Cottage Garden Sweet Pea Collections

About Our Sweet Pea Collections

Each of our sweet pea collections contains 8 jumbo plug seedlings, hand-picked from our range of named varieties. You will receive a minimum of three different varieties per collection, chosen by our nursery team to give you a balanced mix of colour, scent, and flower type.

The plants are not individually labelled. That is deliberate. So much of the fun involved in cottage gardening is discovering what you have grown when it flowers - watching the colours unfold over the weeks without the pressure of knowing what everything ought to be. If you prefer to choose specific varieties, browse our full range of named sweet peas instead.

Which Collection Should I Choose?

Cottage Garden Mix

As the Americans say this one is the "soup to nuts". The full palette, no restrictions. You could get anything from our range - heritage Grandifloras, modern varieties, Spencers - in whatever colours are looking their best when your order is packed. This is the one for people who like surprises and understand that in a proper cottage garden, nothing matches and everything works. If you are growing sweet peas up a wigwam in a border and want it to look effortlessly abundant, start here.

Twilight Mix

The darker, moodier end of the sweet pea spectrum. Expect purples, deep magentas, navies, and maroons - the colours you find at the edges of a late summer evening. Many of the most heavily scented varieties in our range fall naturally into this palette, because the heritage Grandifloras with their intense perfume tend to cluster in these richer tones. Twilight varieties look superb against a light stone wall or a pale-painted fence where the depth of colour really resonates.

Royal Mix

Bold jewel tones with presence. Think the rich end of the colour wheel - strong purples, vivid crimsons, deep blues - rather than the softer shades. Royal varieties tend to be vigorous growers that make their mark quickly. Good for cutting if you want arrangements with real visual punch, and strong enough to hold their own alongside robust planting.

Pastel Mix

The softest shades we grow. Pale pinks, lavender, cream, blush, and the gentler blues. These are the sweet peas that glow in low light - luminous in the evening when darker flowers have disappeared into shadow. They sit beautifully alongside roses and look elegant in a table arrangement where you want scent without visual competition. If your garden leans towards whites and silvers, the Pastel Mix will fit as though it had always been there.

Where Should I Plant a Sweet Pea Collection?

All four collections thrive in the same conditions: a sunny spot with rich, well-drained soil that has been improved with organic matter. Six hours of direct sun is ideal; a little afternoon shade is fine.

Eight plants is enough for a generous wigwam of 6-8 tall canes, or a 1-1.2 metre run of netting between posts. If you want a fuller display, two collections give you 16 plants - enough for a 2-2.5 metre run or two wigwams. If you want a denser display, just add another collection and keep the supports the same.

These collections work well in large containers too, provided you give each plant a generous root run - a minimum of 3 litres of growing medium per seedling. A half-barrel with a hazel obelisk and a Pastel Mix makes a beautiful feature by a back door or on a patio. Sweet peas are also very happy in a window box on the ground – we have winter window boxes until March, empty them out, add new compost, plant with sweet peas and put them at the sunny end of a terrace where we sit on sunny evenings

Looking After Your Sweet Pea Collection

Pick the flowers. You will find this on every sweet pea page on this site because it is the single most important piece of advice about growing sweet peas. Every flower you cut or deadhead tells the plant to produce more; every seed pod that forms tells it to stop. With a mixed collection the picking is particularly enjoyable, because you never quite know what combination you will end up with in the jug.

Feed fortnightly with a high-potash liquid fertiliser once the first buds appear. Water deeply and regularly - sweet peas are thirsty and will let you know if they dry out.

Our complete sweet pea growing guide covers everything else: support options, training, soil preparation, and the month-by-month calendar.

Why Buy Your Sweet Peas from Ashridge?

All our sweet peas are grown from seed on our nursery in Castle Cary, Somerset, and we increasingly use our own saved seed to ensure named varieties come true to type. We use only jumbo plugs, which are deeper and better suited to root development than standard plugs. Every seed is hand-sown at a rate of two per plug, and these are grown on in our polytunnels until the seedlings have fully rooted through. Each one is then pinched out at least once to produce a bushier, multi-stemmed plant that will carry more flowers.

On the day of dispatch, your plants are hand-selected in our polytunnel, packed into purpose-designed recycled cardboard packaging, and sent out the same day by next-day courier. They arrive hardened off and ready to be planted directly into the ground. No greenhouse acclimatisation is needed.

We've been growing and selling plants since 1949, and by mail order since 2003. We hold the Feefo Platinum Service Award and were named a Which? Gardening Best Plant Supplier; both are independent recognitions of the quality and service our customers receive. So, if anything at all is wrong with your seedlings when they arrive, contact us within five working days, and we'll put it right.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the four collections?

Colour palette. All four contain the same top-quality plants grown to the same standard; the difference is the colour range you get. Cottage Garden gives you the widest spread, Twilight focuses on darker shades, Royal on bold jewel tones, and Pastel on the softest colours. All include scented varieties.

Can I request specific varieties in my collection?

No - the collections are chosen by our nursery team based on what is looking at its best when your order is packed. If you want specific named varieties, order them individually from our full range.

How many varieties will I get?

A minimum of three, though you may get more. Each collection contains 8 plants in total.

When will my collection be delivered?

Sweet pea seedlings go out between March and May each year. Please remember this is weather-dependent. We will email you the expected dispatch date after you order, keep you up to date on any changes to the plan, and send another notification when your plants have been picked and packed and are on their way by next-day courier.

Can I grow a collection in pots?

Yes. Use large containers - at least 3 litres of compost per plant - and provide a sturdy support. Feed more frequently than you would plants in the ground, and water daily in warm weather. Our growing guide has full container advice.

Is it worth ordering two collections?

Absolutely. Two collections give you 16 plants, enough to fill a generous wigwam or a 2-2.5 metre run of netting. Mixing a themed collection (Twilight, Royal, or Pastel) with the Cottage Garden Mix adds depth without losing the random, informal effect.

Will the varieties be labelled?

No. The plants are packed without individual labels. This is part of the charm - you discover what you have as the flowers open. If knowing the variety name matters to you, our individually named sweet peas are a better option.

Do sweet peas come back the following year?

No. Sweet peas are hardy annuals - one glorious season, then they are done. At the end of summer, cut the stems away but leave the roots in place. Sweet peas belong to the legume family and deposit nitrogen in the soil as they grow, so whatever follows them gets a natural boost.