Sweet peas were one of this year’s success stories, flowering right up until mid-August and providing so many blooms I often ran out of vases.
As usual, they formed a main part of my gardening trials and I tried out several new varieties with two that are definitely on my ‘must grow again’ list.
(Seeds were supplied in return for a fair review.)
The absolute winner for me this year was ‘Earl Grey’ from Chiltern Seeds. This produced strong plants with long stems and plenty of flowers but it was the unusual colour that I really liked.
There was a definite grey tinge to the petals that also had beautiful markings. It’s going on my list to grow again next year.
My other favourite from this year’s sweet peas was a special release from Mr Fothergill’s. ‘Mayflower 400’ commemorated the anniversary of the sailing of pilgrim ship the Mayflower to America.
I particularly liked the delicate markings on these pale pink flowers.
Another pink that I tried this year was ‘Just Janet’, also from Chiltern Seeds. This was another strong grower, with long stems and plenty of flowers.
I thought this pink was good for mixing with other colours as it set off some of the paler varieties beautifully.
‘Pulsar’ from Chiltern Seeds is in the blue mauve colour range and was one of the first to flower.
The rather wonderfully named ‘Pandemonium’ from Chiltern Seeds was one of the slowest to get going and didn’t produce as many flowers. Possibly the spot it was growing in affected the performance although all the sweet peas had the same treatment otherwise.
The flowers were certainly eye-catching though.
‘Fragrant Boundary’ from Suttons produces short flowers that can be used as a sort of scented hedge.
These struggled for me and took a long time to establish. The mix has a variety of colours but I had mainly these pale flowers. Personally, I prefer the more traditional climbing sweet peas.
More successful was ‘Bluebell Carpet’ from Dobies, seed that I was given last year at the Garden Press Event and never got around to sowing.
It’s a ground cover variety and I grew it in a pot on the new deck, which it soon filled it with flower. However, it didn’t last anywhere near as long as the sweet peas growing in the vegetable garden.
Many people sow their sweet peas in autumn, which will give earlier flowering. I prefer to do mine in January. It means I don’t have to look after them over winter when they are temptation for mice and the cold frame is full.
Sowing something for summer flowers is also a great mood-lifter on a grey January day.
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