Heaven Scent Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: Heaven Scent
• Type: Spencer
• Colour: Pink and cream bicolour, flushed and variable
• Scent: Powerful. One of the most heavily scented sweet peas we grow
• Flowers: Open-faced, lightly waved. 3–4 per stem
• Stems: Medium length, strong enough for cutting
• Height: 1.8–2m (6–7ft) with support
• Flowering: June to September with regular picking
• RHS AGM: No
• Show class: Spencer — NSPS Class 11a
• 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

Heaven Scent – Bred for the Nose, Not Just the Eye

The name is not marketing. Heaven Scent is one of the most powerfully fragrant sweet peas in commercial production. A single stem will scent a small room; a bunch will fill a hallway. The perfume is the classic sweet pea fragrance at full volume: warm, honeyed, with a depth that lighter-scented varieties only hint at. It sits alongside King's High Scent and Matucana at the top of our scent rankings, and if anything it carries its fragrance more generously in the garden than either of those two.

The flowers are a pink and cream bicolour, flushed and variable from bloom to bloom. Some are predominantly cream with a blush of pink at the edges; others are a stronger rose-pink with a cream base. The effect is softer and more informal than a solid colour. The NSPS classifies Heaven Scent as a Spencer, though the blooms are more open-faced and lightly waved than a typical Spencer – somewhere between the small heritage types and the fully ruffled show varieties. If you are choosing sweet peas primarily for fragrance, this one belongs near the top of your list.

Growing for Maximum Scent

Scent is affected by heat, moisture, and time of day. Heaven Scent gives its best fragrance in the morning and early evening, when the air is cooler and the essential oils are most concentrated. Pick for the house first thing, before the sun warms the petals and the scent volatiles dissipate. A west-facing support works well: the afternoon warmth encourages strong growth, but the flowers face the cooler evening air as you sit out.

Water consistently. Sweet peas that dry out at the roots stop flowering within days, and stressed plants produce less fragrance than well-fed ones. A fortnightly drench with a high-potash liquid feed once buds appear keeps Heaven Scent flowering hard from June well into September. Full growing guidance is in our sweet pea growing guide.

Scented Partners

The obvious approach is to pair Heaven Scent with other strong-scented varieties for maximum impact. Albutt Blue (a heavily scented Semi-Grandiflora with a blue picotee edge) adds colour contrast and a complementary fragrance note. Lord Nelson (deep navy Grandiflora, intensely perfumed) darkens the palette and doubles down on fragrance. The three together on a wigwam by a seating area is a scent experience that will stop every visitor who walks past.

But there is another approach. One strongly scented variety does more for a mixed planting than three, because it provides the fragrance while the others contribute colour. Pair Heaven Scent with Blue Velvet (deep violet-blue, AGM) and Valerie Harrod (coral-crimson, AGM) for a rich colour combination where Heaven Scent provides all the perfume the group needs.

On a fence or wall, Heaven Scent mingles beautifully with jasmine. Summer jasmine begins flowering in late June, exactly when the sweet peas hit their stride. Two scented climbers sharing a wire or trellis, each contributing a different fragrance note, is a combination that rewards every evening you spend in the garden.

Why Grow Ashridge Sweet Peas?

Our sweet peas are not mass-produced. 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.

We send your sweet peas out by next-day courier between March and May, in purpose-designed recycled cardboard packaging. They arrive 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, both earned from customer recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Just how scented is Heaven Scent?

Extremely. Heaven Scent is one of the three or four most powerfully fragrant sweet peas in our collection. The perfume is warm, honeyed, and carries well in the garden. A few stems in a vase will scent an entire room. It sits in the same league as King's High Scent and Matucana for sheer intensity of fragrance.

What type of sweet pea is Heaven Scent?

A Spencer, classified by the NSPS under Class 11a. The blooms are more open-faced and lightly waved than a typical Spencer, with the strong scent more commonly associated with older Grandiflora types. The plant is vigorous enough to reach 2m on a good support.

When should I plant Heaven Scent outside?

After the last frost in your area, which for most of England means late April or May. Our plugs are hardened off before dispatch, so they go straight into prepared ground. If a cold snap is forecast after planting, drape horticultural fleece over the supports overnight as a precaution.

Is Heaven Scent a good cut flower?

The stems are long enough for arranging, the scent fills a room from even a modest bunch, and the soft pink-and-cream colouring works with almost anything you put alongside it. Cut in the early morning when the lowest bloom on the stem is just opening. Change the water every other day and you should get a week of vase life.

Will Heaven Scent come back next year?

Sweet peas are annuals, so each plant flowers once and is finished. At the end of the season, cut the stems at ground level and leave the roots in the soil to release their stored nitrogen. For fresh plants every spring, browse our sweet pea collection, which includes Heaven Scent alongside more than thirty other varieties.