The Sweet Pea Book

by Graham Rice

An inspiring and comprehensive guide, The Sweet Pea Book is for anyone interested in growing these most exquisite of fragrant flowers and using them in the garden. It covers the colorful history of the sweet pea, provides detailed practical advice on seed raising and cultivation, offers ideas for using the plants effectively in the garden, and discusses dwarf sweet peas for small gardens and patios. A comprehensive descriptive list of species and varieties will prove useful to all sweet pea enthusiasts.

Genres: Gardening

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2002

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book shocked me and I have read a lot of gardening books. Graham Rice wrote it in reverse order starting out very complicated and technical, and avoiding all the basic questions about sweet peas until the last few pages. The only way to explain the book is that Graham Rice must have been writing a thesis for his masters or PhD. Yes, at the beginning he drones on about the first mention of sweet peas and then continues through the long history of sweet peas and their hybridization. This is dry stuff and then he literally lists every single named variety of sweet peas, there are over 60 pages with two columns on each page! (There are photos for only a minute fraction.) Who wants this level of detail? I admit maybe a few die hard sweet pea fans but the rest of us wanted some basic information and that was hard to find and very sparse. You can't buy seeds for all these varieties! Who published this book? And all the way through I just wanted to know what the variety of sweet peas were which come up at old homesteads in Zone 5. I never figured it out. I ended up with more questions than answers. If sweet peas grow so well in England, why are they from the Mediterranean? Graham Rice has done most of his gardening in England and has little advice for gardeners in the US. It was really a very unsatisfying book! US Librarians, please stop buying gardening books written by English gardeners. They are a waste of money! In the mean time, I will try looking on the internet!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent reference book with good info on growing sweet peas (though not as great for my location) and also a wonderful list of sweet peas. Checked out from DPL.

[Martin Witchard]

A bargain book picked up in Port Macquarie. Sweet peas are beautiful, fragrant flowers and should be relatively easy to grow in Brisbane. I've certainly seen them in Toowoomba but that is a cooler climate. You'd be surprised how many cultivars there are, with beguiling names such as 'Charlie's Angel' (pale blue), 'Wiltshire Ripple' (chocolate-claret stripe on a white background) and 'Bishop's Rock' (violet). The author knows his stuff so I've recommended this one for sweet pea afficinados.