How to grow sweet peas from seed
Find the best method of growing sweet peas from seed for strong, productive plants.
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Sweet Pea 'Almost Black'
Sweet Pea 'Almost Black' is a very glamorous thing – a sweet pea in an incredibly dark, luscious colour and incredible scent. More
| 20 seeds 040036 | £2.50 |
In stock
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Items will be despatched in 5-7 working days.
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| 4 seedlings 510533-4 | £6.50 |
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| 8 seedlings 510533-8 | £9.95 |
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| 12 seedlings 510533-12 | £16.95 |
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Or buy this as part of our Wiltshire Ripple and Almost Black Mix and The Ultimate Sweet Pea Collection.
More Details
Sweet Pea 'Almost Black' is a very glamorous thing – a sweet pea in an incredibly dark, luscious colour and amazing scent.
This is a modern grandiflora sweet pea. The recent breeding triumph has to be the incredible new band of 'Modern Grandifloras' with all the royal cards in their hand. These have been developed to have large flowers, lots of them, with long stems of the Spencer types, with the bonus of fantastic scent of 'Matucana' and its early brigade. 9/10 scent.
No garden is complete without sweet peas. Grow them over arches, teepees and trellis and plant them with your runner beans to draw lots of insect pollinators into your veg patch.
We sow our highly-scented, old-fashioned sweet pea seeds in the winter, as well as in the spring, so that you will have excellent productive plants throughout the summer. Our sweet pea seedlings come with full planting instructions.
| Genus | Lathyrus odoratus |
| Group/Species |
Modern grandiflora To find out more about the different types of sweet pea, click here. |
| Variety | Almost Black |
| Type | Hardy Annual Climber |
| Common Name | Sweet Pea |
| Border Position | Climber |
| Soil Type | Fertile, Neutral |
| Scent | Scented |
| Site | Full Sun |
| Moisture | Moist but Well-drained |
| Height | 2 metres (6ft) |
| Spacing | Plant out, 2 plants to a vertical support, 15cm (6in) apart in a mild spell in March-May. |
| Sowing, Seeds, Planting | Sow October-December or January-March, 2 seeds into 1 rootrainer. When roots fill container, pot on 2 seedlings together into a 1 litre pot. Pinch out tips when plants have 4 pairs of leaves. If autumn sown, overwinter in a light, cool place. Sweet peas often have quite a hard seed coat so it may help to soften the seed before sowing. To do this, place the seeds on some damp kitchen paper and pop them in a warm spot. Once the seeds start to swell or sprout they are ready to sow. If the seeds don’t seem to be swelling you can try making a small nick in the seed coat (opposite the ‘eye’) as this will help moisture enter the seed and kick-start the germination process. |
| Care Tips | Remove the climbing tendrils as they grow. Tie the stem into your framework on a regular basis. Can be grown in deep container pots up a climbing frame. Find out how to cordon train your sweet pea in Sarah's how-to guide. |
| Flowering | June - September |
| Vase Life | 4-5 days. Avoid direct sunlight and heat. This has a beautiful scent. |
| Harvesting | Keep picking as often as you can. |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- Sow Under Cover/Plant Indoors
- Direct Sow/Plant Outdoors
- Flowers/Harvest
Advice & Videos
How to cordon train your sweet peas
Discover how to cordon train your sweet peas for magnificent plants.
Delivery
Plant Delivery - When in stock, please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery.
Seeds Delivery - Items will be despatched in 5-7 working days.
Click here to find out more information about our delivery rates and times.
Write a Review
Average based on 3 reviews
Sweet Pea 'Almost Black' reviews
Average based on 3 reviews
Wait and see
Reviewed 28th June 2016 by Geraldine When I received the seedlings a couple of days ago they were quite tall but didn't look their best as they were very yellow in colour, I planted them straight away hoping that they will recover but they don't seem very vigorous. Reply from the Sarah Raven Team:"Thank you for your feedback, we are sorry to hear that you are experiencing disappointing results from your sweet pea seedlings. If the plants were yellow upon arrival it sounds like they may have been delayed in the post, been packed up for longer than planned and the plants have suffered as a result of this. If you could contact customer services on 0345 092 0283 or by email at info@sarahraven.com the team will do their best to replace the plants for you or alternatively arrange for the plants to be refunded." Posted 4th July 2016 |
Wonderful fragrance, rich sultry colours
Reviewed 2nd August 2014 by Petra I've bought the several variety of sweet peas. No problem at all, big healthy seeds all germinated into healthy plants. I like the packaging with instructions despite missing an image. I love the rich dark colour and the fragrance is just lovely, a bit spicy deep pea-delicious but not so heady. |
Amazing
Reviewed 16th July 2014 by Yvonne Lally Seeds supplied in excess of the numbers guaranteed and full germination (Greenhouse raised but no chipping or soaking). Strong plants and lovely long stems on blooms. Profuse. Will definitely grow again. |
