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Growing Sweet Peas©

By: Arlene Wright Correll

My mind conjures up cottages with sweet peas growing up the sides of the front door and trellises and arbors in full bloom with the multicolored little beauties filling the air with their wonderful fragrances.

Not all sweet peas have a fragrance but the ones that are in my garden do.

I planted some in a planter by the side of the arbor that lead to our Mediterranean herb garden 8 years ago and promptly forgot about them. I tend to be a "woozy" sort of gardener. As an artist who gardens, my mind’s eye is always running way ahead of itself once I spot a package of seeds in the store.

Like an addict who has said, "just say no" each fall, I succumb to my gardening addiction each spring or really late winter when all those beautiful color packets of flower seeds seem to block my path the minute I walk into my local hardware store and that is what happened 8 years ago when I bought a package of these multicolored annuals.

Well, perhaps it is our mild winters, but they have reproduced themselves every season since then. Not only do they do their thing each season in the place they were planted, but they have decided to march around the garden and put themselves in other places.

Some of the places I do not mind, such as up the sides of the screened in patio where they via with the honeysuckle vines for space.

One of the many things I like about sweet peas is that they have a long blooming season and make really nice cut flowers when placed in low containers on our dining table.

I look at them with an artist’s eye and see that the climbing vine has light green colored tendrils that are always looking for a place to latch on to and for lack of a place will match right across our pathways heading in another direction. Their dark green vines have leaves that seem to fold back upon themselves and the blossoms resemble pink, red, blue, white and lavender butterflies.

I have discovered that they like full sun and that is where they seem to head. When our summers get really hot they stop blooming, but when our summers are cool they seem to bloom right into the fall.

These are basically a vine and grow 6 to 8 feet high. I discovered they will crawl up anything and they do well in a vegetable garden as they attract bees and other pollinators that your vegetable garden need. With that in mind plant some along your fence line or mix in with your pole beans.

When I planted my first package of sweet peas I direct seeded them into the planter but the directions on the package said I should soak in water for several hours to soften the seed coating so I could nick the seed to assist in germination which I did and apparently I did it correctly because they grew real well.

Once the ground has warmed to about 50° Fahrenheit and is not to wet you can direct sow. When your sprout is about 3 to 6 inches high pinch the seedling to encourage strong side shoots. Should you decide to transplant some of these seedlings, pinch off any flowers and/or buds and this will encourage root development.

As I said the sweet pea vine tendrils will attach themselves to just about any kind of support such as meshing or lines. You can keep them blooming for a long time by deadheading or cutting flowers for your dining room table.

These little lovelies require little care except for regular watering, especially in very hot weather. They like rich soil and you may want to feed them monthly with a good organic fertilizer that is high in potassium such as the kind you might use on your tomatoes.

I have not noticed any pest problems to date, but have read that there are some, but that the heat usually takes care of them.

Regardless, sweet pea vines are a lovely addition to your garden especially when they are allowed to climb up high bringing brilliant color and fragrance to enrich your home and garden. So look for sweet peas that are labeled "old fashioned" as these seem to be the kind that have the most fragrance.

Author Resource:-> For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, "All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site."

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