Sweet Peas; a true cottage garden annual

Here Sweet Peas are climbing; (Here's the sweet Pea rhyme!)  Here are little tendrils, helping them to climb....extract from The Flower Fairies; Cicely Mary Barker

The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is an annual flowering climbing plant, growing to a height of 1–2 metres.  

In the late 19th century Scottish nurseryman Henry Eckford (1823–1905) cross-bred and developed the sweet pea in to the blooms we recognise today, turning it from a rather insignificant if sweetly scented flower, into a floral sensation of the late Victorian era.   

His initial success and recognition came while serving as head gardener for the Earl of Radnor, on the Longford Estate here in our home county of Wiltshire. 

They make beautifully fragrant cut flowers; with an array of colours from white, through pinks and purples to reds.  They are a true cottage garden annual with heady scents and tumbling tendrils, the more you cut them, the more they bloom. 

Pod & Pip grow the most beautiful varieties in their cutting garden, but to meet demand have them supplied by local growers as well.  Sarah loves to use sweet peas in many of her displays; from stunning hand-tied bridal bouquets to table decorations.  They are easy to grow, full of glorious scent with a stunning array of colours; they are an English summer personified. 

Published: July 2021