I like the dwarf sweet pea, grows about 2 feet tall and the pods mature fast and can get very big.

I like the "Super Sugar Snaps"

Ron
The Garden Guy
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I too like the Super Sugar Snaps

I always used to grow Sugar Snap or Super Sugar Snap, but last year (must have been the end of the season), I ordered from Stokes and they sent me, unsolicited, about 5 lbs of seed for Cascadia, which is a dwarf snap pea. I planted some of them last year for a fall crop, and they did great, nice large pods. But, the best thing about them, the shorter vines didn't overgrow the trellis and collapse as some of my full-sized peas do. So, I am now rethinking my pea growing, and have ordered mostly dwarf types for this year.

Dennnis
SE Michigan

Thanks. Do you stagger planting dates of peas? I've always planted them all at once, in early spring. But the harvest period is only a couple of weeks.

Or do you plant varieties that ripen at different rates?

Finally, how do you know when the sugar snaps are ready to eat?

I would suggest two early plantings of the same variety a couple weeks or so apart. Then you can plant a fall planting.

They are ready for picking when the peas in the pods are ½ to ¾ fully developed, but before the pods start to turn a bit silver colored. Even then you can shell out the larger more mature peas.

Thanks, Wayne

I planted a sugar snap variety last year that had mauve flowers. I don't recall the name. It's growth was prolific and it had lots of pods but they swent stringy very fast. That's a variety I won't plant again. Anyone recognize this variety?

I planted a variety called "dwarf grey" this spring. It has purplish mauve flowers. It has an ABUNDANT crop of nearly inedible, stringy, tough pods. This may be the same variety you had trouble with.
I live in Ohio and our weather has been one extreme to another so far, so I thought that might have been the problem. Could just be the variety now that I know someone else had problems.

I grew both Sugar Snap and Super Suger Snap this year with the idea of comparing them. Not a huge difference but the SSS's flowered and bore pods about 5 days in advance of the SN's. The heights were identical up until about 5 feet when the SN's outpaced the SSN's growth. Only about a foot difference at the end of the season, but they are both taller than my 6.5' trellis so the SSN is better for me. The SSN pods seemed to plump up faster and do taste a little better. I am switching from SN to SSN going forward.

Love Cascadia.

I also love Cascadia! In my yard, between Sugar Snap, Cascadia, and Sugar Ann, Cascadia has the best growth habit (a manageable size), is the most productive (although Sugar Ann may not be a fair comparison), and is the tastiest.

I switched to a couple of short varieties this year, Cascadia and Sugar Daddy. Neither one seemed very sweet like I would expect from a snap pea and the production was low. Maybe it's because of the weather this year, I don't know. Amish Snap, a tall variety, was pretty good when I tried it last year. And Sugar Snap has always been reliable and sweet for me.

Rodney

I liked Amish snap also.

I am loving the super sugar snap from burpee that I planted this year. Just harvested two pounds worth for a dinner snack. Pods are large, juicy and sweet. I had no issues with diseases. Lots of peas over a long season. One of the most rewarding crops I have ever grown.