Lathyrus odoratus 'Karen Louise'
spencer sweet pea seed Karen Louise
- Position: full sun
- Soil: fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: June to September
- Flower colour: pale lavender
- Other features: scented flowers
- Hardiness: hardy annual
A delightful sweet pea, which produces large sprays of pale lavender flowers on long stems throughout the summer. Ideal for exhibiting, the flowers also have a good, strong scent, so a vase filled with them will flood the room with perfume. Their soft colouring means they mix easily with other pastel shades as well as stronger pinks and purples.
In our (not very scientific) sweet pea trial on the nursery, we found that the flowers of this variety were a pale lilac, but hardly had any scent at all. They were carried on 6" stems and there were not too many left in August.
All the sweet-peas in our trial produced significantly better plants when the seeds were sown in autumn rather than spring. - Garden care:From October to late February, sow seeds into deep pots or root trainers filled with a good-quality seed compost and place them in a cold frame. Pinch out the tips as the plants grow to encourage them to become bushier and produce more flowers, and harden off before planting out in early April. Direct sowings can also be made in October or March-April. It is important to remove the faded flowers before they set seed, so picking them to fill a vase inside will only encourage more to form.
- Sow: October-April
- Flowering: June-September
- Approximate quantity: 20 seeds.
Lathyrus odoratus 'Linda C'
spencer sweet pea seed Linda C
Superb cut flowers
Lathyrus odoratus 'Gwendoline'
spencer sweet pea seed Gwendoline
Cream-flushed-pink blooms
Slim multi-purpose soft-tie
Slim multi-purpose soft-tie
Tie is designed for use with the thinner, delicate stems of climbing annuals
Lathyrus odoratus 'King's High Scent'
modern grandiflora sweet pea seed King's High Scent
Delicate colouring and super scent
Lathyrus odoratus 'Pluto'
spencer sweet pea seed Pluto
Strong and vibrant colour
Willow poles
Willow poles
Ideal for runner beans and sweet peas
Root trainers
Root trainers
Perfect for seeds, seedlings and plugs
How to get more flowers
Many flowering plants can be encouraged to produce better and longer-lasting displays with the minimum of effort. A plant produces flowers in order to reproduce and ensure the survival of the species. Once a plant has flowered and fertilisation has...
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Deadheading will prevent them setting seed and so use their energy producing a further flush of blooms later on. Plants that respond well to deadheading include annuals such as Ageratum, Alyssum, Antirrhinum, Calendula, Centaurea, Cosmos, Dahlia, foxglove, Californian poppy, sweet...
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