Sweet peas

Has anyone grown sweet peas?
I just started to grow these this year and it has been interesting.
Here in Oregon, you can put them in the ground in Feb or March.
I planted them once. Put the seeds down about 1". Not too many came up so I planted them again. More have come up but not all.
I just talked to a nursery man who said that he just put the seeds on top of the ground in Feb. and just covers them very lightly with soil. His at the nursery along a fence looks great and full rows.
I have 2 plants now blooming with a couple blossoms. I will have to say that the colors of the blossoms are very, very vivid. Never have seen such a bright red or pretty deep purple before.
They say they are fragrant and I love flowers that smell.

Any tips from others who have grown them?
Carol

Sweet Peas

For powerful fragrance, you can't beat this climbing annual.

The modern sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is descended from the wild sweet pea of Sicily whose scent, more than its flowers, enchanted Britain when it arrived there in 1699. Since then, many of the plant breeders' improvements have resulted in larger, showier blossoms but loss of strong fragrance. In recent years, though, seedsmen have reintroduced many antique varieties, so you may choose whether the visual or olfactory show is more important. Breeders are now working on combining large flowers and strong scent.

Vital statistics:
The sweet pea is by nature a climber, using its tendrils to scramble up trellises, canes, netting, fences, and practically anything else vertical to a height of 6 feet in most places, even 9 in a climate it really loves. There are also bush types, ranging in size from 12 inches to 3 feet, most of them suited for containers. The multi-award winning 'Snoopea' tops out at about 2 feet, has no tendrils, needs no support, and blooms generously. 'Explorer' grows only 14 inches tall and is said to be very free flowering.

The sweet pea color range is enormous, incorporating practically every hue except true yellow and true blue. The variety 'Matucana' is very close to the original Sicilian wildflower, with small lavender and purple flowers and a strong perfume. 'Painted Lady' is a 1737 rose and cream sport of the original with a sweet scent. 'Old Spice' comes in a nice color range and also has good fragrance. 'Rosemary Verey', a Thompson & Morgan introduction, is a lovely blend of pink shades with nice perfume.

Getting started:
The key to success with sweet peas is soil preparation -- dig very deeply, at least a foot, and add lavish amounts of manure. They languish in hot weather, so in warm climates, such as in California or the lower southern states, plant sweet pea seeds fall through late winter for early spring bloom. In cold zones, it's much wiser to do your soil preparation in the fall, partly because sweet peas need to be planted so early that the deep frost may not be fully out of the ground. You can either start seeds indoors -- in deep containers to prevent root disturbance at transplanting -- or plant them outside about 2 inches deep as soon as the ground thaws in spring. Either way, soaking the seeds for 24 hours before planting or filing them a bit speeds germination, which takes about two weeks outside but happens much quicker indoors with bottom heat. Slugs love sweet peas, so be prepared to fend them off your seedlings. And pinching out the tips when the sweet peas are 4 or 5 inches high will give you more stems and a stronger plant.

Culture:
Like clematis, sweet peas prefer their heads in the sun and their feet in the shade, especially in summer, so letting them shelter behind squash or beans is a good idea. Give them almost any vertical structure to climb, so long as it's suited for twining tendrils. Regular moisture is also a necessity, as is, delightfully, regular cutting of the flowers. If you're too tender-hearted to cut a single prized sweet pea, you'll convince the plant it's time to set seed and await the next generation.

HTH

~* Robin☺

Hey, Robin, Thanks so much for your information!
I have done a lot of what it says here, but I see different information has different planting depth.
I also didn't know about pinching them back. Darn, wished I had done that before. I have a few plants that are still small so will pinch those.
Well, will have to try different ways next year I see. But I love the smell so far and the such bright colors. I better bring in the few that are blooming for smell in the house and for the plants to keep blooming.
Later, Carol

Hi Carol, My experience with sweet peas is so inconsistent. I did have fabulous ones a few years ago. Since our winter was so dry I thought this would be another great year for sweet peas. I sowed a whole row in my cutting garden. I did the soil prep as described, I soaked my seed for 24 hours, and I have had good luck covering them with clear plastic so the rain we usually get doesn't rot them. I had three come up. :( They are not an easy thing to grow. But I learned about a product that I am anxious to try next year and I will try sweet peas again.It is inoculant. It is something you can put on the seed which helps them break their hard shell and not rot too I believe. Garden stores usually only sell early in the season like February ish. I know farmers have seed treated with this when they grow peas for a crop. Anyway just an idea, I am going to give it a try next spring.

