Sweet peas

Thank you - I will make sure to buy seeds and deep enough pots in good time, or maybe a toilet roll holder in a little peat pot would do. We don’t have a greenhouse but presumably a warm sunny windowsill would be OK for starting them off. I seem to remember that sweet pea seeds can take ages to germinate, is that right? Does anyone soak them for maybe 48 hours first?

I always grow sweet peas in large containers - they did brilliantly this year! I used bamboo canes up the shed for them to grow up.

When growing from seed, they need deep containers as they like to grow long roots.

I did this last year in fact, Witzend . It was a dwarf variety called "little sweetheart" and was prolific but needed feeding and watering and the stems were a bit short !

I love sweet peas but we have a very small garden with zero suitable bed space. Has anyone successfully grown them in a really big pot, with a wigwam of canes? I think I tried once, many years ago, but they didn’t do very well - I was a lot busier then and maybe didn’t water and feed enough.

For the past 2 years I’ve grown tomatoes in pots but don’t think I’ll bother again, not when you can easily buy such nice ones in summer anyway - you can’t say the same for sweet peas!

I’m in Scotland too, and mine are still going strong - priceless perfume. My neighbours are always grateful when I have a surplus.
I have often just let them carry on, once it was almost Christmas. Cherished.
Lovely memories for you Luckygirl. I also always breathe in the smell of geraniums as they remind me of my mother, who grew them in many containers.

Luckygirl

My memory of sweet peas is my grandfather's garden in Devon where he grew them up trellises between his vegetable plots. There were little paths alongside them and my brother used to wheel me about on the paths in a wheelbarrow when we were small. As we brushed past the sweet peas the scent would fill the air.

So - a very evocative and nostalgic scent for me.

What a beautiful memory Luckygirl. I can picture it, thankyou.

My memory of sweet peas is my grandfather's garden in Devon where he grew them up trellises between his vegetable plots. There were little paths alongside them and my brother used to wheel me about on the paths in a wheelbarrow when we were small. As we brushed past the sweet peas the scent would fill the air.

So - a very evocative and nostalgic scent for me.

Love these plants. Grandad grew them strung up like raspberry canes, oh what a scent, all different colours. I grew some a couple of years ago, called Chelsea Pensioner, a vivid red just like those jackets. After reading this will try some more next year.

Here in Scotland, mine are still blooming but probably not for long now.
I adore sweet peas too.

Luckygirl

They are gone - sob, sob!

Take my hankie Luckygirl.
Took mine out a few days ago. I grow them every year. No scented flower can beat them IMO

I’ve found it to be a good year for sweet peas. This year I sowed 3 different varieties which turned out to be a good idea. One lot were pure white, large flowers, can’t remember the name. The next were seeds of the usual mixed seeds variety and the third were smaller heritage seeds.
They’ve been really long flowering and beautifully scented
.

I have some perennial sweet peas which do very well but unfortunately have no scent. They die down in winter but come up again in spring- very little care needed. The ones I have are only pink, though I think they come in other colours. Lots of pods now, so if anyone would like some, PM me and I’ll post.

They are gone - sob, sob!

Mine have come out already. This year I bought dwarf ones for hanging baskets. Despite regular dead-heading they had a short flowering season and were very disappointing.

Pulled out yesterday. Go for it!

Mine have been amazing - I was getting two bunches of blooms a day to cut and bring in the house - I would cut a bunch in the morning and by the afternoon the plants were covered again!

However their scent was not very strong, so I have decided not to collect the seeds this year but buy new for next year.

You are lucky - my sweet peas were a disaster this year - too dry I think. They came up ages ago.

Mine have been awful this year and have very few pods on them

Monty Don (Gardener's World) gave advice on sweet peas recently. Sorry can't give an exact date but look on here
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000z929/gardeners-world-2021-episode-24
I love that programme.

I just had to read a post about sweet peas! If only there were words to describe the smell of sweet peas!

First year since we married that I haven’t grown sweet peas. We had no idea when we would be moving so there didn’t seem to be any point.

I’ll have to make up for it next year!

Ah - thank you. Off I go!

I think so. If there are any seeds you can start them off soon, for planting out next spring. Monty often advises starting them at this time of year in toilet roll inner tubes to develop a long root system.
Pansies and bulbs will look good instead. Good Luck!

Sadly yes it is Luckygirl, mine are coming out this week too.