Lathyrus odoratus

‘Spencer Blue Ripple’

SPENCER BLUE RIPPLE SWEET PEAS

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’
SPENCER BLUE RIPPLE SWEET PEAS

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’ is one of the loveliest in all the gorgeous family of Spencer Sweet Peas.

Deliciously honey sweet Sweet Pea scent

The old fashioned Spencer Sweet Peas are known for their intoxicating and irresistible perfume – you just can’t resist burying your nose in them.
And ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’ has one of the loveliest scents of them all – a sweet, honey like and  powerful perfume.

Indigo blue edges & stripes on cream ruffled petals

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’ is a colour delight, with each cream petal edged with indigo-blue and splashed with indigo-blue stripes.
So no two flowers are alike in marking but they all have that delicious, strong, honey perfume.

Spencer ruffled & frilled flowers on long stems

The petal edges are also ruffled and frilled, a charming characteristic of the noble Spencer strain of Sweet peas.
Together with long stems, ideal for picking, and usually five to seven wonderfully large flowers per stem.

Heritage Sweet Peas fit for a Princess

In the late 1800’s Silas Cole was a very talented gardener, and employed at Althorp estate by the Spencer family (the ancestral home of Diana Princess of Wales).
It was the responsibility of Mr. Cole to keep up a steady supply of beautiful flowers to decorate the stately home and delight the Earl and Countess of Spencer.

Then in 1900 Cole hit the jackpot. One of his Sweet Pea plants sported wonderfully large, superbly fragrant, wavy petalled blooms of a luscious pink, on extra long stems for picking. He named this new wonder ‘Countess Spencer’.

Mr. Cole exhibited his pride and joy at the National Sweet Pea Society’s show in 1901, and to the delight of the Earl and Countess – it swept away all competition.
So the Spencer strain of Sweet peas have been bred with devotion ever since at Althorp by successive generations of Earl Spencers and their Head Gardeners.
Over the many years they have continued to generate many new Spencer Sweet Peas, but all with an emphasis on delicious perfume, beautiful colouring, and intoxicating scent.
And the baton has been taken up by breeders all around the world to perpetuate the Spencer strain with their outstanding qualities.

Wonderful cut flowers for perfume & colour 

So ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’ provides lovely blooms for a vase, and a small bunch can sweetly scent the whole room.

Hardy low climber

All the old fashioned Spencer Sweet Peas are enduring favourites as climbers – providing flowers for garden, vase and show bench.
And still at the top of the game, despite all the newly bred competition.

Easy to grow

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’ make perfect climbers for any garden , even in a small space.
So plant in Full Sun to Partial Shade, on a trellis, fence, or climbing through a supporting shrub.
Sweet Peas enjoy soil with plenty of organic matter and feed, and really appreciate mulch in the summer. This also helps to keep them blooming for even longer.

Self twining & perfect in a pot

Sweet Peas are self-twining, attaching themselves to the support or host, scrambling up to about 1.8 to 2m. high all by themselves. And they do not smother the host.
They are also perfect for growing in a container on a tripod.

Old Spencers are “Cut & Come Again” flowers

So the more flowers you cut, the more they produce, for an even longer season.

Quickly raised from seed & easily grown

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Blue Ripple’ are easily raised from seed and quickly grown on to flowering size.
It is also easy to gather pea pods of seeds for next year, or you can just let them drop so they sow their own crop for next year. The seeds are quick and easy germinators.
Though of course they will have mixed genetics and colouring, as the bees will have done their work visiting all the Sweet peas in the area.

Beloved by bees, butterflies

Sweet Peas are beloved by bees, butterflies and all our useful pollinators.
Because the blooms are rich in sweet nectar.

Annual climber 1.8 to 2m. High approx. x 30cm. Wide. Self twining.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY
Suitable for beginners & gardening with kids

Can be sown outdoors direct in the garden in autumn, winter or early spring / or sown indoors in a punnet at any time.

Indoors & outdoors: First soak the pea seeds in warm (not boiling) water and allow to cool overnight.
Then Pea seeds that are ready to sow will have sunk to the bottom by morning. While any that are not yet ready will be floating.
Should you have any floating seeds – then roughen the hard coat by gently rubbing the dried seeds between 2 sheets of fine sandpaper, or rubbing between your hands with some grit or sand. Then re-soak overnight again.

Then plant pea seeds 2.5cm. deep. individually in little pots. Deeper pots or tubes are best, as the peas soon develop a long tap root.

Temperatures of 18-20C. are best for rapid and optimum germination.

Seeds germinate in approx. 14 days. at optimum temperature.

Seed Count: 10 seeds per pack approx.
We always aim to exceed the stated seed count and give a generous serve).

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