Hi you too, Joann,
Well, I know the seeds couldn't have rotted. There is good drainage and is kind of a sloped bed. So that is why I was wondering if planting them too deep would be a problem. But the slugs have taken a toll on them too I have noticed.
Next year I will do things differently. I just wanted that fence to be covered with sweet peas and the smell but.... It was a perfect place for them. Gets sun until about 3 pm, has plants in front to shade their feet, etc.
So will keep trying.
Along with some painted tongue. Have you ever tried these? I loved the picture of the flowers so I tried germinated them. Oh boy, what a hassle those plants are. I started them in Feb. and I just planted only a few of them a couple weeks ago with about 5 leaves on them. Very fragile plants and so touchy. So live and learn.
Thanks for your tips.
Carol

I plant my sweet peas in October in pots made out of newspaper. I soak the seeds over night and then plant them about a half an inch deep in the paper pot. My paper pots are about 1 1/2" in diameter and a couple inches deep filled with a good quality planter mix. I place them on a heat mat set at 70degrees and usually get about 90% germination. After they sprout i place them under floresecent lights for a month or so. I then plant them to their permanet position in the garden. During the winter they develop a root system and really get to looking ratty, but come the first warm days in Feb they take off and by late March or early April they start blooming. Mine are still blooming and are about 8 ft. tall.
George

Oh, my. That sounds so nice, 8' tall.
I have read that sweet peas don't transplant well but you say they do. Hum, will have to try it next year then with some seed.
Thanks for your ideas.
Carol

I start my sweet peas inside because the weather here is too erratic and the heavy clay tends to be cold and wet (or frozen) which makes the seeds rot. I nick the seeds with a nail clipper and then soak in warm water overnight. When the sprouts are a couple inches tall I harden them off and plant them out. I pinch them back when they are 6" tall. It is usually late April or early May before I get them in the ground. Some are planted in full sun and some in part shade.

Even though summers here are hot and humid, I always have a few sweet peas blooming right through until November when really cold weather kills them off. I don't understand why they keep blooming in the hot weather but they do. In fact, I just noticed the first blooms of this years crop this morning and it has been between 88 and 90 for the last week. LOL

Soak my SP's overnight, planted some in peat pots this year for first time. No better germination than in ground, that I could tell. Best germination occurred in windowboxes. My one real problem (if you can call it a problem) was 2 Nor'easters within a month blowing through. They actually pinched back my plants for me! Unfortunately I haven't had any blooms at all. I think they will do O.K. in the hot weather if I can keep them watered.

Keep trying to grow them! One whiff of that intoxicating scent, and the beauty and fragility of the blossoms and you'll be hooked!

My favorites so far,

Matucana

Chatsworth

Cupani

Flora Norton

Captain of the Blues

North Shore

Pip Tremewen

Anniversary

Apricot Sprite

Anthea Turner

Fragrantissima

Sugar n' Spice

I haven't had the greatest luck with mine, but enough to keep plugging along, growing them every year.
Someday, I will learn the secret!

Ivy1,
Yes, I want to keep growing them. I have had about 3 different vivid colors bloom so far. Red, purple, and a white/apricot. I love the bright colors!
So far they smell but not real great. My honeysucle is nearby and it seems to smell even better. I think it would be better if I could just have a row of them along the fence, blowing lightly in the wind, and the smell will hit the air. That is what I envision.
I just got a trade with someone in CA for sweet pea pods so am excited to see how they do next year. You sure grow a lot of different names. Where do you buy your seeds? I bought my seeds from Territoral. All the other kind of seeds from there have been just great germ. I just got the Old Spice, Supersnoop, and the big one, Manmonth?
I just might try a long rectangular planter box next year too along with the ground, to see how they do.
Thanks,
Carol

I think when you look them up in your catalog, make sure you check for fragrance. Some are not fragrant. The best I've found are the really old, classics - Matucana and Cupani.

Did you know they make GREAT cut flowers? Please, don't be afraid to cut. The plants will thank you and grow more flowers every time you make a cut. They are fantastic in the house in vases or arrangements.

Has anyone gone to the Chelsea Physic Garden in London? Absolutely the best place to see sweet peas ever!

The best way I like to see sweet peas is twining at a fence post or gate. You can linger here and sniff... and I think there is nothing sweeter in the world than a single tendril and blossom beckoning to you to come and breathe in the smell of memory.

Carol, how did your sweet peas come out?

~* Robin

Hi Robin,
My sweet peas last year turned out fine last year.
I ended up planting more seeds and had a slew of them finally.
About 2 weeks ago, I planted seeds again. I planted quite a few different this time. They are along the east side of a fence, going north and south. They did last a long time here with the shade in the afternoon from like 3 pm onward.
Of course, then we had a terrible freeze, like down to the teens for quite a few days. Which is very unusual here in Oregon this late in the winter. Darn it!
So we shall see what happens this year now.
I did find something out tho. The red flowers of the sweet peas don't smell. Just the lavender, white, and pink ones. I thought that was interesting.
Tho the colors of the red was so vivid and bright.
So another growing season test.
Carol

Carol,

Sweet peas are hardy to zone 0. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. It can fix the Nitrogen in your soil.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

~* Robin

Thanks Robin, appreciate your comments.
Carol