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| PINK, CORAL AND RED SHADES OF SPENCER VARIETY OF SWEET PEAS |
As the summer heats up to a sweltering 100 degrees here in New England, and as my Spencer Sweet Pea Project which I began in mid February with the sowing of the seeds, starts to finally end, I thought I would share the individual ‘year book’ shots. The vines have now reached far above their 8 foot cordon canes, and now, they are on their own – I am allowing them to fade away and go to seed ( not that I will save seed, as it will revert back to a poorer quality variety.
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| A BOUQUET OF SIMILAR TINTS – A GREAT WAY TO SHOW OFF THE RANGE OF SWEET PEA COLORS. HERE, ALL PURPLES, BLUES AND VIOLETS. |
Not that I am sick of sweet peas by any means, ( but you may be!), but I just can’t imagine that they will be any good now that they must tumble down. The peak season is over, so I thought that I would share with you some individual images of each variety ( all are from seed that I bought from the
Owl’s Acre Sweet Peas website in the United Kingdom). A more detailed post will come as well a new handbook I am writing won’t be done until the winter, but for now- enough with the sweet pea posts already! Enjoy the final yumminess.
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| VIOLET AND BLUE SHADES OF SPENCER VARIETY SWEET PEAS GROWN IN MY GARDEN THIS YEAR |
One may wonder why all the work? Are sweet peas worth it? Well, so far, they have been in bloom for six weeks providing armloads of flowers with long stems and a fragrance to die for – a peony blooms only for 2 or 3 days. So sweet peas are worth it, if you want a long season of bloom, and it’s not over yet.
I know, I could have washed my fingernails! But a gardeners hands are rarely tidy. My favorite sweet peas are the blue shades, which can range from nearly white, to what is just about the most perfect periwinkle tint in the entire plant kingdom, and to a rich, dark velvety purple.
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| JOE PICKS A BUNCH OF SWEET PEAS TO SHARE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS. THEY ARE POLISH, AND SPEAK VERY LITTLE ENGLISH, BUT THE WIFE SMILED WHEN HE BROUGHT THEM OVER – NO WORDS NEEDED! |
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| A RICH BURGUNDY COLORED VARIETY NAMED “BURNISHED BRONZE’ |
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I do not understand how anyone can be sick of sweet peas. I'm most certainly not. There is a fairly new book out by Mr Roger Parsons on sweet pea growing-I own a copy of almost every book ever in print on the subject. I might be missing one, if I remember correctly.
Two of my favourite peas, Jilly and Dark Passion, seem to be yours too. My husband loves Lilac Ripple, and a line of them need to be grown each year (and they are) without fail! In fact to him, there is really no other pea! I hope you will try it next autumn.
I did order Lilac Ripple in the winter, but it was one of the packets that never made it into my line-up – I ran out of room. Next year, flakes and striped! I know, I never tire of sweet peas.
Still enjoying the peas. Beautiful!
So wonderful. I've never met a sweet pea I didn't love. This fall I plan on planting a bunch of them. Probably not quite as ambitious as your collection though. 🙂