Documenting Our Sweet Peas We Are Growing For Seed
As most of you would know if you have been following along, I am sweet pea obsessed! I love the romance of sweet peas, the tangled vines, the range of colours they bloom in and walking between the rows and smelling their magic…
I know it is getting harder to get a range of varieties of sweet peas into Australia and I really want to keep them available and continue to be grown in Australian gardens, to continue growing old and new varieties that the wonderful breeders have spent years and years breeding. I would like to thank Dr Keith Hammett(sweet pea breeder) who lives in NZ, whom I have had many back and forths with, he very patiently has answered the silliest of questions when I self doubted and over thought the little things!
I thought I would put down here what we are growing, what worked and what didn't... This year we extended the sweet pea growing area and grew the most varieties I have yet to grow, 20 in total. There were still more varieties I wanted to grow but couldn't fit in.
I am based in southern Tasmania, a cool climate that sweet peas love. Prior to sowing I amended the beds with well rotted manure and compost, as the sweet peas are heavy feeders. I sowed the seeds (I do not soak my seeds as this can actually reduce germination rate and introduce disease) back in late winter in a cold greenhouse and planted out very early spring. If growing in a hot greenhouse this can cause your seedlings to become leggy and weak. I do not pinch out my seedlings either, as I find they will produce plenty of side shoots themselves.
The early spring weather was wild! ... gale force winds and rain, so much rain!! The rabbits then appeared and chewed some of the seedlings in a flash, this is the first time I have had any issues with them... we did not muck around and went Mr McGregor style protection after this. I really was unsure if the sweet pea seedlings would survive but they did!
My partner Rob made the most amazing strong built to last trellising for the sweet peas to climb. We will be using these for years to come. I use a strong plastic netting square size around 15cm X 15cm, any smaller the vines will not be able to weave in and out. I cable tie the ends to the wooden trellis to prevent flapping around in the wind.
Sweet peas are not a set and forget flower, they do require some weekly maintenance of tying the vines to the trellis, if not you run the risk of them snapping in the wind. Watching out for powdery mildew - and action fast when you see those tiny white spots. I like to give a seaweed treatment every one to two weeks for a little boost. When in flower I keep my eye out for any off colours coming through and remove the entire plant, if not they will just keep coming through.
Our plot and home garden are all currently in seed. I am harvesting every couple of days - it's a big job! Harvesting the brown crunchy seed pods (I give them a bit of a squeeze and if ready you will hear a crack), not crunching enough the seeds will still be green inside and not viable. Leaving the seeds too long they will fling open themselves and disperse the seeds to be lost! After harvesting I store the seeds in labelled mesh laundry wash bags, hanging in a warm dry area in my home.
I do get a little sad as the flowers disappear, but also at the same time excited to share the magic of their seeds.
Currently I am knee deep in harvesting, drying, shelling the seeds and packaging. Our germination testing is underway and is looking great.
All going well I am aiming for the seeds to be available at the end of March/ early April. I have listed below what I have been growing, some I may not have enough to sell this year - but will be growing more this spring.
In the back of my mind I'm also thinking about the next sweet pea season, what we might do differently and will it be possible to have a few more beds to grow some of the varieties that did not make the cut this year. Will we trial growing in a polytunnel? To prevent any crazy external weather!? As well as trialing the orange varieties in the polytunnel to prevent sun scorching.
More Scent - Creamy white with rims of mauve, very productive, similar to high scent but has a stronger scent, hence the name. A semi-grandiflora bred by Dr Keith Hammett.
Earl Grey - First time growing and won't be the last, I love Earl Grey, it's strong inky bicolour flake. A spencer type bred by Dr Keith Hammett and Roger Parsons.
Mollie Rilstone - I had 10 seeds sent to me from Dr Keith Hammett and grew enough last year to then grow on a larger scale this year. Frilly cream flowers with a rosy pink picotee rim, strongly scented and lovely long stems. Spencer type bred by Pip Tremewan.
Piggy Sue - an over achiever this year! Yes, I planted too close together, a bad habit of mine with everything... too many seeds sown and not enough space! ... lot's of requests for this beauty as did not grow last year, but did the year before. Strongly scented. Early flowering, known to be a fast grower with an abundance of blooms. Apricot pink picotee on cream on long stems - would make the perfect wedding bouquet flower. Early flowering spencer bred by Dr Keith Hammett who named the flower after a pig rescued from farrowing stalls.
