In the past, I have never had a great display of sweet peas. Irregular and slow germination, poor planting location etc. This year I bought some 6-packs that were about 6" high and planted them along side the house. Even though they are North facing and squeezed in a tight space between the sidewalk and house, they turned out AWESOME. Love the fragrance too.
I find I have the best luck with sweet peas when they get afternoon shade. So being on the north side might have been just what they needed.
i have only grown them for 2 years, this year i had a wonderful display from "america" that reseeded itself. now that i think about it, where it grows does get afternoon shade.
Still going strong
Joanna,
What sort of support system are you using? They are all very nice and upright, but I can't notice any trellis. Cute dog by the way in the first photo.
I have a light green (almost transparent) plastic mesh with 6" bamboo sticks holding the peas up. The poles are attached to the house with a plastic zip tie and a little nail under the small overhang just below the siding. I have ran 3 rows of string the entire length as the peas grew to hold the against the house.
Those sweet peas are gorgeous!! Anyone have any luck growing them from seed (direct sowing?)
Try as I might, I cannot get sweet peas to grow. I particularly get upset when I see them growing, naturally, alongside the Virginia country roads...and the thought of how easy my grandmother said they were to grow...well they WERE, for her! I dunno. Tried many times. My hat is off to you who succeed!
Joanna..I tried to grow them 2 yrs. ago and didn't succeed. I should try next year. I remember as a child, we had to sell a box of seeds for the school. If you sold all of them, you got to keep the pkt. of sweet peas. For some reason My Dear Mother loved sweet peas..but I don't know why; she was never a gardener. It must have been the PTA that took on the seed selling as a project..Of course, in those days, seed pkt. were probably 25 or 50 cents a pk. I don't recall the name of the seed brand but I think it was either Burpee or Ferry-Morse. At least those are the two companies that come to my mind. I don't recall the detaisl anymore..if the student was allowed to chose a pkt. of seeds before she or he went out to sell the others or if that pkt. of sweet peas was chosen by the company as the prize if the student sold all the rest in the box. Living in rural NC, I don't even recall the time of the year we were asked to sell those seeds. Now days the first week of school, the public school kids come home with catalogs for Sally Foster gift wrap to sell. I imagine that is a PTA project. I always felt pressured to buy from the kid that lived next door. Sally Foster is good paper and I probably still have some from 8 or 9 yrs. ago that I haven't used. Living in a gated, Sr. Citizen's community, you don't have to deal with that any more, nor Halloween trick or treat nights.
I never liked Halloween anyhow so that is one more pro of living here.
Last year I had success using two different methods. First, I nicked and soaked my seeds in 10:1 water/peroxide mix overnight, then put them in a damp paper towel in a baggie (Deno Method) until they germinated, then put them in 2" pots to grow on until time to plant outside. The second group I also nicked and soaked, then filled several toilet paper rolls with potting mix, sowed 3 seeds per roll, grouped the rolls upright in plastic pots, and put the whole thing in a winter-sowing box in early April until they sprouted. Although both methods worked, those plants were the best- sturdy, robust and floriferous. Needless to say, I'm doing method #2 this year.
Pam
Gosh, Pfg! Whadda ya wanna bet our grandparents just threw them up into the air...it sure seems like they did! Those seeds sprouted all over the place, for THEM (not EVER for me). Great idea about the toilet paper rolls!
Too funny, you're probably right. I got the TP idea here on DG. I wish I could remember who so I could thank him/ her!
Pam
