Seventy years ago, sweet peas were so popular they had their own section in the Star Garden Book. Those glory days may have gone but Gillian Vine finds heritage varieties are still available.
In the seventh edition of The Star Garden Book, published in Dunedin almost 70 years ago, 85 varieties of sweet peas were named.
George Errington, who contributed a special section on what was obviously a popular flower in the 1930s, noted that his list was a selection of the best and that many fine varieties had not been included.
A decade or so earlier, in Dunedin nurserymen Matheson & Roberts' 1928-29 catalogue, sweet peas also figured strongly.
It featured more than 130 named Spencer types and a packet of seed cost 6d, although some of the most recent releases were twice that price.
An ounce (28g) cost 1/6 and the company also sold plants. A dozen named varieties was 3/6.
Names such as Grenadier, British Victory, Field Marshall, Edith Cavell, and Peace are reminders of the glory days of the British Empire, while others (Bunty, Doris, Edith and Barbara) were presumably named for women the breeders knew.
Those glory days have gone.
No longer is the gardener faced with the dilemma of choosing between five whites or more than a dozen reds and even more pinks.
"There are actually quite a lot of sweet pea varieties out there still but you have to know where to go to find them," says Susan McLean, of Willowburn Nursery, in Mosgiel.
Mrs McLean sells several heirloom varieties, including Mrs Collier, bred in 1906, and Cupani.
"Cupani is important to sweet pea fanciers," explains Vivienne Retter, of Niche Imports, in Palmerston North.
"That's because it was the original sweet pea," she says.
It was named after botanist Fr Franciscus Cupani, who had apparently found sweet peas in Sicily.
After growing them in his Palermo garden, in 1699 the Franciscan monk sent seed to Robert Uvedale, a botanist and head of Enfield Grammar School, in North London.
Despite Dr Uvedale's enthusiasm for the richly perfumed flower, there was little development or hybridisation until the 1870s, when professional gardener Henry Eckford (1823-1905) began working with amateur hybridist William Sankey.
Their aim was to produce bigger sweet peas in a greater colour range than the five varieties available in 1800.
Eckford's sweet peas were known as Grandifloras and included Black Knight (1898) and King Edward VII (1903).
Eckford had moved to Wem, North Shropshire, in 1888 to continue his work.
He is honoured each July at the Wem Sweet Pea Show where many of his releases are exhibited. This year's show is on July 19 and 20.
The Victorians adored sweet peas and in 1900, at the bicentenary exhibition at Crystal Palace, London, to honour Cupani's original introduction, 264 varieties were shown.
Giving someone sweet peas came to mean "delicate pleasures" or, if handed when leaving someone, "thank you for a lovely time".
Although Eckford's role cannot be understated, he was eclipsed after 1901 when William Unwin noticed a mutation of Prima Donna and saved seed of the larger-flowered frilly blooms.
The same phenomenon occurred at Althorp, where gardener Simon Cole named his find Countess Spencer, which is why the next wave of sweet peas were called Spencer types.
There was a great burst of activity after 1900 with extensive hybridisation but by the 1980s, sweet peas seemed to have fallen from favour, although Dr Keith Hammett, of Auckland, has done much in recent years with his hybridisation programme.
More info
For more about his new sweet peas, some of which are for sale, see
http://www.esites.co.nz/Hammett/2007sweetpea.htm
Sweet pea seed by mail
• Willowburn Nursery, Wingatui Rd, RD 2, Mosgiel 9092, email willowburn@paradise.net.nz, will email catalogues of its plants and seeds. It offers more than 20 named varieties including the first sweet pea, Cupani, and 11 other heirloom varieties.
• Niche Imports, P. O. Box 8, Ashhurst, Palmerston North 4847, has seed of a good selection of sweet peas, including two dwarf types, in its catalogue. The Niche catalogue usually costs $3.50 but is available free to Otago Daily Times readers. Send $1.50 in loose stamps to cover postage.
• Wildflower World, P. O. Box 8161, Cherrywood, Tauranga 3145, email seeds@wildflowerworld.com, has a free catalogue that lists half a dozen named varieties, including Miss Willmott, bred in 1900.
• Kings Seeds, P. O. Box 283, Katikati 3166, charges $7.50 for its glossy full-colour catalogue. Most of its sweet peas are mixes including heirloom collections but they do offer bicolour Painted Lady, which dates back to 1737, and vivid orange Prince of Orange (1910).
