Blue Spencer Sweet Peas

Bristol sweet pea is a favourite of both exhibition growers and amateur gardeners alike, as its many awards will attest. Its pale blue/cream flowers, reaching 4cm across, are gently shaded - if you're wanting a more vibrant tone, see our full range of sweet peas here. It has a heady, strong fragrance - one of the best - and the strong, long-stemmed, frilly Spencer-type blooms make Bristol perfect as a cut flower.

The flowers open as a uniform soft blue. The standards open flat with a cream rim, becoming strongly waved, soft blue slightly paler at the edges, wings soft blue, even paler at the edges. This gentle shading shows off each petal to best effect and the florets are well placed on the stem, making it a favourite with exhibitors and florists. The National Sweet Pea Society classes it as a Pale Blue.

Goes well with...

The exceptional pale shading and perfume of Bristol mean it is best used near the front of a border on its own on an obelisk or on a trellis, so it can be appreciated fully. However, dark glossy evergreen leaves, such as Fatsia japonica will act as a wonderful backdrop, as will a black wall, creating a contemporary look.

Sweet pea Bristol is ideal for growing in large pots on a patio, where its beautiful perfume and delicate colouring can be appreciated next to a seating area. In fact, it is the ideal plant to grow over a pergola. Plants will need extra watering and a high potash plant food (such as tomato fertiliser) to keep flowering throughout the season. Don't forget to keep deadheading - if seed pods are allowed to develop, the sweet pea's flowering mechanism will switch off.

Features of Blue Spencer Sweet Peas

Colour: Shaded pale blue with cream edges
Stem: Long and strong
Height: 2m
Type: Spencer
Scent: Strong and heady
Flowering: May-October
Planting Months: March-June
Awards: RHS AGM, AM

Did you know...

Phil Kerton, from Somerset, bred sweet pea Bristol in the early 1990s. It has won the Award of Merit of Exhibition, the RHS Award of Garden Merit, the FC Harris Memorial Award (Best Seedling at RHS Wisley and RHS Harlow Carr Trials) and the Clay Cup for the best vase in the National Sweet Pea Society National Show.

Plant Bristol Sweet Peas in well prepared, moist soil that ideally was enriched with organic matter the previous autumn (if you did not do it then, do it now!). Erect supports for the peas to climb up before planting. They can also be planted in pots of sufficient size - allow 6 litres per plant - and with an ideal planting medium of 50% compost, 40 %top soil and 10% well-rotted manure. General purpose compost will do however but produces fewer flowers.

The principal requirement is enough water - Sweet Peas are thirsty and hungry plants. They can cope with a little shade but flower better in full sun.

Space plants about 10-15 cm apart and 5 cm from their support. The hole should be deep enough to accommodate the longest root and the soil should come up to the level of the first side shoot. Use wire/netting/twine between the supports so that the Sweet Pea can climb naturally. You will still need to tie them into the frame. They grow fast, so check every ten days or so.

Water well; the soil around sweet peas should never dry out. As the flowers develop pick them and then pick again, otherwise they start to form seedpods and will stop flowering altogether. Keep tying in and picking for as long as you can. Perfectionists will remove the curling tendrils which grip other stems and can result in flowers with wiggly stems and also will remove side shoots. see the website for more advice on training sweetpeas.

By all means apply a high potash and phosphate fertiliser during the growing season. (Sweet Peas actually fix nitrogen from the air into the soil so you don't need more of that.) Home-made comfrey liquid is perfect or Tomorite will do especially if you are on a sandy soil.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: Our standard delivery charges are:

Small box (Orders containing only seedlings or rooted cuttings) £7.20 including VAT per order (FREE For ORDERS Over £60 inc VAT)
Standard box (Bareroots up to 1.2m) £11.40 including VAT per order (FREE For ORDERS Over £60 inc VAT)
Large box (Pots up to and incl. 7.5L) £15.00 including VAT per order (FREE For ORDERS Over £100 inc VAT)
Trees & Hedging (Bareroots & trees 1.2m+) £18.00 including VAT per order (FREE For ORDERS Over £120 inc VAT)
Pallets (Root balls, large pots, trees etc) £60.00 including VAT per order (FREE For ORDERS Over £240 inc VAT)

Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Misc	RHS AGM
Area	Coastal Areas, Frost Pockets, Scotland & The North
Colour	Blue (Pale)
Type	Rootrained, Seedling
Also Good	Fragrant, Repeat Flowering
Flowering	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

	Buy 2 or more seedling packs and save

SIZES	1	2-5	6+
Pack of 4	Available to order from early July - do come back then £6.48	Available to order from early July - do come back then£5.04	Available to order from early July - do come back then£4.80
	Prices include VAT

Ashridge Nurseries is working as normal, you can see Current Delivery Information Here

Bristol Sweet Peas

Lathyrus odoratus Bristol

Blue Spencer Sweet Peas

Features of Blue Spencer Sweet Peas

Bareroot planting is best done between October and April
Bareroot and potted - what's the difference?

Ashridge Nurseries is working as normal, you can see Current Delivery Information Here

Bristol Sweet Peas

Lathyrus odoratus Bristol

Blue Spencer Sweet Peas

Features of Blue Spencer Sweet Peas

Bareroot planting is best done between October and April Bareroot and potted - what's the difference?

Bareroot planting is best done between October and April
Bareroot and potted - what's the difference?