Sweet Pea Primer

I didn't grow up with a lush cottage garden in the idyllic English countryside, nor did I have the grandmother who grew them and shared them with me as a child. I came to sweet peas later in life. Actually, after I started cut flower farming - so 3+ years ago. Now I understand why the fragrance is the main draw to these delicate flowers. It's intoxicating, and each variety is slightly different. The most fragrant in my garden this year was Chelsea Centenary - the light blue lavender petals with 4-5 per long stem was highly fragrant. A small bouquet would fill the room.

Learning:

Last year I spent some time researching sweet peas on how to grow them, how to breed them (probably not doing that soon), who the top breeders are, and varieties that are great for cut flowers and hard to find varieties. These are the books I bought and thought were the most useful:

Growing:

Two years ago, I grew sweet peas for the first time. A neighbor friend asked if I would start them for her and I thought - that's a good idea - I'll do it too. I started them in 4" pots, 3 seeds per pot and grew them in the greenhouse. I started them in late February and they grew and first flowered in June - now I know that is too late to start them for zone 8b - late January is much better!

I created a 20-foot bed and lined them up on either side of 5' trellis of Hortinova netting. and planted different varieties right next to each other, it was very pretty, but quite a challenge separating out the vines and seed pods at the end of the season - I decided not to make that mistake again.

Lessons learned from the first & second year: I now use a combination of paper-towel method germination and root trainers to start my sweet peas. This way I can guarantee each root trainer cell has a viable plant (not leaving any blank). Root trainers also provide the perfect environment for tons of roots when you plant - they really do work.

I prepare the soil where I plant with trough of composted cow manure (I used the bagged organic type to guarantee no pesticides & it's been heated to kill weed seeds etc.) This way the sweet peas are well fed all season. I plant out in March about 2 weeks before the last frost and separate the peas to their own growing location. I pinch the plants after 4 sets of true leaves - this will help them branch and produce even more flowers.

Enjoying:

I start cutting as soon as I see them - in spring the stems will be long and perfect to include in spring flower bouquets. Here are a couple of photos I saved:

Saving Seed:

After about a 4-6 weeks of blooming and cutting I stop harvesting and let the plant go to seed. After about 5 more weeks seed pods will be ready to start harvesting. I use the thumbnail test, if lightly scratching the outside of the pod sounds like sandpaper - it's time to harvest. Into the labeled mesh bags they go, and into the greenhouse to "bake and open up." Even from a couple of sweet pea vines you will have plenty of seeds for next year and to share.

For the Locals:

You can buy seed from me, or you can order sweet pea seedlings in advance and I'll grow them for you. Ordering seedlings will open in December, and I'll let you know in this newsletter!