Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Sunday 23 June 2013

More pea portraits from the Pigeon Proof Pen

In the previous post I introduced you to the first two peas to flower in the Pigeon Proof Pen, now here are two more and as you can see in the following photo, they are very different from each other . . .



On the right is a shorter more compact group of pea plants, they are a new variety and have obviously been bred not require tall supports and it also looks as though it will have a large yield, it's named


Shiraz

I don't usually grow modern commercial varieties of pea, but Shiraz promises to be a purple-podded mangetout, which is the holy grail for pea breeders! Here is a review of Shiraz by plantsman Graham Rice. As you can see in the photo above, the  whole plant is much more compact than an old fashioned tall pea; the flowers curl over coyly and there are two or more flowers on each stem. The wine red splashes where the leaves join the stalk is a tell-tale sign that the pods will be purple, I can't wait to see if the pods really are the colour of red wine AND tender enough to eat as a mangetout.


The pea on the left couldn't be more different in character . . .

Tutankhamun

When I saw this offered in Heritage Seed Library catalogue a few years ago, I couldn't resist adding it to my pea collection even though it doesn't have purple pods. It made up for it by having an amazing provenance:

"Thought to be originally from the garden of Lord Carnarvon at Highclere Castle, Berkshire. Lord Carnarvon, along with Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in November 1922. Could this variety be a descendant of the peas allegedly taken from the tomb? A tall pea (150-180cm) that produces its white flowers followed by pods of sweet tasting peas at the top of the plants making them easy pick."

Well, it probably isn't a pea from King Tut's Tomb, but I discovered it's a beautiful pea to grow. Everything about it is big and robust – it towers over the Shiraz, it towers over me! and the leaves and tendrils are sturdy and huge. The flowers are pure white and are held elegantly on the end of long slightly arched stems, like art deco lanterns. I love growing Tutankhamun alongside my purple-poddeds, and he's already almost reaching the roof of the Pigeon Proof Pen!


The fifth pea variety in the Pigeon Proof Pen has yet to flower, but when it does I'll take some photos . . . and this one really is something different!

Celia
xx





5 comments:

  1. They are as beautiful as any rose aren't they! My beans are still tiny and my lettuce have fed the slugs.....think we will remain hungry this year if my family are relying on me for their veg! Still love trying to grow it though! :) x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Exciting stuff - wish I was able to eat some of the resulting peas - I love them so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The peas plants are looking wonderful. I love the association with King Tut, I think I would have to try the seeds with that provenance, too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such beautiful flowers and I am sure delicious veggies soon. I am very envious!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's all looking very lush and productive. I love the anticipation of the harvest at this time of year.

    ReplyDelete

I love reading all the comments (except for spam and advertising which I will delete) and I'll reply here in the comments under each blog post, it may take a few days if I'm busy.
You don't need to have a blog to leave a comment, you can select the name/URL option and fill in just your name instead of a blog link.