anyone willing to share their success stories with sweet peas? i don't find them easy; what am i doing wrong? anyone start them indoors? i'm in PA and we seem to get hot fast here...i'm looking for a way to jumpstart them so they can get the most from our brief cool temps in spring. any advice appreciated!
sweet pea success
I have tried and tried and tried. Always get a frost just as they are setting buds. I haven't resorted to starting them indoors yet, probably will just give up. My Grampa had the nicest Sweet peas though...which is probably why I keep trying.
Soak your seeds over night or nick them before planting. You can plant indoor if you like but they don't like to be transplanted. Use a pot that can go directly into the ground and you should be fine. i grow them just about every year and love , love the smell!!!
I winter sowed them but they didn't bloom before it got too hot! I think I started them too late last spring. SP's were The Only Thing I could get to grow from seed before I tried WS.
xx, Carrie
That's great information!
Anna and I were just talking about planting the Sweet Peas ... the when and the how.
Well I have had spectacular success with sweet peas . . . . in Kamloops BC.
The soil was non-acidic. The sweet peas were in FULL sun. The soil was not great - but I did fertilize. The nights were cool . . . the days were dry - no humidity.
So last year I though I would have sweet peas here. I started them waaaay too early inside because I paid attention to the nursery from which I bought "special" sweet pea seeds that were supposed to survive heat and humitity - not!!! I got a few blossoms, but NOTHING like the bounty I grew in B.C.
Well, I will try again, and see how I do . . . But they really cannot take heat. So, I would start them in March inside and get them in the garden in early April and hope for blooms in June.
Good luck with that!!
Our last frost this past spring was June 5th.
Ok, last year I planted outside, around the end of May first week of June. I had blooms all the way until Sept./Oct. but I planted them where they get dappled afternoon light. Morning light is fine, but the afternoons will wilt them if they get full sun.
Maybe I planted the wrong variety of sweet pea. Are there varieties with a faster germination to bloom time?
Well, shoot, Celeste!
We wanted to plant them on the south side of the garage. I guess we won't now, as that gets full sun all day long.
Sounds perfect for hollyhocks, though.
x, Carrie
Yesss...I had Hollyhocks up against the south side of the house, along the driveway, for years. They loved it there.
Auntie has hers planted in direct sun but the sun goes onto the side of the house by 1-2pm and they did ok but her blooms were a little wilted looking by then. I planted mine by the dog fence w full morning sun then filtered sun 11am - 5pm. I could go out and pick a bunch anytime and they looked good. I often put a little vase of them beside DH's chair in the livingroom. When he had his operation last June, I put them on his bedstand.
Sounds lovely, and that gives you something to do with all the little vases, pitchers, containers etc. one acquires. At least i acquire them! Just right for crocuses. xx, Carrie
Yes, I acquire them, too. Just can't throw them out because one might be the perfect vase for that perfect something that you don't know about yet!
I think Maine probably has a wonderful climate for Sweet Peas - but if you have hot, humid summers . . . well, I just don't think sweet peas will thrive.
Mine don't do great, but I still grow them every year. They look dead in the summer; I keep watering them and, in late Fall (Oct/Nov) I get a few more blooms.
Here's a November blossom.
Sue! That's brilliant! when annuals look dead, I tend to take them at their word and rip them out. I can always get sweet peas to sprout, not always to bloom before they wimp out in the heat. This year, it'll be different - keep watering, keep them in the shade and don't give up...
x, Carrie