Editorial

Jo McCarroll catches sweet pea mania and issues a grand challenge

In this issue we have a fascinating story on the history of the sweet pea, which recounts, among other things, the sweet pea mania that gripped the United Kingdom in the early 1900s. At its height in 1911, Lord Northcliffe, owner of British newspaper the Daily Mail, offered a prize of £1000 – a huge sum of money in those days – to the amateur gardener who grew the best bunch of sweet peas.

I was so tickled by that part of the story that I called my friend, worldrenowned sweet pea breeder Dr Keith Hammett, who not only knew all about it but also sent me a copy of a charming pamphlet about the event, published by the BBC in 1966 and entitled A Bunch of Sweet Peas. According to its testimony, so great was the excitement caused by the

Daily Mail’s challenge that demand for sweet pea seed broke all records. There was even a national shortage of soot – a popular manure and insect repeller of the time – as growers began to hoard the available supply.

When the competition came to be judged, some 38,000 bunches of sweet peas arrived at London’s Crystal Palace. They were unpacked by 500 boy scouts, who had been accommodated in tents nearby ( A Bunch

of Sweet Peas notes that there were also several scoutmasters “to preserve discipline”) and judges selected 2500 bunches for display.

The winner was a Mrs Nettie Fraser, of the marvellously named Sprouston in the Scottish borders. Her husband, a vicar by the name of Mr Denholm Fraser, had, as the rules allowed, sent in a bunch in his name and a bunch in his wife’s. The bunch in his name won third prize.

Can’t you just picture it? The vast space filled with bunches of sweet peas as far as the eye could see. The heavy, sweet scent of it all. I can just imagine the bearded judges going earnestly about their serious work. The undisciplined scouts. The Sprouston vicar.

In fact, the idea of Lord Northcliffe’s sweet pea challenge captured my imagination so profoundly that I’ve decided to stage a similar event here in New Zealand. Sadly, I can’t recreate the 1911 challenge exactly – I don’t know how to get hold 500 scouts, for starters – but I have decided to hold the inaugural NZ Gardener Great Sweet Pea Challenge.

Dr Keith Hammett has agreed to supply contestants with seed. To get hold of yours (it’s free!), send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to The Great Sweet Pea Challenge, NZ Gardener, PO Box 6341, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141 before April 30. The seed, a mixed selection of Hammettbred varieties, will be sent out in May, and Keith suggests sowing in June. Sow either direct or in pots, he says, but start it outside – sweet peas started under cover become stretched and leggy and never really recover.

To compete, just send us photos of your flowers in November or December; email them to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz or post them to the address above. There are three categories for photos: individual bloom; sweet peas in an arrangement; and sweet peas in the garden.

I think too much of you, dear readers, to offer a cash prize. No – you will be competing only for glory. But I nonetheless expect the response to easily match Lord Northcliffe’s 1911 challenge.

A good gardener is a prepared gardener, ladies and gentlemen. The Frasers attributed their success to having planted in long trenches dug some weeks before planting: 2m wide and 1.5m deep, lined with leaf mould and loaded with cattle manure. So if you want to take part, don’t just send in your stamped self-addressed envelope. Think about getting your garden ready too. And maybe start hoarding soot.