What is an AGM?
The Royal Horticultural Society’s principal award to plants today, is the Award of Garden Merit. This can be granted to all sorts of plants from orchids to potatoes and trees. Of course, Sweet Peas are just one of the plants that have been assessed for this prestigious award.
Usually, a trial is organised by RHS and a panel of experts is selected to assess the plants and recommend the very best cultivars on view. In the case of Sweet Peas, a recent trial took place at RHS Wisley over two seasons in 2022 and 2023.
The particular criteria to provide guidance for the judges was:
· General visual impact
· Vigour and health of plants
· Quality and quantity of blooms, distribution from top to bottom
· Colour
· Length of flowering season
As a result, just fourteen cultivars were awarded the RHS AGM from some seventy-eight entries; so these really are the best performers for ease of culture and excellent performance. On this occasion only Grandiflora types were judged. As a group these cultivars have comparatively strong scent and a profusion of blooms, but can lack the very longest stems and largest blooms. In our opinion they are some of the best Sweet Peas available today.
Our favourite 6 are available together in a collection, as featured in The Garden Magazine, they are:
and Cedric Morris (above)