Undiscovered sweet peas

A LONG with roses and dahlias, annual sweet peas are among AG readers’ favourite flowers. We get questions about them, letters and emails about them, and photos showing how well you grow them. Consequently, they are a regular fixture on our pages.

But not everyone realises just how many different kinds of sweet peas there are. The Spencer varieties are pretty universally recognised, of course. First seen in 1901, the original frilly sweet peas were developed by Silas Cole, head gardener at the late Princess Diana’s ancestral home, Althorp in Northamptonshire, and caused uproar when they were exhibited in London.

Prior to that, pretty much the only sweet peas people grew were the Grandifloras – smaller-flowered and minus the frilly petals. We’ve