When is the best time to plant sweet peas?
- The sweet pea is an essential member of a late-Victorian garden. Victorians loved sweet peas for their color diversity and fragrance.
- Gather the flowers in the morning when the dew is still on them. This is when their scent is the sweetest.
- Sweet peas are one of the April birth flowers.
When should I plant sweet peas?
To save battling with mice all winter, I tend to sow my sweet peas in February and look to plant them out when they are a reasonable size, usually by the end of March or early April. These timings are suited to those of us with unheated greenhouses and cool but light windowsills.
How do you make fresh sweet peas?
Now that you know several simple ways to cook peas, here are a few ways to amplify their tastiness:
- Add a fresh herbs like mint or tarragon to the water when boiling or steaming to add flavor.
- Top cooked peas off with a tiny pinch of sugar to bring out their natural sweetness.
- Make a salad with cooked peas. They’re especially tasty with bacon and a creamy dressing.
- Cook with spices, from curry to herbes de Provence.
How to plant and grow sweet peas?
Your Guide to Planting Sweet Peas
- Scarify sweet pea seeds before planting. For as soft and fragrant as their blooms may be, sweet pea seeds have notoriously hard exteriors. ...
- Plant sweet peas in full sun and well-drained soil. ...
- Start them indoors in colder climates. ...
- Provide support for growing sweet peas. ...
- Mulch matters. ...
See more
How long will sweet peas bloom for?
The annual species Lathyrus odoratus is our common garden sweet pea: you'll find them with different growing habits and colors: Tall Vining Varieties – these vigorous vines reach 5 to 10 feet tall with many stems of blossoms over a six to eight week bloom period, depending on climate and season variables.
How often do sweet peas bloom?
Sweet Peas will start blooming approximately 4 -6 weeks after visible vining. Timing of bloom will depend on whether the plants have been pinched back. Pinching may slow growth somewhat, but it will produce bushy plants with more flowers.
What to do with sweet peas when they finish flowering?
Cut down your sweet peas when they finish flowering, but leave the roots in the ground as they have little nodules on them which will add nitrogen to your soil.
Do sweet peas rebloom?
Perennial sweet pea vine produces flowers in abundance throughout the summer and into the fall. To encourage more blooms, be sure to deadhead spent flowers. If you don't deadhead, the plant will produce seedpods which resemble those of an edible pea plant.
Do you cut sweet peas down after flowering?
As the flowers open keep cutting; this stimulates further flower production. Never leave seeds to develop on the plants. Remember that sweet peas are annuals. If seeds develop they tell the plant that its work is done and the plant starts to die back.
Do you cut back sweet peas after flowering?
Cutting back Simply pull out and compost annual sweet peas once flowering has finished at the end of summer. In hot, dry seasons this might be a bit sooner.
Do sweet peas return each year?
There are two types of sweet pea. Annuals last for one season and everlasting perennial varieties return year after year, but are much less fragrant. Read our handy guide on how & when to sow Sweet Peas from seed below.
Does cutting sweet peas encourage more flowers?
Sweet peas tend to produce seed after the first flush of flowers; once the stem lengths start to shorten; and the weather becomes hotter. By cutting off the flowers and deadheads it will encourage the plant to produce more flowers.
Should you remove pods from sweet peas?
If the pods begin to split, you should pick them right away. Collecting seeds from sweet peas is easy. Bring the seedpods indoors and remove the seeds from the pods.
Are sweet peas cut and come again?
Another great example of cut and come again, sweet peas respond very well to frequent cutting. Try planting a new batch of seeds every three weeks to take advantage of the high production of cool spring weather.
Should you keep cutting sweet peas?
Keep cutting the flowers Annual sweet peas only flower to make seeds – they don't care if you like admiring the flowers, when they go to seed, that's their job done and the plant will die. We cut the flowers twice a week to go into the house.
How often should you pick sweet peas?
'I have found that the optimum picking period for sweet peas is about ten days. It is important to remove every single flower – and to enjoy the resulting fragrant bunches of blooms for the house,' he explains. But what do you need for the job? Monty shared that picking sweet peas was undemanding, and he was right.
Do sweet peas flower more than once?
Sweet peas are an annual flower so they are programmed to grow - flower - set seed - and die over a year. Once sweet peas have been flowering for a while they will want to start setting seed so the plants need to be tricked into producing more flowers to extend the flowering season.
What month do sweet peas bloom?
In Northern California, this ideal time—guaranteeing the most outstanding, blossom-filled results—is from late September through October if you are seeding your sweet peas directly in the garden. If you are purchasing young sweet pea plants from your local nursery, this period extends all the way through mid-March.
How do you know when sweet peas are finished?
To harvest sweet pea seed pods, wait until the seed pods turn light brown in color. Then, use gardening shears to cut the seed pods off the flowers, leaving the stems on the pods.
How tall do sweet peas get before they flower?
The plants reach 3 to 8 feet tall and a spread of 2 to 3 feet. The Missouri Botanical Garden reports that without something to climb, sweet peas grow into low and bushy 2 1/2-foot-tall mounds. Perennial sweet peas have a similar growth pattern, with vines growing up to 10 feet tall.
Uses
Characteristics
Toxicity
- Unlike other types of this genus, sweet peas are toxic and the seeds should not be ingested by humans or pets.
Overview
- Sweet pea (Latin name Lathyrus odoratus), is a climbing annual member of the legume genus. Originating in the southwest Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, sweet pea has been cultivated for use in gardens since the 17th century, but reached its modern forms under the work of Scottish nurseryman Henry Eckford, who developed dozens of cultivars in the late 1800s.
Cultivation
- Sweet peas lend a cottage feel to gardens. They are often grown on bamboo tripods, but they will gladly grow through shrubby plants, much in the same way that clematis is sometimes used. Sweet peas also work well in a vegetable garden, attracting bees and other pollinators needed in the vegetable garden. They can be grown along the fence or mixed in with the pole beans. Swee…
Preparation
- Sweet peas are usually direct sown. To assist germination, seeds should be scarified by nicking and/or soaking in water for several hours to soften the seed coating. Seed can be started outdoors, as soon as the ground has warmed to about 50 degrees F. and is not too wet.
Diet
- During the growing season, sweet peas require steady, regular feeding and watering. Feed them monthly with a fertilizer high in potassium, such as a tomato fertilizer. Adding a bit of blood meal to the soil is thought to help keep the stems long and suitable for cutting.
Culture
- Most sweet pea varieties will begin blooming in late spring or early summer. The more you cut the flowers, the most blooms you should get, so don't hesitate to bring some bouquets indoors. Deadhead the spent flowers to encourage continued blooming. Avoid planting sweet peas in the same location year after year.
Varieties
- There are many wonderful sweet pea varieties available as seed. You can packet of individual colors or with a blend of colors. Remember that not all sweet peas are fragrant, so be sure to check the package.