'Mollie Rilstone' Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: Mollie Rilstone
• Type: Spencer
• Colour: Cream with a dusky pink picotee edge
• Scent: 4/5 (Parsons) – strong, sweet, traditional
• Flowers: Large Spencer, consistent picotee marking. 3–4 per stem
• Stems: Long and straight – a reliable exhibition and cutting variety
• Height: 1.8–2m (6–7ft) with support
• Flowering: June to September with regular picking
• RHS AGM: Yes
• Bred by: Unwins, 1940s
• Sold as: Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us
• Plant outdoors: After last frost
• Delivered: March to May by next-day courier

Mollie Rilstone – A Quiet Elegance That Earns Its Place

Picotee sweet peas – where one colour edges another – are the ones that make people lean in. Mollie Rilstone is cream with a dusky pink picotee edge that bleeds gently inward, giving each bloom the look of a hand-tinted photograph. The marking is unusually consistent for a picotee variety, which matters if you are exhibiting but also matters in the garden, because it means every stem looks finished rather than random.

Unwins introduced Mollie Rilstone in the 1940s, and it has held the RHS Award of Garden Merit ever since the trials confirmed what exhibitors already knew: this is a picotee Spencer of real quality. The flowers are large, well-formed, and carried on long straight stems – three or four per stem is standard. The plant reaches 1.8–2m (6–7ft) with support and flowers generously over a long season. There is a vintage quality to it that suits cottage gardens, cutting gardens, and anyone who prefers their sweet peas to look as though they belong in a watercolour.

Colour That Changes with Age

The cream ground is warm – closer to clotted cream than to white – and the pink edge varies from a soft blush on young blooms to a deeper rose as the flower matures. In strong sunlight, the pink intensifies. In evening light, the cream comes forward and the whole flower takes on a warmer, almost golden tone. A bunch in a vase will carry several stages at once, which gives a depth you do not get from a single-colour variety.

Scent is rated 4 out of 5 by specialist growers – strong, sweet, and unmistakably old-fashioned. Mollie Rilstone is one of those varieties where the fragrance matches the appearance: romantic, generous, and entirely without pretension. A handful on a bedside table will scent the room overnight.

Pairing Ideas

The cream-and-pink colouring sits naturally alongside other warm-toned varieties. Valerie Harrod (coral-pink) deepens the warmth, while Jilly (ivory-cream) extends the cream tones without competing with the picotee edge. For contrast, add Noel Sutton (violet-blue) – the cool blue against the warm pink-and-cream is classic cottage garden.

On a wall or pillar, Mollie Rilstone threading through a climbing rose – Compassion or Schoolgirl, both warm-toned – makes a romantic combination that suits a sheltered courtyard or the sunny side of a house. The rose gives the sweet pea something to grip, and the colour palette stays coherent. Full planting advice 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

What colour is Mollie Rilstone?

Cream with a dusky pink picotee edge – the pink bleeds gently into the cream ground, and the marking deepens as each bloom ages. In practice, a stem carries several tones at once, from soft blush on fresh flowers to a richer rose on older ones. The consistency of the picotee marking is one of the things exhibitors value most.

How scented is Mollie Rilstone?

Strong and sweet in the traditional way – rated 4 out of 5 by specialist growers. This is proper old-fashioned sweet pea fragrance, not a faint trace. A small bunch will scent a room, and in the garden you catch it as you walk past on a warm evening.

Is Mollie Rilstone good for exhibition?

A favourite among exhibitors, and for good reason. The picotee marking is more consistent than most, the stems are long and straight, and the flower form is reliable. If you are entering sweet peas at a local show and want something distinctive, Mollie Rilstone is a strong choice.

Can I grow Mollie Rilstone in a container?

Yes – a deep pot with at least 4 litres of compost per plant. Water every morning in warm weather and do not let the compost dry out completely. Feed fortnightly with tomato feed or comfrey tea once buds appear. Our pots guide covers the detail.

Do sweet peas come back every year?

No – annuals. One season of flower from spring to early autumn, then finished. There is a perennial sweet pea that returns each year, but it is scentless and a different plant entirely. For this season's full range of scented annual varieties, browse our sweet pea collection.