Sarah Raven wrote an article on just this on 18 November in the Daily
Telegraph. She trialled 17 varieties for smell, flowering and length of
stem. Her favourite 10 are Matucana without which she says she would be
'bereft'; Midnight Painted Lady, Zorij Rose, Karen Louise, Aniversary,
Black Knight, Gypsy Queen, Lord Nelson, Wiltshire Ripple.
In the 'how to grow' section she says to sow at any time in autumn, two
seeds to a pot, using root trainers. Use multi purpose compost and push the
seeds about 1" below the surface.
She doesn't soak the seed and she reckons they'll germinate in a week or
two. Cover the pots with newspaper or a polystyrene tile to keep mooisture
and warmth in and light out. Heat is not essential.
Set a mousetrap! Mice love the seeds but you can also soak the seeds in
paraffin overnight to make them unpalatable or leave a paraffin soaked rag
scrumpled around the pots. Soaking in seaweed fertiliser is said to have
the same effect.
Check for germination every day and once the seedlings appear, keep them
cool at about 5C to promote root growth, not stem growth. A cold frame,
cool greenhouse or windowsill are fine but she says she used to use a couple
of straw bales with an old window over the top.
She says that they don't need protection from the cold and that bottom heat
won't help them but will hinder them.
Pinch out the leader when there are three or four pairs of leaves.
Water them and pinch out any spindly new tips.
As soon as white roots are visible in the bottom of the pot, move the plant
to a one size bigger pot and water them in. Don't let them get pot bound.
Pot them on in pairs, as sown. Two plants will cover any upright. Use a
good compost to pot them on. A slim, deep 1-litre pot is ideal.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Sarah Raven wrote an article on just this on 18 November in the Daily
Telegraph. She trialled 17 varieties for smell, flowering and length of
stem. Her favourite 10 are Matucana without which she says she would be
'bereft'; Midnight Painted Lady, Zorij Rose, Karen Louise, Aniversary,
Black Knight, Gypsy Queen, Lord Nelson, Wiltshire Ripple.
In the 'how to grow' section she says to sow at any time in autumn, two
seeds to a pot, using root trainers. Use multi purpose compost and push
the
seeds about 1" below the surface.
She doesn't soak the seed and she reckons they'll germinate in a week or
two. Cover the pots with newspaper or a polystyrene tile to keep
mooisture
and warmth in and light out. Heat is not essential.
Set a mousetrap! Mice love the seeds but you can also soak the seeds in
paraffin overnight to make them unpalatable or leave a paraffin soaked rag
scrumpled around the pots. Soaking in seaweed fertiliser is said to have
the same effect.
Check for germination every day and once the seedlings appear, keep them
cool at about 5C to promote root growth, not stem growth. A cold frame,
cool greenhouse or windowsill are fine but she says she used to use a
couple
of straw bales with an old window over the top.
She says that they don't need protection from the cold and that bottom
heat
won't help them but will hinder them.
Pinch out the leader when there are three or four pairs of leaves.
Water them and pinch out any spindly new tips.
As soon as white roots are visible in the bottom of the pot, move the
plant
to a one size bigger pot and water them in. Don't let them get pot bound.
Pot them on in pairs, as sown. Two plants will cover any upright. Use a
good compost to pot them on. A slim, deep 1-litre pot is ideal.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Went on an HPS garden visit summer just gone and Matucana was growing in
large clumps, very impressed, it both looked and smelt wonderful.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

In article , Sacha
writes

She doesn't soak the seed and she reckons they'll germinate in a week or
two.

Two sweet pea growers and judges told us at a recent gardening club
meeting that it was the variety that made them hard to germinate, some
being very easy and some being blinking slow!!

They directed us to Matthewman and Ron Parslow's sweet peas for
fragrance.


Another speaker told us to put a handful of garden soil in the pot with
the compost but I have no idea why!


Lord Nelson sweet peas I find very disappointing with a quick decline to
mildew if the weather is dry. Painted lady was okay but not very long
stalks. This is why they told us to cut off the tendrils and tie in to a
pole. The tendrils will make the stems curl, but being tied kept them as
straight and as tall as possible.


Janet

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

snip
The definitive book on sweetpeas is : 'Sweetpeas, growing and showing' by
the undisputed master of sweetpeas, the late Bernard R. Jones.
he had more knowledge of sweetpeas in his little finger than all the current
gurus put together.
I think it is out of print but some libraries may still have a copy and
possibly obtainable from Amazon.
I remember being away during the coldest spell for decades (mid seventies)
when the temperature was something like -25 and I never lost a single plant
out of several hundred growing in 5" clay pots in an open frame.
Its not the cold that will damage them but a sudden thawing out particularly
when the top growth thaws out while the roots are still frozen.

On 21/11/06 19:23, in article , "Janet
Tweedy" wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes

She doesn't soak the seed and she reckons they'll germinate in a week or
two.

Two sweet pea growers and judges told us at a recent gardening club
meeting that it was the variety that made them hard to germinate, some
being very easy and some being blinking slow!!

They directed us to Matthewman and Ron Parslow's sweet peas for
fragrance.


Another speaker told us to put a handful of garden soil in the pot with
the compost but I have no idea why!


Lord Nelson sweet peas I find very disappointing with a quick decline to
mildew if the weather is dry. Painted lady was okay but not very long
stalks. This is why they told us to cut off the tendrils and tie in to a
pole. The tendrils will make the stems curl, but being tied kept them as
straight and as tall as possible.


I've ordered Lord Nelson but if it's prone to mildew, it will probably be a
disaster! However, I've also ordered L. matucana which, it is recommended,
should be grown in tubs or over walls, rather than vertically.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/