Topic: Perfumed sweet peas

[Chrissie]

Hello - does anyone know of any large-flowered, showy sweet peas that have a REALLY strong perfume? I'm fed up with being conned by seed-packet descriptions - I bought some T & M "Winston Churchill" last year for the lovely red colour and the - I quote - "intoxicating scent". Huh, no such luck, it was barely discernible.

I know the small ones like Cupani and Painted Lady are a good bet for perfume but not the best for a knockout display.

Thanks!

[shirlton]

I grew Elizabeth Taylor one year and you could smell it half way down the plot. The reason I don't grow it now is because it's mauve and I' not really keen on the colour.You can't beat the perfume though

[Toadspawn]

In general large flowered sweet peas with pale coloured flowers tend to have the strongest scent such as white, pale blue, lilac, lavender and some pink and cream shades.
Scent is very much a matter of personal choice. There are so many varieties to chose from and every seed producer has a slightly different scale/technique on which scent is assessed.
You could try Royal Wedding (white), Juliet or Cathy (cream), The  Doctor (mauve), Lively Lassie or Lilac Silk or Charlie's Angel (lavender), Gwendoline or Jayne Amanda (pink on white).
If you can get to one of the large RHS shows you can see the display flowers and get an idea of scent on some of the ones at the front.

[saddad]

This years selection are
Cupani, Prima Donna, Heathcliffe, Garden News, Champagne Bubbles,Terry Wogan, Rosy Frills andOxford Blue all from Unwins...
 ;D

[valmarg]

Don't mean to advertise, but Unwins seed catalogue, particularly for sweet peas, grades their varieties from 1-5 for perfume.  5 being the smelliest (ie best perfumed).  They do have a very wide range or varieties/colours.

At least you have some idea of the quality/strength of perfume of the seeds you are buying.

I don't know of another sweet pea seed supplier that offers this information!!

valmarg

[Chrissie]

THANKS everyone, some lovely ideas there. Great excuse to go to a show!

Good to get personal recommendations rather than just the vague opinion of the seed merchants, though the Unwins grading system does sound reliable; I hadn't come across that.

I'm planning to plant them over a Wilko's arch at the entrance to my plot, so this year I should knock all my visitors flat  :)

Can't wait to get cracking.

[laurieuk]

Planted my plants today, I have fleece laying beside in case of severe frost.The varieties are  Heaven Scent, Rowallane, Zillah Harrod, Glasevin and Hannah Beth.
They were sown on October 8th so have really goog root system.

[Marymary]

Have you pinched out the tips, Laurie?  Mine are still in the greenhouse in pots - I read somewhere you should pinch them out when they have 4 leaves but mine are a bit skinny looking & I'm afraid to start pulling bits off!  BTW I sowed them about a month ago.

[laurieuk]

Mine all broke on their own, some have two or even three shoots but I leave them all until I start to tie them up. If you reduce them to just one too soon and a friendly slug damages that one you are in trouble but once they really get going the slugs don't do too much damage. I grow them as cordons on 7ft canes but layer when they are about 5 feet.

[Marymary]

How do you 'layer' them?  ???

[laurieuk]

To layer them put simply you take them down from the canes, lay them along the row and then re-tie them up a new cane. It is a means of extending the flowering period. You may get a few bent stems for the first cut after layering but after that you are back to square one. We do it so that we have flowers for early and late shows, although I myself do not do a lot of exhibiting now.

[Hyacinth]

Beginner's question...what would be the latest for sowing sweet peas, please? I'm in Birmingham. I sowed some late October, but I'd like to do lots more....

[laurieuk]

I would have thought that end of March would be as late as possible to get a reasonable amount of flowers, I am going to sow a late crop in a few days as our son is getting married in August and my wife is doing the flowers , they want certain colours so it's sweet peas. I have not done late sowings for many years before as generally germination is more difficult than in October

[Hyacinth]

Many thanks.....a job for the weekend then 8)