Specialty Gardening: Opinions on sweet peas?, 1 by gemini_sage

gemini_sage wrote:
I have failed many times with sweet peas, but love them so much I've kept on trying. This year, for the first time I had pretty sweet peas!! They don't like summer heat, making them tricky here too. I started the seed in plantable pots I made of newspaper (peat pots would be fine too), because they don't like to be transplanted. I started them indoors in January, and moved them to the cold frame when they were about 3-4" tall. At the end of March I set them out with lots of compost, and they bloomed in June with Foxtail lilies. They were pretty through June, but July's heat gave them crispy edges- they lived, but were ugly. This year I think I'll start some a bit earlier, maybe get a longer display.

For your zone I would think winter-early spring would be the best time to grow them. I think you'd want to aim for full bloom at least a month before hot weather. When is that in your zone?

I could'nt agree more about the cottagy effect of sweet peas. Guess that's why I've kept trying with them, lol.

Neal