Lathyrus odoratus Gwendoline

A sweet pea of enormous popularity with good reason, Gwendoline has enormous flowers that are white with a deep rose pink border that fades into the centre. Its undulating petals create a frilly effect, not least because there are so many of them. They are balanced by extra-long straight stems that are strong and enable this vigorous sweet pea to climb to over 2m if necessary making it one of the tallest in our range of sweet peas. As a Spencer sweet pea, she is fragrant without being overpowering.

Maybe plant in Wensleydale

Budding exhibitors at their local show should definitely invest in a Gwendoline to impress the bench. Her flowers fulfil all the technical requirements of the sweet pea expert while her verve and swagger are tremendously exciting. For ordinary mortals, a bunch of Gwendoline mixed with some sprigs of clary sage or blue flowered rosemary would be a delight on a bedside table. The pink and white colouring stands out against darker sweet peas like the excellent and recent cutting flower sweet pea, Magnificent Maroon or complements the shocking pink of Millennium.

Features

Colour: pink & white
Stem: extra long
Height: 2.4 m
Type: Spencer
Scent: medium
Flowering: June - August
Planting Months: March-April
RHS AGM

The Spencer Story

Silas Cole was a gardener who worked for the Spencer family at Althorp in the early 20th Century. His passion was sweet peas, and it is down to him and his skill in breeding new varieties of sweet pea that the fashion moved from the small, fragrant and old-fashioned to these large, frilly and long stemmed varieties. The first Spencer Sweet Pea was Countess Spencer.

Awarded an RHS AGM in 1998.

Sweet Peas do best in well worked, moisture retentive soil. Adding organic matter really makes a difference and is best done the autumn before. But on the day is very much better than not at all. Your plants will do best in open ground, but you can get good results planting Sweet Peas in window boxes and pots of sufficient size - allow at least 3 litres per plant and remember that these are quite deep-rooted plants. In containers, the ideal planting mix is 50% compost, 40% topsoil and 10% well-rotted manure. Ordinary potting compost is OK, but you will get fewer flowers.

A range of supports can be used from twiggy branches to willow wigwams to posts with netting stretched between. Whatever you use, do the construction work before planting. Think about the position - Sweet Peas can cope with a little shade but flower better in full sun.

Space plants about 30 cm apart and about 5 cm from their supports. The hole should be deep enough to plant the full length of the rootball and allow enough so the soil finishes level with the lowest pair of leaves. Check to make sure they are climbing well every week or so, as they grow quickly. Tie into their supports if not.

Sweet Peas biggest need is for water - they are incredibly thirsty plants. So water well after planting and make sure they never completely dry out. They are greedy too so you will lengthen their flowering period if you give them a high potash and phosphate fertiliser every 7-10 days once buds begin to form. Home-made comfrey liquid is perfect or Tomorite will do - especially if you are on a sandy soil.

Cut the flowers as they develop pick them, otherwise they run to seed and stop flowering.

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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)

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

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.

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 in summer 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
Shade	Full Sun
Area	Coastal Areas, Frost Pockets, Scotland & The North
Soil	Good, Well Drained
Colour	Pink (Medium)
Type	Rootrained, Seedling
Also Good	Fragrant, Repeat Flowering
Flowering	May, Jun, Jul, Aug

	Buy 2 or more seedling packs and save

SIZES	1	2-4	5+
Pack of 4	Available to order from early July - do come back then £7.25	Available to order from early July - do come back then£5.50	Available to order from early July - do come back then£5.32
	Prices include VAT

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Gwendoline Sweet Pea Seedlings

Lathyrus odoratus Gwendoline