Gwawr Cymru - meaning and also known as, Welsh Dawn. Wishing I grew more of this beauty and definitely will next season. Planted in the home garden in the patch closest to our extra large gum tree did make it struggle, less sunlight, covered from natural rain and hard to tend too. A dusky antique rose on cream. Colours are stronger and more defined comparing to Mollie Rilstone. Strongly scented. I think Gwawr Cymru is romance in a flower! Spencer type bred by Sydney Harrod.
Castlewellan - (also known as Harlow Carr) Frilly peachy pink - fading to white, very soft and romantic, a perfect wedding flower. Also wishing I had grown more and wasn't in the best bed at my home patch. Will grow on a larger scale next year in our plot. This one grows very tall with long stems!! Spencer type bred by Sydney Harrod and introduced by Uwins in 2025.
Gilly Norah - Peachy pink spencer type, quite new to the world of sweet peas, bred and introduced by Roger Parsons in 2019. Would also make a lovely wedding bouquet flower.
Juliet - A tiny tip of blush but mostly cream. I found some changed to pink as they age, but only occurring at my home garden not at the plot. I asked Millie Proust if this happens to hers, and she had also noted this occurred on colder nights. A modern grandiflora bred by Uwins in 2002.
Blue Vein - classed as a shifter - this is a new classification which has come about due to Dr Keith Hammett's hybridising Lathyrus belinenis and Lathyrus odratus. The flower starts orange and then as the flower ages blue veins appear. As with most orange varieties the flowers bleach in the sun, so best grown under shade or polytunnel to prevent scorching. I have had a fail this season with Blue Vein, unfortunately most of the plants died and I have no idea why... possibly not enough water. So doubtful for seed this year. Bred by Keith Hammett. Will try again next season.
Turquoise Lagoon - 3rd or 4th year growing... I've now lost track. Another shifter. Starting off pink then as the flower ages changes to the most unreal colour of turquoise, not really seen as a colour in flowers. Very unique. Bred by Keith Hammett.
David Toskevin - Has been my unexpected favourite of the season... I think! Dappled (a new class of colourisation) smokey lavender.. not normally a fan of purples but I may have turned. Bred by Dr Keith Hammett for Plants Of Distinction in honour of their founder David Toskevin.
Emma - Sweet, soft and glowy peachy pink. A very productive flower! Spencer type.
King's Ransom - Would have to be the number one most sought after sweet pea, the pop star in the sweet pea world... and I now see why. Smokey shades of red that look different in every light.... Growing both in my home garden and at the plot for seed. Was happier at the plot, not the most vigorous if plants but currently producing an ok amount of seed. Spencer type bred by Andrew Beane for King's Seeds.
Shell Pink - The Chelsea Flower Show 2025 favourite. Pearly baby pink with unique red stems. A hybrid of Lathyrus belinenis and Lathyrus odratus, bred by Dr Keith Hammett.
Apricot Queen - Peachy and coral tones that glow. First time growing, it has produced a few off types and some darker corals, I have removed the off types and some of the darker coral tones to try and keep it mostly peachy apricot, but there is likely some off types in the batch. Spencer type introduced by King's Seeds in the UK.
MM - Raspberry red, brighter than King's Ransom, but very similar. More productive and a more vigorous plant. I love this unusual colour. Strong long stems. MM is a spencer type that was introduced by Peter Grayson in 2000, in Roman Numeral MM represents 2000.
Blue Shift - 3rd year growing, always lovely and popular. Flowers shift from pink/purple to the most amazing azure blue. Classed as a shifter. Bred by Keith Hammett.
Almost Black - Almost black is the deepest darkest of maroons it looks black in some light. Bred by Dr Keith Hammett. A modern grandiflora type.
Bix - 3rd year growing, not as productive this year and took a while to get going, possibly the position planted at the plot. Vintage cream and apricot pink picotee. Named after Dr Keith Hammett's village where his mother grew up. Spencer type.
Books That Helped Me
If you are wanting to dive deeper into the sweet pea world then I'll recommend a few books below that have helped me:
A World Of Sweet Peas By Cecilia Wingard & Philip Johnson of English Sweet Peas.
Sweet Pea School By Marryn Mathis.
Sweet Peas An Essential Guide By Roger Parsons, world renowned Sweet Pea Breeder.
