'Kings High Scent' Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: King's High Scent (also sold as High Scent / April in Paris)
• Type: Modern Grandiflora
• Colour: Creamy white with violet picotee edge
• Scent: 4–5/5 (Parsons) — among the most powerfully fragrant sweet peas available
• Flowers: Modern Grandiflora form, 3–4 per stem
• Stems: Long and strong — superb for cutting
• Height: 180cm (6ft) with support
• Flowering: June to mid-August (shorter season than most — see below)
• RHS AGM: Yes
• Bred: Kings Seeds, Essex, c. 2000
• Sold as: Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us
• Plant outdoors: After last frost
• Delivered: March to May by next-day courier

King's High Scent – The One You Grow for Fragrance

If you grow sweet peas for scent — and really, why else would you? — King's High Scent ought to be near the top of your list. It is a Modern Grandiflora with an exceptionally powerful fragrance, even by sweet pea standards, and holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.

The flowers are creamy white with a violet picotee edge — a rim of colour tracing each petal that deepens as the bloom matures. They are borne 3–4 to a stem on long, strong stalks that make superb cut flowers. At home, the owners of Ashridge try to have a bunch in their hall. The scent greets visitors and whenever the front door opens, the draft carries it upstairs.

However, all good things come at a price. In the case of King's High Scent the price is a shorter than average flowering. You will have glorious flowers from June to August, but by then the plants are exhausted and the main show is over. Shorter, but sweeter, so plan for it.

Three Names, One Plant

You will find it sold as King's High Scent, High Scent, and April in Paris. They are the same plant. The RHS lists it as 'High Scent', most retail nurseries use 'King's High Scent', and the occasional catalogue calls it 'April in Paris' for reasons nobody has satisfactorily explained but seem to have nothing to do with April or Paris.

It was bred by Kings Seeds in Essex around 2000, specifically for fragrance at a time when modern varieties were being selected primarily for flower size and exhibition qualities. A deliberate step back towards the perfume that made sweet peas famous, delivered in a flower large and elegant enough for a modern garden.

Companions for King's High Scent

The pale cream flowers and violet edge pair well with deeper colours. Matucana (magenta and deep purple) provides dramatic contrast and a longer flowering season — useful, given King's High Scent's tendency to finish early. Albutt Blue picks up the violet tones and extends them — the two grown together on the same support are quietly spectacular.

For a softer scheme, try it with Bristol (pale blue Spencer) or Jilly (ivory, AGM) for a clean, pale border where the fragrance does the heavy lifting.

The violet picotee edge also makes King's High Scent a natural partner for wisteria on the same wall — the wisteria finishes as the sweet peas begin, maintaining the purple-and-cream theme through the season.

Full growing instructions are 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

How does the scent compare to Matucana?

Different character, comparable intensity. King's High Scent's fragrance is slightly lighter and sweeter; Matucana's is richer and headier. Roger Parsons rates King's High Scent at 4, though he has said publicly he dithered between 4 and 5. Growing both side by side is the best way to appreciate how much variation there is in sweet pea scent.

Why does it stop flowering earlier than other varieties?

King's High Scent channels its energy into an intense early display rather than spreading it over a long period. Most growers find the main show wraps up around mid-August. Dedicated picking and feeding can extend it, but expect a shorter season than Bristol or Heaven Scent. The trade-off is worth it.

What type of sweet pea is it?

A Modern Grandiflora — heritage-level scent and vigour paired with the larger flowers and longer stems of the Spencers.

Can I grow it in a container?

Yes — and placing it where you sit is the whole point. A wigwam in a big pot beside a bench or a doorway, where the scent accumulates on warm evenings, is ideal. Water daily once the weather warms up. Our growing guide covers containers in detail.

Does it come back each year?

No — annual, one season. Order fresh seedlings each spring.