Sweet William 'Holborn Glory' Seeds

Holborn Glory is a sweet William from the 1920s with a pattern that stops people on the path: dense, domed heads of raspberry red flowers, each one ringed and edged in clean white. The flowers carry a warm, clove-like scent and last well in a vase, and the petals are edible, with a spicy, floral taste that makes them a pretty decoration for cakes and desserts. Dianthus barbatus 'Holborn Glory' grows to around 50 cm on sturdy stems, at home in a cottage border, a cutting patch or a container, and bees and butterflies visit the flowers.

Sowing and growing

• Sow outdoors in a seedbed, or in trays, May to July for flowers the following year.
• Sow thinly, about 5 mm deep.
• Germination takes 7 to 21 days at 15 to 20°C.
• Move plants to their flowering spot in early autumn, 25 cm apart, in full sun and well-drained soil.
• Grows to about 50 cm tall and 30 cm wide.
• Flowers May to July in its second year.
• Hardy biennial or short-lived perennial: it flowers best in its first flowering summer, so sow a fresh batch each year.

What you receive: a packet of about 100 seeds from Piccolo Seeds, with growing instructions on the back.

Browse our full range of flower and herb seeds, see more summer flowering plants, or find more plants for bees and pollinators.