Topic: sweet pea varieties

[marjrie]

Can I ask what type of sweet peas any of you recommend please?

[supersprout]

Are you looking for fragrance, 'living hedge' habit, colour or flowers for exhibition marjrie? ::)

[marjrie]

Not very clear was I ?  ???

Something with nice flowers that are fragrant, really just for cutting to put in a vase, I have tried in the past to grow them at home but they seem to reach about a foot tall then stop.
So wondered what type to grow up a wig wam?

[sandersj89]

I will recommend Kings seeds for sweet peas, I have been using their seeds for a number of years.

http://www.kingsseeds.com/

I grow about 8 varieties a year for cutting at home, the main requirements are long straight stems and good scent. One in particular is called Kings High Scent, a fantastic pale flower that you can smell from yards away.

Other varieties I like are:

Galaxy
Alan Titchmarsh
Blue Velvet
Elizabeth Taylor
Concorde

There are 100’s of others though

I sow in two batches, October and January, in root trainers or deep pots. When you get 3 pairs of leaves I pinch out the tops and then plant out in March after hardening off in a cold frame for a few weeks. They are planted over a bit of manure and then left too it until flowering. I then pick nearly daily to encourage longer flowering season.

Not too late to sow now but need to get a shake on I think.

They are hard to beat as a small cut flower IMHO.

HTH

Jerry

[Rosa_Mundi]

Unwins is very good if you want a choice of varieties they have tens of them, classified by strength of scent. Good ones include "Terry Wogan" (pink, strong scent) and "Blue Danube" (lilac, scented, good for cutting). If your sweet peas are only very short they're lacking in water and sunshine - mine go straight into the garden on wigwams with a handful of feed around them and rampage away every year - but they do get watered if it's dry, and can put down roots as deep as they want to.

[Toadspawn]

It may still be possible to obtain a seed catalogue from Unwins and Kings to purchase seed but it is a bit late. They give classifications of scent, but of course scent is subjective.
Generally the White,  Lavender, Pale Blue shades are the most heavily scented but there are other shades with a strong scent. Herewith a few names from Unwins
White - Royal Wedding, Valentine, Dancing Queen
Cream - Cathy, Juliet
Lavender - Romeo
Pale Blue/Blue - Old Times, Blue Danube, Rhapsody
Mauve - The Doctor 
Red - Scarlett
The Old Fashioned sweet peas have smaller flowers but a very much stronger scent.