Sweet Pea Seeds ‘Annie B. Gilroy’
- Bright carmine pink flowers
- Sensational fragrance
- Superb cut flowers
- Easy to grow
Popular heirloom sweet pea ‘Annie Gilroy’ produces bright carmine pink flowers with a simply sensational scent. It looks lovely trained up an obelisk or arch and the flowers are fantastic for cutting. The flowers are slightly smaller than modern varieties but make up for that in quantity, flowering all through summer if regularly deadheaded.
Seed preparation
Place the seeds on moist kitchen roll in an airtight container and leave in a warm room, then sow as soon as they begin to swell or sprout. Alternatively, soak overnight, but sow immediately afterwards.
Sow indoors
Sow singly in rootrainers or 8cm pots, 1cm deep in seed compost. Water after sowing, but not again until seedlings have emerged and keep around 15°C until germinated.
Grow on/plant out
Pinch out tips once seedlings are 7-10cm tall, to encourage bushier growth and more flowers. Keep in a cool but bright position. Keep autumn-sown seedlings in a cold frame or greenhouse, or under a cloche. Plant out 20cm apart from late March onwards, when the weather is getting milder, in a sunny position. Avoid disturbing the roots.
Sow outdoors
Sow seeds in pre-watered, compost-enriched soil 2cm deep, around 7cm apart, once the soil is starting to warm in spring. Keep soil moist until seedlings emerge and thin to about 20cm apart once they are more developed.
Aftercare
Support young plants with canes, netting, or trellis to about 1.8m (6ft). Feed and water regularly. Pick flowers often to ensure a continuous supply.
