New Zealand Woman’s Weekly 59
These pretty pansies
have a taste for dried
blood. Yikes!
FESTIVALS
It occurred to me that visiting
a sweet pea festival at this
time of year would be a great
way to forget it’s winter, but it
wasn’t easy to find any.
I did come across one in
southern Sweden at a private
garden known as Rugerup
182, situated in the middle of
Skåne. There are more than
100 varieties on show, and the
owner conducts tours of her
garden during the festival,
which runs through July.
It sounds charming, right
down to the directions:
“Parking is available in my
meadow,” says owner Cecilia
Wingard. “It is newly mown
and there is a clipped
pathway to the garden.”
There’s another show in
late July in Wem, Shropshire,
which self-proclaims to be
“the birthplace of the modern
sweet pea”. It’s celebrating its
30th year and, sadly, its last.
The dedicated folks at the
Eckford Sweet Pea Society
of Wem say their volunteers
are all ageing, and “despite
requests, no new younger
volunteers have come
forward”. Bittersweet indeed.in late summer for autumn or
winter flowering. Pansies, and
their little sisters violas, are
happy in sun and shade in
moist, free-draining, fertile soil.
And here’s a tip that for some
inexplicable reason makes me
feel better about loving pansies.
They like dried blood. No,
not blood and bone – actual
dried blood. It comes as a
powder that you can sprinkle
around and water in, and it’s
high in nitrogen and iron. If our
dog’s predilection for blood and
bone (and its subsequent gastric
consequences) is anything to go
by, I possibly won’t be risking
dried blood on the garden
anytime soon.
Now, another confession.
Sweet peas. This is not an
age-related penchant – I’ve
always loved them. The only
problem with them is their
desire to scramble up a frame,
necessitating the provision of
some ugly, messy structure
of bamboo stakes and chicken
wire. There are possibly ready-
to-wear versions, but I’m not
having that either. The Partner
will have to create something
as beautiful as the sweet peas
themselves to showcase them.
Failing that, I’ll have to opt
for one of the dwarf varieties
that grow in mounds between
25cm and 60cm high.
They like to grow in fertile,
humus-rich, well-drained soil in
full sun or light dappled shade.
Annual sweet peas, in particular,
need soil with a lot of well-rotted manure or garden
compost during the autumn
before they are planted out.
Don’t crowd them during
planting. The roots need a bit of
personal space, and competition
for space and water might make
them vulnerable to powdery
mildew. And employ your snail
deterrent of choice – snails love
them. Keep them well-watered
during the growing season and
once they’ve started to flower,
give them a liquid feed of
something like tomato food.
Picking sweet peas must be
one of the most enjoyable jobs
in the garden. It takes you back
to childhood when everyone
had a glass vase of sweet peas
inside. And the more you pick
them, the better they flower!If hanging baskets are not
your thing, plant pansies
in containers and find
appropriate spots for
them in the garden.This ‘King Tut’ sweet pea
is said to come from seeds
found in Tutankhamen’s
tomb. Its amazing blue
colour puts it on my list.Vintage shades
like this dusky
pink are a
popular choice.