Monty Don named the flower with the ‘finest scent’ (Image: Getty)
Monty Don is urging gardeners to plant his favourite flower, which he says has “the best scent”, before April. Monty says he likes to develop candy peas at his Longmeadow residence in Herefordshire because of their strong scent and their value as a cut flower.
He says they will typically be began off indoors, utilizing seed trays, or in early spring to allow optimum flowering. Monty nevertheless warns that when you haven’t began your candy peas by the second weekend in April, then it’s “almost not worth it”.
Monty is keen on candy peas (Image: Getty)
When showing on the Gardeners’ World podcast, Monty was requested what his sweetpea routine is. He replied: “The sweet pea regime, we grow a lot of them. We grow a lot of them because I think they’re beautiful, they make one of the best cut flowers you can have.
“I have rather a bad sense of smell but I love the fragrance of sweet peas. They’re one of the best scents you can have in the garden.
“So they tick a lot of boxes. They look lovely, they smell lovely, they’re a really good cut flower. The best I think, if I had to choose one cut flower, it’d be sweetpeas.
“The thing to remember about sweetpeas is that they are happiest in rather damp, cool west of the country rather than the drier east of the country. So if you’ve got a cool, damp garden, they’re a good bet.
Monty says sweet peas are perfect for picking (Image: Getty)
“The secret of sweet peas is to keep the flowering period going as long as possible and that starts from sowing. I sow in at least two if not three batches.”
Monty says he crops his first batch in October and shops them via winter in a chilly body. He says sowing them earlier is the method to get them to flower extra.
And when you haven’t sown them by the second week of April, Monty says that it’s “almost not worth it”. He added: “Try and get them done by the end of March if you can.
“They need to get a decent root system going. So sow in autumn if you can, if you’ve got somewhere to store them. Definitely do some sowing as soon as you get into the new year, January, February, and your last sowing, try to get done by Easter.”
Monty returns to Gardeners’ World tonight (Image: Getty)
Monty says that candy peas are sometimes purchased in a pot with little shoots in them. He explains that there might be at the least a dozen in a pot, however “each of those is a climber”.
He says that they are going to be “competing against each other” in a tiny house. He suggests a most of three seeds in a three-inch pot, stressing that the flowers want to be planted deep.
He says they want help, typically one plant per help, and are initially tied to the help with twine. He added: “When you plant them, the richer the soil, the better they will grow, they love rich, moisture-retentive soil.”
Once the flower has fashioned, Monty suggests selecting them, which is able to “perpetuate the flowering longest”. Monty will return to screens tonight (March 27) from 8pm on BBC Two with Gardeners’ World.
Monty might be giving a seed-sowing masterclass as he prepares for summer season at Longmeadow. While Frances Tophill might be exploring the world of miniature daffodils.
