This history of the cultivation of sweet peas has been extensively revised in the light of recent work by Roger Parsons. His meticulously researched article is to appear in the millennium booklet of the National Sweet Pea Society, and is essential reading for anyone interested in the subject.
The sweet pea is a climbing annual native to Sicily and southern Italy. Its ancestry can be traced back to the C17th when it's richly coloured but relatively small flowers possessed a powerful and attractive fragrance. These qualities were enough to ensure its survival after it reached these shores, courtesy of a Sicilian monk, Franciscus Cupani, who sent seeds to Dr. Robert Uvedale, a schoolmaster of Enfield, in 1699. Cupani clearly considered the plant to be of some importance, because he also sent seed to Caspar Commelin in Amsterdam at the same time.
Although the seed sent by Cupani was of a purple/maroon bicolour, early writings refer to a pure white variety and to a pink/white bicolour, citing Ceylon as a possible source. Recent research however, has proved that the bicolour now known by such names as "Cupani" or "Cupani Original", is the most primitive form and is therefore the original wild species. South American varieties such as "Quito" and "Matucana" appear to be derived from cultivated material and probably date from the 1920s.
Through the C18th several colour mutations occurred to vary the original purple/maroon bicolour, but the flowers remained small and produced on short weak stems. Painted Lady (circa 1730), a pink/white bicolour, was the first new variety, although the plant now grown under that name shows signs of subsequent improvement.
The C19th saw slow improvement in the flower and its popularity, until Henry Eckford, a Scot living at Wem in Shropshire, bred the grandiflora strain with larger flowers in a very wide range of colours. These retained the lovely scent of the original, while greatly enhancing its ornamental value.
Henry Eckford's claim to fame was cemented when one of his finest varieties, the pink 'Prima Donna', mutated on three separate occasions. In each case the form of the flower was dramatically altered by having attractively waved petals. The most famous of these sports occurred in 1899 at Althorp, the country seat of the Earl Spencer, and was named 'Countess Spencer'.
'Countess Spencer' was crossed back to the huge range of grandifloras which had been developed by Eckford and others, giving rise to the whole race of 'Spencer' sweet peas. So great did the popularity of this new strain become, that large areas in California were put down to seed production to satisfy the demand, and the National Sweet Pea Society was founded.
The next crucial date in the sweet pea chronicles of fame was 1911, when Tom Jones of Ruabon introduced the cordon system of culture. To this day, this technique is used to produce blooms of the very highest quality, and is of sufficient importance to merit a brief description.
The young seedling sweet pea, when it has formed several true leaves, has its top pinched out to induce branching. Of the resultant side shoots, one strong one from near the base of the plant is retained, and all other growth is cut away. This shoot is encouraged to grow as a single stem with all its side shoots being removed as they form. The tendrils are also removed to prevent them fastening onto the flower stems, which necessitates supporting the plant by tying it onto a cane. This method of training severely restricts the number of flower stems produced by each plant, with an equivalent increase in the quality.
For those wanting more detailed guidance on the cultivation of sweet peas, we recommend 'The Complete Guide to Sweet Peas' by Bernard Jones, which is widely regarded as the major work on the subject. Membership of the NSPS is also very worthwhile.
There are, of course, many other excellent strains of sweet pea which have been developed in other countries, notably the USA, Japan and Australia, some of which are more tolerant of high temperatures during the growing season.
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© 2005 P E M Rowland