Of all the annual flowers I think sweet peas are my favourite. I love the
beautiful flowers and the delicious scent. They are climbers and so great to
have flowers that take up very little space. They are also so beautiful in a
vase in the house.
They are annuals which means that they set seeds, grow and produce flowers
and seed pods, then die all in one year. You cannot usually keep them from
year to year, but you can buy new seeds each year quite
inexpensively.
Sweet peas are so easy to grow and care for and are worth anyone having a
go. This article is about growing and enjoying sweet peas, not growing them
for showing or breeding which is more specialised.
Buying Sweet Peas Seeds
You can buy sweet pea seeds from many places. Here are a couple of
things to look out for.
I love my sweet peas to be scented so if you do want scent make sure it
says scented on the packet.
Some scents are stronger than others and that is a personal choice. Check
carefully if you prefer a floral, fruity, musky, fresh or heavy
scent.
If you are wanting a particular colour then you will need to look
specifically for that colour. I often buy a packet of just white or cream.
If you are planning to pick them for a wedding these colours are
particularly beautiful.
Many seed packets are mixed colours but you may choose from pinks and
purples to burgundy and reds.
Some Sweet Peas are the older or even heritage varieties, others are more
modern so again it is a choice of what you enjoy. There really is something
for everyone!
Sowing Your Sweet Pea Seeds
There are a huge variety of sweet pea seeds for sale. You can buy
them in multi-colored packs or packs of for example cream or white only.
Check the packet carefully for if they are fragrant or not as well.
Some will have longer stems than others so if you really want to grow them
mainly for the house it is better to choose long-stemmed varieties for
vases. Otherwise, it does not matter. There are heritage and new varieties
and really we are spoiled for choice!
Once you have made your choice or like me decided you cannot choose
so buy several different packets, you can sow seeds in Spring or in
Autumn.
The autumn sowing will mean earlier flowers but you will need to look after
them over autumn/winter. This means you will need a frost-free place for
them to be all autumn and winter and will need to keep an eye on them.
The Spring sowing will result in later flowers but the whole process
is during spring and summer and you will not need a special place for
them.
I generally sow in Spring but if I had space in a greenhouse or cold
frame I would do an autumn sowing as well to prolong the flowering
season.
Sweet peas are not too fussy about soil. For the seeds, I use a mix
of any ordinary compost with some grit added for extra drainage.
Sweet peas generally germinate well. I sow mine in either small pots
or plug trays or even in toilet roll holders. They do develop long roots so
a taller container is better. Any container that is not too large but
is long enough for nice deep roots to form is good.
Planting Out Sweet Pea Plants
Once you can see the roots have formed well and the plants have several
proper leaves we can think about planting out. However, it is very important
that we only plant out after the frosts have finished for the year. This can
be tricky to predict but know your local weather conditions from year to
year.
Where I live we are usually safe from late May/early June. Then it is
simply a matter of digging a hole slightly larger than the plants' rootball
and you can plant the whole plug out into the garden. Carefully fill in
around the planting hole and gently firm in.
It is worth noting that If you have kept your plants in warm
sheltered conditions then I would advise that you take them out in the
daytime and back in at night for a period of one to two weeks to acclimatize
them to outdoor conditions gradually before planting out for good.
I would advise planting out on a day that is not too hot and sunny just so
that they do not get too stressed. A warm but not too hot day is about
right. They do like moisture-retentive soil which is fine on our clay mix
soil. However, if you have sandy or chalky soil it is best to dig a large
hole much bigger than the area you are going to plant in and fill it with
good compost, manure or similar to enrich the soil. Then put your supports
in and plant the sweet peas.
Sweet peas can also be planted out into large pots and grown up a
tripod in the pot. I think they look rather lovely this way and you can see
all the way around the pot which makes for better viewing and easier
picking. The soil can be ordinary compost with a little grit or perlite
mixed in for better drainage.
Sweet peas do like a sunny spot if possible. In a large pot they will
require much more watering than in the ground, so never let them dry out,
the soil must be kept moist.
Tieing in Sweet Peas
Most sweet peas are self-climbers so they produce curly tendrils that latch
on to any support and grow upwards. Some do need tieing in regularly as they
have no tendrils. I usually buy the self-clinging ones and provide support
for them to grow up.
Support can be anything from canes with string, a tripod with additional
string, or another tall plant they can scramble up. I have grown mine this
year up Bamboo canes and also alongside our
Metal Garden Swing Seat
tied in with ordinary string.
I tie in a few stems to begin with to give them a good start, then every so
often if they are growing too far out from the support. I just use soft
string and tie loosely so as not to damage the stems.
Picking Sweet Pea Flowers.
This is the beauty of sweet peas, you must regularly pick the flowers! For
many plants, you have to make the decision to either pick the flowers for a
display in the home or to have the flowers in the garden. With sweet peas,
you get the best of both worlds!! You must pick the flowers in order to get
more flowers!
So usually once a week I go over all our sweet peas in the back garden.
Then once a week on another day I pick all those in the front garden. That
way I always have sweet peas in the garden and a vase or two of sweet peas
in the house.
When you pick them use a sharp pair of scissors and cut right at the base
of the stem so that you get as long a stem as possible. Put them in water
immediately. I carry a jar of water with me and they go in straightaway.
Then I can transfer to a prettier jar, glass, or vase in the
house.
If you don't pick the flowers regularly they will quickly go to seed
and you will see these seed pods like in the photo.
I left these without picking to show you and now there will be no more
flowers on that specific plant for the rest of the year. So the motto is to
keep picking the flowers!!
Watering And Feeding Sweet Pea Plants.
If it rains regularly you may not need to water at all. However, we
have been having a heatwave here and so I do water the ground thoroughly
soaking it about once or twice a week. Do not water the plant's leaves only
the soil.
Once the flowers start to appear I give them a fertiliser feed about once a
week with a high potash feed, something like a tomato feed is good, but if I
forget they are always just fine.
