Bobby's Girl Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: Bobby's Girl
• Type: Spencer
• Colour: Soft shell-pink, even and clean
• Scent: 3/5 (Parsons) – sweet and fresh, classic sweet pea
• Flowers: Large, well-formed Spencer. 3–4 per stem, consistently placed
• Stems: Long, straight, and strong – a cut-flower natural
• Height: 2m (6–7ft) with support
• Flowering: Late June to September with regular picking
• RHS AGM: Yes (2000)
• Show class: Not currently listed (NSPS 2026)
• Bred by: Bernard Jones
• Sold as: Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us
• Plant outdoors: After last frost
• Delivered: March to May by next-day courier. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Bobby's Girl – Soft Colour, Serious Performance

Bobby's Girl is a shell-pink Spencer that does exactly what a good pink sweet pea should do: it looks pretty without being insipid, it cuts well, it grows without fuss, and it holds its colour from the first bloom to the last. The tone is a clean, even pink (not salmon, not blush, not rose) with the kind of clarity that makes it useful in almost any colour scheme. Against dark companions it glows. Against whites and creams it softens. Against other pinks it blends without clashing. It is, in the best sense, accommodating.

Bernard Jones bred Bobby's Girl, and it was awarded the RHS AGM in 2000. That is twenty-five years and counting. Jones has an eye for varieties that perform as well in a wet August as they do in a sunny July, and Bobby's Girl is a good example of what that breeding philosophy produces. Not flashy, not complicated, just reliably excellent.

The Pink You Keep Coming Back To

There are showier pinks in the sweet pea range. Anniversary has its lavender flush, Jilly has the warm cream-and-pink combination, and Mollie Rilstone has a bicolour charm that catches the eye. Bobby's Girl is none of those things. It is the honestly pretty one – the variety you plant when you want pink without any qualifications, and the one you come back to because it always works.

The stems are among the best in our collection for cutting. Long, straight, stiff enough to stand upright in a tall vase without a prop. The flowers are well-spaced on the stem, which gives each bloom room to display properly. Pick in the early morning when the lowest flower is just opening and you will get five to seven days of vase life. A mixed bunch of Bobby's Girl and a contrasting blue – Our Harry or Blue Velvet – is one of the simplest, prettiest arrangements a cutting garden can produce.

The scent, a 3 on the Parsons scale, is the classic sweet, fresh sweet pea fragrance that most people expect from the genus. Not a scent powerhouse, but persistent enough that a bunch on the kitchen table will greet you when you walk into the room. If fragrance is your primary goal, grow Bobby's Girl alongside a Grandiflora like Flora Norton and let each variety contribute its strength. Full growing and cutting guidance is in our sweet pea growing guide.

Pairing Ideas

Blue Velvet (deep violet-blue Spencer, AGM) is the obvious contrast – pink and blue together is the default sweet pea combination for good reason, and these two are among the best versions of it. White Frills (pure white Spencer) adds a clean third colour that lifts the pair into something more polished.

In the cutting garden, Bobby's Girl works beautifully alongside cosmos. Purity (white) and Sensation (mixed pinks) extend the pink-and-white theme through to the first frost, long after the sweet peas have finished. The two plants share an informal, cottage-garden quality that makes them natural companions in a row of cutting-garden beds. If you grow nothing else in that bed, the combination of Bobby's Girl for June and July and cosmos for August to October will keep a vase on the table all summer.

Why Ashridge for Your Sweet Peas?

Sweet peas have been part of the Ashridge range for over twenty years. The seed, which we collect ourselves, is hand-sown at two seeds per plug. After germination, the weaker seedling is removed. Every plant is then pinched out to encourage bushy growth and hardened off before dispatch. What you are buying are sturdy, garden-ready jumbo plug plants that have had the best possible start.

Your sweet peas go out by next-day courier between March and May, packed in purpose-designed recycled cardboard packaging. The moment they arrive, they are ready to go into the ground or a container. If anything is not right, we have real people on the phone in Somerset who will sort it out. We hold a Feefo Platinum Service Award and have been named a Which? Best Buy plant supplier – endorsements that came from our customers, not our marketing team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What colour is Bobby's Girl?

A clean, even shell-pink – consistent across the petals with no streaking, fading, or bicolour markings. The tone holds well from first bloom to last, which makes Bobby's Girl one of the more reliable pinks for arrangements where colour consistency matters.

Who bred Bobby's Girl?

Bernard Jones, one of the most prolific British sweet pea breeders. Jones has introduced dozens of varieties, many of which are still in regular cultivation – including Blue Velvet, Gwendoline, and Heathcliff.

Does Bobby's Girl hold the RHS AGM?

Yes, since 2000. Over two decades of continuous recognition, which reflects a variety that performs well across different soils, seasons, and parts of the country. The RHS does not hand these out lightly.

How fragrant is Bobby's Girl?

Bobby's Girl carries a pleasant, moderate scent, rated 3 out of 5 by specialist growers. You will notice the fragrance when cutting or arranging, and a generous bunch in a small room is distinctly sweet. It is not one of the powerhouse scent varieties, but it contributes well in a mixed bunch where stronger-scented companions like Lord Nelson or Matucana provide the heavy lifting.

Do sweet peas come back the following year?

Sweet peas are annuals, completing their entire life cycle in one growing season. Bobby's Girl will flower from late June to September and be finished by autumn. You can save seed, though Spencers may not come true. The simplest route to fresh plants is our sweet pea collection each spring.