Sweet Pea Red Ensign produces vibrant red blooms in generous clusters. This tall-growing, older Spencer variety carries its strongly scented flowers on long stems, making it ideal for cutting. Its rich colour adds bold warmth to borders or containers, and the vigorous plants provide a reliable show throughout the season.
🌸 Flowering: June to August
📏 Height: to 180 to 240cm
🌿Annual
SOW: sow in deep pots from October to February and overwinter in a cold frame, or sow in March or April. In mild areas, you can also direct sow in spring. Sow seeds 12–20mm deep. Some gardeners soak seeds overnight before sowing to help with germination — not essential, but worth a try.
GROW: pinch out the tops when seedlings reach about 5cm to encourage stronger side shoots. Harden off spring-sown plants before planting out in May or June. Overwintered plants often flower earlier. Give them something to climb — wigwams, netting or hazel twigs all work well. Sweet peas are generous with blooms if you keep picking, so don’t hold back.
ENJOY: bunch together for a stunning, vivid red bouquet. For an even bigger impact, plant alongside contrasting colours to brighten your garden and your vase
TOP TIP
If you find it hard to reach the flowers at the top, try growing your sweet peas on angled canes instead of upright ones. Simply push long canes into the ground at an angle that keeps the flowers within easy reach. Use soft string to gently tie the plants if they need support to climb. Extra watering and feeding with a high potash fertilizer (tomato food works well) will help keep them flowering all season. Don’t forget to deadhead wilted blooms — if seed pods form, the plant will slow down and stop producing new flowers.
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