Ballerina Blue Sweet Pea Plants

Ballerina Blue - A True Mid-Blue Spencer

Ballerina Blue is a soft, clear mid-blue Spencer sweet pea that earns its name from the graceful, ruffled form of its flowers. The colour is a gentle lavender-blue with purplish tinges - never harsh, never electric, but a calm, elegant shade that sits comfortably in any planting scheme. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The flowers are large and well-formed, typically four to a stem on stems that can reach 30cm - excellent proportions for cutting. Ballerina Blue is a vigorous, free-flowering variety that grows to around 180cm and keeps producing provided you keep picking. It is widely used by exhibitors but equally at home scrambling up a garden wigwam.

The Colour

True blue is one of the harder colours to achieve in sweet peas, and what most catalogues describe as blue is often closer to purple or mauve. Ballerina Blue leans towards blue, though it carries enough purple to keep it warm. In early morning light it reads as a clear sky blue; in full sun, it shifts towards lavender. The fading flowers take on a softer, almost silvery tone before they drop, so a well-picked plant always carries blooms at different intensities. The variety is one of our favourite blues and considerably easier to grow than some of the more temperamental blues out there.

Planting and Position

The usual sweet pea requirements: full sun (six hours minimum), fertile soil improved with organic matter, and consistent watering. Ballerina Blue is unfussy and vigorous - one of those varieties that gets on with it without much coaxing.

Because the colour is relatively soft, it benefits from thoughtful placement. Against a dark green hedge or fence, the blue flowers stand out clearly. Among a busy mixed border, they can get lost unless you plant in a reasonable quantity - four to six plants on a single obelisk or short run of netting gives the colour enough presence to register.

Full planting instructions, support options, and the month-by-month calendar are in our sweet pea growing guide.

Looking After Ballerina Blue

Pick hard, pick often. Every flower removed tells the plant to produce another; every seed pod that sets tells it to stop. With Ballerina Blue's prolific habit, the daily harvest is one of the genuine pleasures of the summer garden. A fortnightly feed with a potash-rich liquid fertiliser keeps the blooms coming. Water deeply - sweet peas are thirsty plants, and Ballerina Blue's vigorous growth means it drinks more than most.

Planting Partners for Ballerina Blue

Blue and white is a timeless combination. White Frills (pure white Spencer) makes the simplest and most effective partner - the two together on a single wigwam look clean, fresh, and effortlessly English.

For something warmer, try Ballerina Blue alongside Mollie Rilstone (cream with pink picotee) or Cathy (deep cream, AGM). The blue-against-cream palette has a quiet sophistication. For a bolder effect, Gwendoline (deep pink Spencer, AGM) creates a vivid contrast, and America (red-and-white striped Grandiflora, AGM) adds a cheerful exuberance.

Why Buy Your Sweet Peas from Ashridge?

All our sweet peas are grown from seed on our nursery in Castle Cary, Somerset, and we increasingly use our own saved seed to ensure named varieties come true to type. We use only jumbo plugs, which are deeper and better suited to root development than standard plugs. Every seed is hand-sown at a rate of two per plug, and these are grown on in our polytunnels until the seedlings have fully rooted through. Each one is then pinched out at least once to produce a bushier, multi-stemmed plant that will carry more flowers.

On the day of dispatch, your plants are hand-selected in our polytunnel, packed into purpose-designed recycled cardboard packaging, and sent out the same day by next-day courier. They arrive hardened off and ready to be planted directly into the ground. No greenhouse acclimatisation is needed.

We've been growing and selling plants since 1949, and by mail order since 2003. We hold the Feefo Platinum Service Award and were named a Which? Gardening Best Plant Supplier; both are independent recognitions of the quality and service our customers receive. So, if anything at all is wrong with your seedlings when they arrive, contact us within five working days, and we'll put it right.

Frequently Asked Questions

How scented is Ballerina Blue?

Moderately. Parsons rates it 3 out of 5 - noticeable and pleasant, but not the headlong intensity of varieties like Cathy or Matucana. You will catch it when gathering stems and it scents a room gently. If maximum fragrance is your priority, plant Ballerina Blue alongside a strongly scented companion and enjoy both.

Does Ballerina Blue hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit?

Yes. Confirmed in the RHS AGM list (December 2024). The RHS describes it as vigorous, free-flowering, and suitable for exhibition.

Is it really blue?

As close as sweet peas get. This is a genuine mid-blue with a lavender quality - not the purple-masquerading-as-blue that many supposedly blue varieties turn out to be. The colour shifts subtly through the day and as the flowers age.

What is the best support for Ballerina Blue?

Any sturdy vertical structure - canes, netting between posts, a hazel or metal obelisk. At 180cm, it does not need the tallest possible support. An obelisk in a sunny border works beautifully and keeps the flowers at picking height.

Can I grow Ballerina Blue in containers?

Yes. Provide between 4 and 5 litres per plant, a solid support, and water daily when the weather warms up. Containers dry out faster than open ground, so err on the side of too much water rather than too little. Our growing guide covers container planting in detail.

Does it come back the next year?

No - sweet peas are hardy annuals and complete their life cycle in one season. Fresh plants are needed each spring, from seed or from our jumbo plug seedlings. Leave the spent roots in the soil; as a legume, the plant fixes nitrogen that feeds the next occupant.