Sweet Pea.

I planted the seeds:

The Sweet Pea man of Hurstpierpoint.

Here’s what you do:


- Choose a sunny spot and hammer two stakes into the ground to make a row.
- Attach parallel wires between the posts, one at the bottom and one further up. Push canes into the soil every nine inches or so and secure them to the wires.
- Plant one sweet pea in front of each cane – the Sweet Pea man of Hurstpierpoint has actually colour-coordinated his along the rows, but you might choose to mix the really highly scented varieties like the grandifloras amongst the others (the Spencer varieties usually have bigger flowers but less scent) to encourage the pollinators who will be drawn by the fragrance and then travel around the rest of your plot.
- Let the plants grow to a foot tall and then select the strongest shoot and remove the rest – painful, but necessary if you want really strong flowers.
- Tie this shoot to the cane and regularly pinch off side shoots and tendrils – this step means the plant gives all its strength to the flowers rather than dissipating it in side shoots and climbing growth. You will need pea rings or horticultural tape to keep tying the primary shoot to the cane.
- When the plants have reached the top of the canes, untie them and lay the stems on the ground, parallel to the row.
- Now re-tie stems to a cane further along the row, so the tip of the plant reaches about a foot up its new cane.


This is why so many people grow sweet peas on the allotment rather than in the garden at home - it's just too much to be expected give up so much garden space for a single plant, but on your plot you can extend the cane row as far as you like without losing much in terms of space.
Allotment Blog: The Sweet Pea man of Hurstpierpoint: "The Sweet Pea man of Hurstpierpoint"


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Sweet Peas.

Simply by being late every season, I have discovered that what works best for me is to sow the seeds in a rich but well-drained potting compost in late February. They are ready to plant out by mid-May and will grow away strongly. It might mean we do not get flowers until midsummer, but what comes late stays late. We pinch out the growing tips when the plant is about 6in tall and still in pots, which makes for bushier growth.
If you want sheer scent then the best are the original 'Cupanis' or 'Matucanas'. Both are bicoloured, as is the pretty pink and white 'Painted Lady'. Unless it is described as having a strong scent then look beyond the most common Spencer varieties and go for the grandifloras Eckford developed, which will make up most of any so-called 'Old Fashioned Mix'. As I have said, in general I like the richer colours, such as 'Purple Prince', 'Black Knight', 'Midnight' and 'Black Diamond', as well as the red 'Gypsy Queen', 'Violet Queen', the magenta 'Annie B Gilroy', 'Henry Eckford', which is bright orange, and good scented whites like 'Dorothy Eckford', 'Royal Wedding' and the ivory 'Cream Southborne'. Finally, I do grow one sweet pea that is to all intents and purposes scentless - the species L chloranthus, which is only 5ft tall but an essential acidy yellow-lime green that we use to lighten up a dark corner.

Sweet Pea - 'Monty Don'
Sweet pea suppliers: Peter Grayson, 34 Glenthorne Close, Brampton, Chesterfield S40 3AR. Unwins Seeds, Histon, Cambridge 

 Roger Parsons Sweet Peas - Links: 'via Blog this'
Sweet peas prefer cool, damp conditions, so a regular soak is essential in a hot summer.