King Edward VII Sweet Pea Seedlings

King Edward VII Sweet Pea

There aren't that many true red sweet peas - lots of pinks and variations thereof - but a good, deep red sweet pea is a minority sport making King Edward VII that much more special. It also plays well for those who do not like the more wishy-washy sweet pea colours. It is a true Henry Eckford offspring with small, numerous and highly scented flowers of that old-fashioned calibre that is hard to better, and they become ever more prolific the more you pick them. The flowers are borne on shortish stems but will cover the whole stem from top to toe - very good for keeping you flexible. Browse all of our sweet peas.

Our Sweet Peas are delivered in purpose-designed, recycled cardboard packaging, and are ready to be planted out when you get them.
We generally send them out between March and May, but we will email you with the likely delivery timescale once you have placed your order.

A King not just for Cutting

The heritage varieties of sweet pea give and give with King Edward VII as no exception and so anyone who wants a bunch of sweet peas on a daily basis just for the smell alone should invest in him. The red colour is a bonus and is fun to dot in amongst other red sweet peas like the flake America or to be all patriotic with white Cathy and navy Lord Nelson. But do not just relegate King Edward VII to the cutting garden. It grows strongly but not too tall and so it will perform magnificently in a pot somewhere sunny or draped over a small obelisk or some such in the middle of a border.

Features

• Colour: mid-red but uniform
• Stem: short but strong
• Height: 1.5 m
• Type: Old Fashioned Heritage
• Scent: astonishing
• Flowering: May to August
• Planting Months: March-June
• Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit 

Longevity

Henry Eckford introduced this sweet pea back in 1903. He started work on breeding ever more improved Grandiflora sweet peas in the 1880s from the village of Wem in Shropshire. Each year in July they still hold a sweet pea festival in his honour - now that is definitely worth a detour!

King Edward VII Sweet Peas do best in good, 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.