolific sweat pea was ‘Blue Danube’ (Kings Seeds). Long stems, good scent and beautiful purple flowers – so many ‘blue’ flowers are really purple – made this a winner for me. It’s still flowering as I type although most of the others have started to come to an end.

‘Watermelon’ (Chiltern Seeds) was a salmon pink – a nice change from the usual cerise or sugar pink of so many sweet peas. Another strong grower that produced large, scented flowers on long stems.

‘Emily’ (Chiltern Seeds) had classic pink flowers with delicate veining on the petals. A lovely variety with a good scent.

So what of the royals? Three of them were pale, which is not a bad thing as you want contrasting colours in a vase. I particularly liked the delicate markings on ‘Queen of Hearts’ and the clear white of ‘Royal Wedding’. I wasn’t so sure about the creamy pink flowers of ‘Monarch’s Diamond’.

‘King’s Coronation’ had large, scented lavender blooms and flowered well and I particularly liked the deep purple flowers of ‘Black Prince’ as I find some really dark blooms help to set off other colours.

‘Zorija Rose’ (Chiltern Seeds) also gave flowers that provided zing to a bunch with a lovely deep pink colour. It wasn’t as prolific as some other varities for me.

Premier Seeds Direct joined the sweet pea Gardening Trials for the first time and sent ‘Lipstick’ to be grown. The flowers were definitely lipstick pink with a delicate fragrance. I did also get some some two-tone blooms.

I’m never sure about sweet pea mixes. On the one hand, they do mean one packet will give you many different colours but you do have to sow the whole packet to achieve that. Kings Seeds sent me their ‘King Size Formula Mix’. A good range of colours on strong growing plants with a good scent. It would be the answer for anyone without the space, time or money, to buy lots of different packets of single varieties.

Two that didn’t really excite me were ‘Greenfingers’, which struggled although another variety on the same wigwam thrived, and ‘Spanish Dancer’, which didn’t live up to its exotic name. I have seed left so will try both of these again next year.

In fact, most years I grow lots more than just those varieties in the sweet pea gardening trials. They mean I can pick masses and fill the house with scent.

Finally, I tried something different this year from Mr Fothergill’s. The ‘Pink Tangier Pea’ isn’t a sweet pea but Lathyrus tingitanus, a species pea from North Africa.

You grow it in the same way as Lathyrus odoratus and it produces similar flowers on climbing plants. They are the most beautiful clear pink but aren’t scented – a definite drawback. However, it makes a pretty climber and the flowers last well in water too although the stems are short so they are best suited to a bud vase or similar. I found the biggest problem was spotting the developing seed pods as they are a similar shape and colour to the leaves.

I will be picking the last few flowers over the next week or so as the plants are beginning to close down. It’s been a good year after a dismal start – the cold, wet spring certainly slowed them down. They are well worth the effort though as summer isn’t summer without sweet peas.

You can read about how I grow my sweet peas here.

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