'Just Julia' Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: Just Julia
• Type: Spencer
• Colour: Pale pink with a lilac flush
• Scent: 4/5 (Parsons) – sweet and persistent
• Flowers: Large, gently ruched rather than heavily frilled. 3–4 per stem
• Stems: Long and strong – weather-resistant
• Height: 2m+ (7ft) with support
• Flowering: Late spring to September with regular picking
• RHS AGM: Yes
• Bred by: Matthewman
• Sold as: Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us
• Plant outdoors: After last frost
• Delivered: March to May by next-day courier

Just Julia – Quiet Confidence in Pale Pink

Just Julia is the kind of variety that slips into a garden display and makes everything around it look more considered. The flowers are a pale pink with a lilac flush – softer than a true pink, cooler than a cream, and quiet enough to mix with almost any other colour without competing. The petals are gently ruched rather than heavily frilled, which gives each bloom a sense of weight and substance that ruffled varieties sometimes lack.

The plant itself is tough in the best sense – it stands up well to wet and windy weather, which in a British summer is not an academic quality but an entirely practical one. Stems are long and strong, the habit is vigorous, and it carries three or four well-spaced blooms per stem with good consistency. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit and is classified as a Spencer.

Colour and Light

The lilac undertone shifts with the light. In morning sun, Just Julia reads as a soft shell-pink. By midday, in full light, the lilac comes forward and the flower takes on a cool, almost lavender quality. At dusk it warms again. This chameleon quality means it pairs with a surprisingly wide range of companions – it sits as comfortably alongside blues as it does with deeper pinks and creams.

As individual blooms age, the colour lightens. A stem in water will carry several shades at once – fresh pink at the top, paler and more lilac further down – which makes it interesting in a vase without being complicated. The scent is rated 4 out of 5 by specialist growers, which places Just Julia among the more fragrant Spencers. Sweet, persistent, and noticeable from a bunch on the table.

Pairing Ideas

For a tonal scheme in the pink-to-lilac range, pair Just Julia with Anniversary (soft pink with a lavender edge) and Mollie Rilstone (cream with a pink picotee). The three blend like a sunset and the combined scent is lovely. For sharper contrast, add Noel Sutton (violet-blue) – the cool blue against the warm pinks lifts the whole arrangement.

On a fence or pergola, grow Just Julia alongside a scented honeysuckle for a combination of evening fragrance that will stop you in your tracks. The pale pink of the sweet pea and the cream-gold of the honeysuckle complement each other, and the honeysuckle gives the sweet pea tendrils something to grip. Full planting and training advice is in our sweet pea growing guide.

Why Buy Your Sweet Pea Seedlings from Ashridge?

We have been growing sweet peas in Somerset since the early 2000s. The seed - which we collect - is hand-sown at two seeds per plug and 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, 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

Does Just Julia hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit?

Yes – awarded after the RHS Wisley Trials, where it also received a First Class Certificate. That is two independent endorsements from the same set of trials, which does not happen often.

What colour is Just Julia?

Pale pink with a lilac undertone that shifts depending on the light. Morning sun brings out the pink; cloud or shade pushes it toward lavender. Older blooms lighten, so a single stem carries several tones at once. Photographs rarely capture it accurately – it is one of those colours you have to see in person.

How scented is Just Julia?

Rated 4 by specialist growers, which puts it well above average for a Spencer. The fragrance is sweet and persistent – a bunch on a table will scent a room through the evening without being overwhelming.

Is Just Julia good for cutting?

Excellent. Long, strong stems and weather-resistant petals make it one of the more reliable cut-flower Spencers. Cut in the morning, strip the lower leaves, and stand in clean water. The blooms hold well and the colour change in water is part of the charm.

Do sweet peas come back every year?

No – annuals only. Just Julia flowers for a single season, from late spring to early autumn, and then it is done. A perennial species of sweet pea does exist but has no scent at all. New plants each spring is the way to go. Browse our full sweet pea collection for this year's varieties.