Sweet Pea 'Painted Lady'
- Loved by Pollinators
- Scented
- Good for Cutting
Sweet Pea 'Painted Lady' is a beautiful bi-colour pale and darker pink sweet pea. A very highly-scented, old-fashioned type. Also the earliest-flowering of the highly scented varieties, so excellent if you need sweet peas for May, 9/10 scent.
The result of Henry Eckford's work in the late 19th century is the Grandiflora group of sweet peas which, until this year, formed 90 per cent of the varieties I grow. They have what are now considered to be relatively small flowers and short stems with three, sometimes four flowers to a stem, but many of them are irresistible, with wonderful, strong scent and great dignity and elegance.
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.
- Loved by Pollinators
- Scented
- Good for Cutting
Product details
- Type
- Climber
- Position
- Cutting Garden, On a Climbing Support
- Soil
- Broad Tolerance
- Flowers
- May - August (winter-sown) or June - September (spring-sown), or 12-14 weeks from spring-sowing of seed.
- Height
- 1.8m (6ft)
- Common name
- Sweet Pea
- Moisture
- Moist but Well-drained
- Aspect
- Full Sun
- Spread
- 15cm (6in)
- Cultivation
- Sow October to April, 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.
Care Tips
Plant seedlings out during a mild spell March-May, providing support. Tie the stems into your framework on a regular basis and pinch out tendrils.
Flowering Time
May - August (winter-sown) or June - September (spring-sown), or 12-14 weeks from spring-sowing of seed.
