Sweet Pea

With its richly coloured yet small, delicate flowers, the sweet peas history can be traced back to 17th century Italy, when a Sicilian monk, Franciscus Cupani, sent its seeds to England. Although that original sweet pea bore little resemblance to the flower we know today, when Harry Eckford, a Scottish nurseryman, crossbred the original flower, he created the colourful, ornamental and sweetly scented sweet pea we know today.

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea indicates delicate pleasure and bliss. It is a flower symbolic of departure after having a good time.

Sweet peas derive their name from the Greek word lathyros for pea or pulse, and the Latin word odoratus meaning fragrant. Sweet peas are the flowers most closely connected to the month of April.
The name sweet pea is believed to have first been used by the poet Keats (1795-1821). Sweet peas were very popular in the late 1800s and are often considered the floral emblem for Edwardian England. Sweet peas were an important part of floral arrangements for every wedding and dinner party at that time. Dried petals of sweet peas was also one of the most important ingredients for potpourris.

April

Happy April

Royal Albert:Flowers of the month

Company History

Wild (Thomas C. Wild (& Co.)) (1896–1917)

In 1895 Thomas Clarke Wild joined his father, Thomas Wild, in the purchase of the Albert Works, Longton, and the partnership manufactured bone china teaware as Thomas C. Wild & Co. Wild became sole proprietor on the death of his father in 1898 and from 1905 to 1917 the business traded simply as ‘Thomas C. Wild’. The St Mary’s Works, Longton, was purchased from Bernard Moore in 1905 and used initially for decoration of the products manufactured at the nearby Albert Works. As Wild’s business prospered he acquired other factories and pottery businesses, the Park Place Works was acquired in about 1910, followed by the Royal Albert China Works in 1917, the Shore & Coggins Ltd business (and Edensor Works) in 1918 and that of William Lowe in 1919. By the early 1920s Wild owned or had controlling interests in about 15 North Staffordshire potteries.

If you like floral designs then you will adore Royal Albert's Flower of the Month series. For every month, there is a beautiful and breathtaking flower for you to admire. 

The flower of the month for April is the Sweet Pea.