Frequently Asked Questions

How long will my seed take to arrive?

We aim to ship your order as soon as possible after it has been received. Delivery of international orders can take up to six weeks, though typically a two to three week delivery time should be expected.  

What time of year is best to buy seed?

It depends which varieties you are growing and what for. Generally speaking, the widest range of seed will be available in mid autumn, shortly after harvesting. Often by March/April, some varieties will be out of stock. To achieve the highest quality blooms, most growers who are producing cut flowers or plants for exhibition sow in the late autumn and buy seed around that time. Our early flowering Winter Sunshine and Spring Sunshine varieties also require an autumn sowing for best results. However many customers buy in early spring, from January through to April, and sow as the days are getting lighter.

How should I store my seed?

We keep all our seed refrigerated and recommend customers do the same, or at least find a cool, dark, dry place for storage. Seed retains its quality for many months when stored correctly.

I want to produce cut flower sweet pea blooms for May/June. What varieties are best and when should they be sown?

If you have precise date that you need flowers by, for example for a spring wedding, sowing an early flowering variety such as Winter Sunshine will be the surest way to achieve blooms for this season. The Spring Sunshine series will work very well for an early June harvest, starting to flower in early to mid-May, while Winter Sunshine will yield blooms from April.

To be safe we would recommend sowing some seeds in late October and a second sowing in late January as soon as the light levels improve.

The plants sown in October can be kept in deep plugs in tunnel or under glass and planted as soon as they have reasonable root systems. The January sowing will be ready for planting in early March.

It is good practice to keep soil covered during the cold months with a black plastic mulch or a similar type of material to keep the soil warm as temperatures outside drop.

Where can I find tips about growing and cultivation of the seed you offer?

To start with, visit our Resources page, where you will find useful links to informative websites that can hopefully point you in the right direction. Information will also be available at our blog as this grows over time.