If I were ever to have a formal wedding again, I’d like it to be decked out in sweet peas. In bouquets on the table, wound around centre-pieces and into wreaths, and maybe even garlands woven into my hair. They’re softly romantic and for all their humble beauty they’re also deeply fragrant. If you haven’t had the pleasure of smelling them before it might be difficult to imagine how a handful of small flowers can fill a room with such sweet fragrance.
Sweet Peas are also extremely easy to grow. Though I usually have them in my allotment-garden I decided to grow them at home this time. The more you pick them, the more they produce flowers so keeping them in a container near the house makes sense. A bouquet kept in a vase can last up to a week and during that time they sweeten the air and add natural beauty to any room. When the bouquet needs refreshing, more blossoms will have conveniently sprouted on the vines.
Tips on growing Sweet Peas
1. Select your variety. There is a dazzling array of types and colors on the market and sometimes a huge percentage of a flower seed catalog can be just sweet peas! For me, I either go with ones I find for free at one of our seed swaps since they all smell gorgeous. Here’s a decent pack of sweet pea varieties you can purchase on Amazon.com: 50 Heirloom Sweet Pea Seeds
2. Sow sweet pea seeds either direct into the ground or in modules. You can do this in Autumn and overwinter the small plants or do it in spring if you prefer. Autumn sown plants will come into bloom a few weeks before spring sown ones but you do need to keep an eye on them over the winter. Make sure they’re under cover such as an unheated greenhouse and that their soil remains moist. As far as soil is concerned, sweet peas, like all legumes, love rich fertile soil rich in Humus and nitrogen.
3. Transplant the small plants well after the last frost and when the air and soil outside has warmed up. They like a lot of nutrients so it wouldn’t hurt to put them in an area dug over with compost or well-rotted farmyard manure. These flowers are great in open ground like a garden or backyard but they also do extremely well in containers. Just ensure that wherever they are they’re just kept well watered. Tip: keep a container near the door so that you’re greeted with beautiful scent every time you leave and enter the house. What a great way to begin the day!
4. Give the sweet pea plants something to grow on. These plants are climbers so a wigwam of canes, a lattice of willow, or even an old ladder or other garden art will give the plants the foundation to grow tall and strong. Keep them tied in using garden string or similar or they’ll flop all over the place.
5. Pinch out shoots. If you pinch off the top growing part of the plant when it’s young it encourages side shoots and a thicker and more blossom-abundant plant. If you don’t pinch shoots out the plants will still grow, don’t worry. They’ll just likely be less full than plants that are manicured.
6. Keep well watered and pick, pick, pick! Remember that the more you pick, the more flowers you’ll have.
