'Mrs Collier' Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: Mrs Collier
• Type: Grandiflora
• Colour: Primrose-cream – buds open yellow, flowers mature to cream
• Scent: 4/5 (Parsons) – one of the most powerfully scented in our range
• Flowers: Neat, well-proportioned. Unfrilled – classic sweet pea form. Prolific
• Stems: Shorter than modern Spencers – suits small posies and cottage-style arrangements
• Height: 2m (6–7ft) with support
• Flowering: June to September with regular picking
• RHS AGM: Yes
• Show class: Old-Fashioned (NSPS)
• Bred by: Dobbie, 1907
• Sold as: Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us
• Plant outdoors: After last frost
• Delivered: March to May by next-day courier

Mrs Collier – A Cream with a Pedigree

Mrs Collier was introduced by Dobbie in 1907, the same decade that Spencer sweet peas began their takeover of the show bench. The Spencers were bigger, frillier, longer-stemmed. Mrs Collier was none of those things. What it had, and still has, is a primrose-cream colour of great beauty, flowers of neat classical proportion, and a scent so powerful that a few stems on a kitchen table will perfume the room until the last petal drops.

The buds open a warm primrose yellow and mature to cream – an unusually wide colour transition that gives each stem a graded effect in the vase. The flowers are unfrilled, which in a world of ruffled Spencers looks almost deliberately understated, like a well-cut suit at a fancy-dress party. They are produced in extraordinary quantity. Mrs Collier flowers with a generosity that borders on reckless, and it does so from top to bottom on the plant rather than just at the growing tips.

Since 1907

A hundred and nineteen years in continuous cultivation is not something many sweet pea varieties can claim. Mrs Collier has survived because it offers something the larger, showier Spencer types cannot: concentrated fragrance and masses of flowers on a tough, undemanding plant. It regularly appears on lists of the most scented sweet peas in the world, and that reputation is well earned. Rated 4 out of 5 on the Parsons scale, it outperforms most Spencers for scent and holds its own against the Grandiflora heavyweights.

The plant is vigorous and reliable, reaching 2m with good support. Stems are shorter than modern Spencers, which means Mrs Collier suits small posies and rustic jugs rather than tall formal arrangements. For anyone planning a summer wedding, a cream sweet pea with this level of scent and this kind of prolific flowering is hard to beat on either impact or budget.

Pairing Ideas

Mrs Collier's warm cream works as a bridge between bolder colours. Pair it with Lord Nelson (deep navy Grandiflora) and Flora Norton (sky blue Grandiflora) for an all-heritage trio that predates the First World War. The combined scent from those three alone would justify a garden. For a warmer palette, Bobby's Girl (shell-pink) keeps the scheme soft and tonal.

On a pergola, Mrs Collier looks beautiful growing alongside wisteria – the cream sweet pea against the lilac wisteria racemes, with both plants scenting the air at once, is the kind of combination that stops people in their tracks. For full growing instructions, see 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 scented is Mrs Collier?

One of the most powerfully scented sweet peas we sell, rated 4 out of 5 by specialist growers, and some would argue it deserves a 5. The fragrance is rich, sweet, and old-fashioned in the best sense. A few stems will fill a small room completely.

When was Mrs Collier introduced?

1907, by Dobbie and Co. It was part of the same generation that included the early Spencer sweet peas, but Mrs Collier outlasted most of its contemporaries through sheer quality of scent and flower. Over a century later, it remains in regular commercial cultivation – a verdict no marketing can buy.

Can I save seed from Mrs Collier?

Yes, and as an old heritage variety it will usually come true from saved seed – meaning the offspring closely resemble the parent. Let a few pods ripen at the end of the season, harvest when dry, and store in a cool, dark place over winter.

What type of sweet pea is Mrs Collier?

A Grandiflora, the older type with smaller, unfrilled flowers and intense scent. Grandifloras predate the Spencer revolution and carry a perfume that modern varieties rarely match. Mrs Collier's flowers are neatly proportioned rather than showy, which gives them a classical elegance that looks particularly good in simple arrangements.

Do sweet peas come back every year?

No, annual, one season. Mrs Collier has been grown fresh from seed every spring since 1907. The perennial sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius) does return each year, but it carries no scent – a significant difference. See our sweet pea collection for this year's range.