I bought more sweet peas

A little flashback to last year's sweet peas, because the seeds are hardly visually interesting

It's now two months since I sowed my first sweet peas for this year, and somewhat surprisingly given my track record with these tricksy plants, a fair few are still alive.  Last time they featured on here my seedlings had just had their growing tips, who were happily growing away, ripped mercilessly out by moi.  It felt very wrong and even though I know this is the done thing, I did expect what was left to wither and die in protest.  But the barbarity of my activities had the desired effect; we have bushiness.

I have high hopes that at least some will survive being transferred from the relative luxury of the garage into the cold harsh world of outside.  Unfortunately that time will come to them all, the question is when.  I am aware that you are meant to treat your sweet peas like your men: treat them mean, keep them growing... or something like that.  However Im not sure they would enjoy a good frost so I can see myself having to nip out there every night to tuck them up in bubblewrap.  How tedious.

The time has come I feel for my second sowing, and the moment to admit that I have bought more since my last sweet pea post.  Yes more sweet peas, because eleven varieties are not enough apparently.  Doing my previous sweet pea posts it occurred to me that what was sorely lacking amongst my chosen mix was a nice dark berry shade to really round out the colour combinations.  Well of course this schoolboy error had to be rectified immediately so straight onto Sarah Raven's website I went.

One variety would have done, but no, I bought four.  Its a case of once I start I just don't seem to be able to stop.  In my defence they are all distinctly different colours, although it is still unjustifiable.
So from Sarah Raven I bought 'Black knight' and 'Almost Black'.  Spot the theme going on here.  Im pretty sure I have another plant called Black Night, might be a scabious... Anyways Almost Black is the darker of the two being like a blackened purple, like the purple of a bruise.  It should contrast nicely against all my shockingly pink and frilly varieties. Black Knight isn't remotely black, I would describe it as a dark claret, or the colour of red wine.

The third new variety isn't technically new.... more displaced, shall we say.  I have so many seeds that I actually forgot I had bought some.  It was only while sorting through them about a week ago that it came to me that I had definitely bought seeds from Sarah Raven in the past.  Not a clue where they might be though.  An hour's search later revealed them to have been sitting about four feet from me when I had the revelation.  Amongst this bonus hoard was Barry Dare; an absolute shocking pink.  Wouldn't believe Im not much of a fan of pink from my sweet pea choices would you?!  But a nice surprise even still.

One of my current seedlings, alive, not in focus admittedly, but alive

Lastly I bought Cupani; a mix of claret and purple.  Small flowers, big smell has this one apparently, and the most closely related variety to the original wild sweet pea of sicily.  Completely 100 per cent did not need this one but was having an 'oh throw it in' moment.
I sowed them in exactly the same way as I did previously, soaked them overnight and then two to a pot.  Although think I got a little confused so may have sown four Barry Dares and none of another variety!