Our Harry Sweet Pea Plants

• Variety: Our Harry
• Type: Spencer
• Colour: Deep lavender-blue with purple undertones
• Scent: Medium. A classic sweet pea fragrance, reliably present
• Flowers: Large, waved Spencer blooms. 3–4 per stem
• Stems: Long and straight, good for cutting
• Height: 2m (6–7ft) with support
• Flowering: Late June to September with regular picking
• RHS AGM: No
• Show class: Spencer — NSPS Class 9a, Blue (Mid)
• Bred by: F.G. Davies / Marchant, 1987
• Sold as: Jumbo plug plants, hand-sown by us
• Plant outdoors: After last frost
• Delivered: March to May by next-day courier. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Our Harry – Nearly Four Decades of Steady Blue

Our Harry has been around since 1987 and it is still here because it does what a good blue Spencer should do: it flowers generously, holds its colour, and behaves itself on a support. The colour is a deep lavender-blue with purple undertones, classified by the NSPS as Blue (Mid). It sits in the middle ground between the pale airiness of Ballerina Blue and the dense intensity of Blue Velvet, and it has outlasted dozens of blue varieties that were supposed to replace it.

F.G. Davies bred it and Marchant introduced it, and the flowers are large, properly waved Spencers on long stems. The scent is medium: reliably present, pleasant from a bunch on the table, but not a room-filler. Our Harry's strength is its consistency. Every stem carries good colour, the blooms hold their shape, and the plant produces freely from late June to September. It is the blue Spencer you grow when you want something you know will work, every year, without fuss.

Three Blues, Three Characters

We grow several blue and blue-purple varieties, and each has a distinct role. Ballerina Blue is the lightest, a translucent sky-blue that glows when backlit. Blue Velvet is the deepest, a saturated violet-blue with an AGM. Our Harry fills the gap: deeper than Ballerina Blue, warmer and more purple than Blue Velvet. Grow all three on the same support and you get a blue gradient that shifts as the light changes through the day.

Noel Sutton (rich blue Spencer, AGM) is the closest comparison. The two overlap in colour class but Noel Sutton is a slightly richer blue, while Our Harry carries more lavender warmth. Side by side the difference is clear; apart, either one does the job of being the blue Spencer in a mixed planting. The choice comes down to whether you want cooler blue (Noel Sutton) or warmer purple (Our Harry). For planting and care advice, see our sweet pea growing guide.

Pairing Ideas

Pink Pearl (soft shell-pink Spencer) creates the gentlest possible pink-and-blue combination. Valerie Harrod (deep coral-crimson Spencer, AGM) pushes the contrast harder, the warm tones playing off Our Harry's cool lavender-blue in a way that gives both varieties more presence than either has alone.

In a cutting garden, Our Harry sits well alongside cosmos. Purity (white cosmos) and Daydream (blush-pink) flower through the same months and their lighter, airier habit complements the bolder sweet pea blooms. The two plants share the same need for regular cutting to keep flowering, and a bed of mixed sweet peas and cosmos provides cutting material from July until the frosts.

What Makes Ashridge Sweet Peas Different?

We have been growing sweet peas in Somerset since the early 2000s. The seed, which we collect ourselves, is hand-sown at two seeds per plug. After germination, 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.

Your sweet peas are delivered by next-day courier between March and May, in purpose-designed recycled cardboard packaging. They arrive ready to plant immediately. 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

What colour is Our Harry?

A deep lavender-blue with purple undertones, classified as Blue (Mid) by the NSPS. It is warmer and more purple than Blue Velvet, deeper than Ballerina Blue, and slightly more lavender than Noel Sutton. In low light the purple comes through more strongly; in full sun the blue dominates.

Is Our Harry one of the scented varieties?

Our Harry carries a pleasant, medium-strength sweet pea fragrance. You will notice it from a cut bunch on the table and in the garden on a still day. Not one of the scent powerhouses like King's High Scent or Matucana, but far from scentless. A reliable, background fragrance that adds to the pleasure without demanding attention.

How does Our Harry compare to Blue Velvet?

They share the blue-purple end of the spectrum but the difference is visible. Blue Velvet is a deeper, more saturated violet-blue with an AGM, while Our Harry is warmer, carrying more lavender and purple warmth. Blue Velvet grounds a planting; Our Harry softens it. Both are good Spencers with long stems and reliable flowering.

When should I plant sweet pea seedlings outside?

After the last frost in your area. For most of England that means late April or May. Our plugs arrive hardened off, so they go straight into prepared ground or a container. If frost is forecast after planting, drape horticultural fleece over the supports overnight as a precaution. Full planting guidance is in our growing guide.

Will Our Harry come back next year?

Sweet peas are annuals, so each plant flowers once and is finished by autumn. Our Harry has been available since 1987 not because plants survive, but because gardeners keep planting it. For ready-grown plugs each spring, browse our sweet pea collection.