October is a great time to get ahead and sow sweet peas for a fragrant display next year. I’ve been looking back at the 2025 Sweet Peas Gardening Trials to see what the top varieties were among my blooms.
#Ad The seeds were given for trial but I am not paid for this post.
Despite the high temperatures, the sweet peas did well this year though they did need lots of regular watering. All the varieties tested were scented – is there any point in growing sweet peas without a fragrance?
This year’s seeds included some unusual shades with ‘Kings Ransom’ from English Sweet Peas my favourite. Their website describes it as ‘burnt orange’ though mine were more dusky pink. They looked fabulous on a rusty obelisk.
Also in the pink/red end of the colour range, was ‘Windsor’ (Kings Seeds). Mine was more dark red than the maroon that was suggested but none the worse for that. These dark blooms are a really good foil to paler varieties and help to bring a vase of flowers to life.
Continuing with the dark theme – and royal – theme, ‘Balmoral’ (Chiltern Seeds) was a deep pink-claret.
For a really vibrant colour, top place in the 2025 sweet peas went to ‘Ruby’s Gown’ (English Sweet Peas). These were cerise-pink blooms – difficult to capture in a photograph.
‘Princess Elizabeth’ (Chiltern Seeds) was a more traditional pink with beautifully shaped flowers. Not as wishy washy as some pinks, this is a good one for a mixed bunch.
‘Blushing Bride’ (Unwins Seeds) was described as having cream and pink flowers. Mine showed more pink than cream but were still rather lovely.
‘Anniversary’ (Chiltern Seeds) was one of the more delicate of the 2025 sweet peas. Wavy petals edged in shell pink gave it an elegant appearance that some of the single colour blooms often lack. A beautiful variety to use as a contrast with darker flowers.
The same could be said for ‘April in Paris’ (Unwins Seeds) except here the colours are cream and lilac and the flowers had a particularly strong scent.
‘Charlie’s Angel’ (Chiltern Seeds) was another with pale flowers, this time lilac-blue with beautifully delicate markings.
Darker again was ‘Leamington’ (Chiltern Seeds) that produced flowers on strong stems.
In terms of stem length, I found ‘Linda C’ (Kings Seeds) to be the best for cutting. It produced deep lavender flowers on really sturdy, long stems right to the end of the season.
Continuting the dark theme, ‘Blue Velvet’ (Chiltern Seeds) more than lived up to its name with deep blue-purple blooms. ‘Chrissie’ (English Sweet Peas) had lavender-lilac flowers that were good but not exceptional. I find this type of single colour sweet pea great as a filler but not a star on its own.
Likewise, white and very pale varieties don’t appeal as much to me as those with more vibrant colours or stronger markings. ‘Ice Cream’ (Chiltern Seeds) is a great variety if you want pale ivory flowers while ‘Dorothy Eckford’ (Chiltern Seeds) had pure white flowers and ‘Juliet’ (English Sweet Peas) had a slight pink tinge.
There’s a slightly more pronounced pink tinge to the aptly named ‘Shell Pink’ (English Sweet Peas) with markings that looked as though they had been painted on.
‘Minette Marrin’ (English Sweet Peas) was another with delicate markings, this time lavender.
For something with a bit more contrast, ‘Sweet Caroline’ (English Sweet Peas) is a good choice with dark pink feathering on white petals.
‘Cedric Morris’ (English Sweet Peas) had pretty two-toned flowers that are very similar to the often grown ‘Cupani’ and ‘Matucana’. While it produced a lot of flower, I still think the others have a stronger scent.
‘Claire Mitchell’ (English Sweet Peas) had a striking combination of purple and pink flowers that is great if you’re looking for something different.
I did rather like ‘Enchante’ (Chiltern Seeds) for the combination of pink, cream and mauve. A really pretty sweet pea.
Finally, sweet pea mixes are a good choice if you want a range of colours without buying multiple packets. You do need to sow the whole packet though to ensure you get something of all the varieties it includes. This was ‘Scentsational Mix’ (Suttons) and it had mainly dark blooms in shades of purple and pink with some white for contrast. They proved to be strong growers and lived up to the name with a good scent.
You can read my review of ‘A World of Sweet Peas’ by English Sweet Peas here.
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