Sweet Pea Winston Churchill

The classic crimson Spencer, and a heritage variety rather than a modern one. Large ruffled ruby-crimson blooms on long cutting stems.

Be honest about the scent. This is an older variety with a gentle fragrance rather than the powerful perfume of ‘Old Spice Starry Night’ or ‘Heaven Scent’. It is decently scented and pleasant to have in a room, but it is not the one to choose if fragrance is the whole point.

What it gives you instead is colour with real weight. A solid ruby crimson has substance in an arrangement that a pale sweet pea cannot supply, and against white and pale pink the contrast is what makes a bunch look composed.

It is a hardy annual climber wanting rich, well-manured ground, a sturdy support and full sun, and bees work it hard through a long season. Pick every flower as it opens. A single seed pod left to form ends the plant’s season, which is why most sweet peas stop in July rather than October.