{"product_id":"millennium-sweet-pea-plants","title":"Millennium Sweet Pea Plants","description":"\u003cul class=\"pdp-specs\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eVariety:\u003c\/strong\u003e Millennium\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eType:\u003c\/strong\u003e Spencer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eColour:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ruby red with purple undertones\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eScent:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3\/5 (Parsons) – light but clean\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFlowers:\u003c\/strong\u003e Large, 6cm across. Well-waved Spencer form. 3–4 per stem\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStems:\u003c\/strong\u003e Long, straight, and strong – good for exhibition and cutting\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.8m (6ft) with support\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFlowering:\u003c\/strong\u003e June to September with regular picking\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRHS AGM:\u003c\/strong\u003e No\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eShow class:\u003c\/strong\u003e Spencer — NSPS Class 3b, Crimson (Dark)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBred by:\u003c\/strong\u003e D.M. Jones, 2000\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSold as:\u003c\/strong\u003e Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePlant outdoors:\u003c\/strong\u003e After last frost\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDelivered:\u003c\/strong\u003e March to May by next-day courier\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eMillennium – Modern Breeding, Classic Warmth\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRed sweet peas are not red in the way a rose is red. They lean toward ruby, claret, or crimson, and the best of them have a complexity that pure red never manages. Millennium is a case in point. The standard petals are a rich ruby with a purple cast; the wings are more subdued, leaning violet-purple. The result is a flower that looks subtly bicoloured without being obviously so – the effect is closer to a stained-glass window than a paint swatch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are large at about 6cm across, generous for a Spencer, and properly waved. Stems are long, straight, and strong, which is why Millennium has a following on the show bench. Exhibitors favour it as one of the best red-class sweet peas available, and the NSPS has recognised it at national level. For the rest of us, it is a vivid, well-built variety that adds real punch to a mixed display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eA Beacon of Colour\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a garden full of pastels, Millennium is the exclamation mark. The ruby-and-purple colouring is visible from across a border, and it catches the eye in a way that softer colours simply cannot. Grow it up a wigwam in the centre of a planting scheme and it acts as an anchor: everything else arranges itself around it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colour holds well through the life of each bloom, which matters for exhibition and for the vase. In full sun, the ruby tones glow. On overcast days, the purple deepens and the flower takes on a richer, moodier quality. Scent is lighter than you might expect from a variety with this much visual presence, rated 3 on the Parsons scale, but it is clean and pleasant, and it blends well with more powerfully scented varieties in a mixed bunch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003ePairing Ideas\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a warm-toned scheme with real range, pair Millennium with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bobbys-girl-sweet-pea-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBobby's Girl\u003c\/a\u003e (shell-pink) and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/cathy-sweet-pea-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCathy\u003c\/a\u003e (clotted cream). The ruby, pink, and cream together have a painterly quality, rich without being heavy. For something more dramatic, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/jilly-sweet-pea-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eJilly\u003c\/a\u003e (ivory-cream) alongside Millennium creates a stark and beautiful contrast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMillennium's vivid colour looks magnificent threaded through a white-flowered climber. A \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/jasmine-climbing-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ejasmine\u003c\/a\u003e, summer jasmine especially, makes a striking partner on a warm wall, and the combined scent of sweet pea and jasmine on a July evening is something you do not forget. For detailed growing advice, see our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/bedding\/how-to-grow-sweet-peas\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003esweet pea growing guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Buy Your Sweet Pea Seedlings from Ashridge?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFrequently Asked Questions\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat colour are Millennium sweet pea flowers?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRuby red with purple undertones; the standards lean crimson-ruby, the wings lean violet-purple. The two tones shift and blend in different light, giving a stained-glass complexity. In bright sun, the ruby glows; in cloud, the purple comes forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho bred Millennium?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBred by D.M. Jones and introduced in 2000. It has been a popular exhibition variety since its release, classified in the red class by the NSPS and a regular at national shows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHow scented is Millennium?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLight: a 3 on the Parsons scale, and honest about it. The fragrance is clean and sweet but not room-filling. Millennium's strength is colour and form, not scent. For maximum fragrance, pair it with a Grandiflora like \u003ca href=\"\/products\/matucana-sweet-pea-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMatucana\u003c\/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"\/products\/flora-norton-sweet-pea-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFlora Norton\u003c\/a\u003e – the Grandiflora adds the scent, Millennium adds the colour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIs Millennium good for cutting?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery – it is an exhibition-quality Spencer with long, straight stems. The colour holds well in water and the blooms last. Cut in the morning when the lowest flower on the stem is just opening and stand in clean water. Expect five or six days of good vase life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDo sweet peas come back every year?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo – sweet peas are annuals. One season of flowers, then done. The perennial sweet pea returns each year but carries no scent and has smaller flowers. For the annual varieties, where the colour and fragrance are, fresh plants each spring is the way. See our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/sweet-pea-plants\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003esweet pea collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Ashridge","offers":[{"title":"Seedling \/ 4 Jumbo Plugs","offer_id":54999263117638,"sku":"LATHODOMIL-Pack of 4","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/millennium-sweet-pea-flowers-2.jpg?v=1755634596","url":"https:\/\/www.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/products\/millennium-sweet-pea-plants","provider":"Ashridge Nurseries","version":"1.0","type":"link"}