There’s still some question about what vegetables and flowers I’ll grow this year, but there is no doubt that I’ll be growing sweet peas, so earlier this week I at least finished up with that order.
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| A bouquet of sweet pea blooms from my 2015 garden. The scent was absolutely heavenly. |
Of course I ordered too many. How can a gardener possibly choose? Plus, I enjoy giving spares away to good homes. A sweet pea charity if you will. The past two years I’ve bought a mix of heirlooms and spencer varieties to make sure that I had the scent from the heirlooms but the more showy flowers of the spencers. This year I bought mostly spencers but focused on varieties said to have good scent. There is no point whatsoever to growing a sweet pea if it doesn’t smell like a sweet pea, in my mind.
Here’s this year order.
I ordered the majority of them from Owl’s Acre Seed, a British company whose seed I had great success with two years ago. Whether it was just a better year for them than last year, or the seed really is better I can’t say but I’m hedging my bets and going back to what worked better for me. Plus, they have a better selection than a lot of seed providers in the U.S.
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| Owl’s Acre Seed photo |
I have a weakness for sweet peas in general but show me anything in the blue family and I go all weak in the knees. I love setting them off with pink and white. Noel Sutton appears to have a blue-turning-pink type of thing going on. And it is said to have great fragrance.
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| Owl’s Acre Seed photo |
I grew Erewhon two years ago and it is the best sweet pea I’ve grown. A bi-color pink and blue. Obviously a winner in my book.
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| Owl’s Acre Seed photo |
I like a sky blue sweet pea to go with those deep blue and purple flowers so this one caught my eye. It’s said to be smaller growing and therefore good in a container so having that option attracted me to it. This is an heirloom variety so I would expect that what it lacks in long, cuttable stems it will make up for in scent and an abundance of flowers.
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| Owl’s Acre Seed photo |
I wanted a white sweet pea to mix in with this bunch and this one with pink edges caught my eye. I grew Mollie Rilstone last year and was underwhelmed by it so I hope this wasn’t a mistake. Anniversary sounds like it will be excellent as a cut flower, which is my favorite thing to do with them.
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| Owl’s Acre Seed photo |
After all that same old-same old I was feeling like I should at least try something different and this wine beauty caught my eye. The fact that it said it has excellent fragrance sealed the deal.
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| Owl’s Acre Seed photo |
I like to mix different varieties of sweet peas on the same support so I needed to find a friend for Beaujolais and I thought the deep pink tone on the tri-color Spanish Dancer would tie in well. I’m the most nervous about this choice because it will be beautiful if it looks like the picture but I’ve seen this same color combination look completely muddy in other flowers.
This last variety came from Floret Flowers. I was picking up a couple other seeds there and this sweet pea (which is also offered at Owl’s Acre but is sold out) came along for the ride.
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| Floret Flower photo |
I’m definitely on a coral and salmon kick when it comes to flowers and this punchy pea caught my eye. The folks at Owl’s Acre call this one of their favorites, and that’s good enough for me.
9 Responses
Hi there. I found you from a search for a domestic supplier of Owl’s Acres, which I am still looking for.
Just an FYI for fellow gardeners; I’ve purchased Owl’s Acres directly since 2000 with no issues. However, this August (2018) I placed an order which the USPS confiscated and destroyed, citing USDA 7 CFR 319.37 and 7 CFR 351. Even if I receive a small lot seed permit from the USDA, Owl’s Acres must treat the seeds for some unnamed nefarious pests. The Los Angeles Port of Entry destroyed my purchase and sent me a form in the envelope instead of my beloved seeds.
Oh no! That’s heartbreaking. I’m so sorry to hear this, but thank you so much for letting us all know. What a shame, they were a great source.
Thank you for mentioning this! I was going to place an order for some sweet pea seeds from Owl’s Acres, and reading about how your order was confiscated and destroyed caused me to look for another good source here in the USA. I cannot imagine what on earth caused so much of a problem that the Port of Entry destroyed you seeds! Perhaps it was due to that variety of seeds not being an heirloom variety? I have no clue, but am very disappointed for you, and for me, too! Thank you so much for posting this info!
Stop teasing! I love sweet peas but they do not love the DC climate. Maybe I'll try them up in Maine.
Do you ever read the blog "the art of doing stuff"? She had a post a few days ago about organizing seeds. It's a bit labor intensive, but probably easy once the setup is done. http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/seed-storage/
Too gorgeous. Does it stay cooler near you because of the lake?
I used to have a coral rose that had the most wonderful fragrance. I wish I could remember what the name of it was…hmmmmm The Coral sweet pea reminded me of it. America ??something I think…hmmm I love seeing all of these sweet peas. I always want them but they burn up in our dry hot summers. They are almost like spring ephemerals for me.
Yes, that's the problem with them … they just peeter out in extended heat. That's why I'm always a little cautious about using them in containers because they fry.