Sweetpea

Anyone that likes fragrant cut flowers in abundance cannot but like Sweetpea.They produce an abundance of flowers from June to September / October when planted in a sunny aspect of your garden. For those that prefer vegetable growing, Sweet pea provides a valuable attraction to bees and other insects that will aid pollination of all your plants.

Seed can be planted indoors from Jan-Mar, or outdoors from Mar-April depending on our weather. Either plant into seed trays or individually into plug trays. Sow about 4cm (1.5”) apart and 1cm (1/2”) deep. Water well and keep at 15-20 C (60-70F). Germination can be slow so don’t panic if they take several weeks to show. Keep the compost moist during this time and allow plenty of air circulation. Pinch out the top of the seedlings when they have produced three or four leaves, this entices them to produce new strong basal shoots. From late April you can plant out your young plants after gradually Harding them off. If planting in a row plant about 23cm (9”) apart or about 18cm (6”) apart of in a circle. They grow about 1.8m high (6’) at least so they will need support from either bamboo canes /twiggy sticks/trellis or you can plant them through something that already has support like clematis. Keep the flowers removed until the plant is at least 3’ high. Water well in dry spells.

As well as planting seed , I bought some sweet pea plants from the local garden centre just in case some of you don’t want the pleasure of waiting weeks so see if your seed will grow ! (But of course it will... be patient.) I’m also going to plant these in 40cm pots, supported by canes, so I can place them where I want in the garden. They  are great if a “hole” suddenly appears in the flower bed or to give a little height to the rear of a flower bed, but I will say most will probably end up around the patio where we can not only enjoy the colours but also their amazing scent.                       I’ve placed five canes around the pot and placed bunches of three plants in three locations in the pot. I know I’ve been more than generous but the plants split easily that way so …

As they grow I’ll train them up the canes and they will give a great show all summer. Most of what we plant in the garden will also grow on pots and containers so don’t be afraid to experiment – seed/plant companies rarely say this though on their planting instructions.

No matter where you intend planting them, please do so and as always happy gardening.