I just sowed a row of peas, too. But It's a lot cooler up here in SF. A couple of suggestions: Plant another row in the same place, but soak them in water until they just start to germinate, then plant them in the same place, but very carefully. If both plantings come up, just thin them. And put a couple inches of mulch (straw or grass clippings might be best) on top to keep the sun off and retain moisture. Be sure to spread the mulch 2 or 3 feet around your row, if that's practical. And if you don't see sprouts after a couple weeks, seeds are cheap, just try again.

Not too early! My husband and I gathered seeds from our old sweet pea plants (mature plants finally started turning brown--had planted them last year!)last month---while doing so apparently several seeds dropped here and there. And guess what, they sprouted & are doing fine! And it's been hot here in inland southern California. I will be planting them into a large pot with 'tepee' poles in the coming week.
Becky

Could you tell me which types you have been successful with? I am inland Orange County and the ones I bought at Armstrong last year didnt do well. Lots of vines but few blooms...?

I planted Early Multiflora mix (this variety, if planted by labor day, will begin to bloom in winter!). The purple ones looked and smelled the best, so we collected seeds from these (purple only) at end of season. Planted only purple last fall (2004)---all came up and bloomed up until August of this year! It gets hot here---they were in morning sun/filtered afternoon sun (as on fence behind/under a peach tree). We collected seeds from the purple ones this year again, and I just planted them out this past week.

One thing---to get good blooms, do not overfertilize. If you do, you will get a lot of green growth but sparse blooms! Fertilize very sparingly! I fertilized only once (lightly, with Osmocote slow release fertilizer) at the beginning of the season, and got lots of good smelly blooms. Oh, and lots of water with good drainage (once sprouted). Hope this helps.

Becky

Not too early for sweet peas. I always start mine by nicking with file and soaking overnight. Then I get them going in seed trays. I'm in Altadena and it is still too hot to get them in the ground so they are germinating in shade until it cools down.

Currently reading DK book "The Complete Gardener" by Monty Don. This UK gardener starts his sweet peas in trays as snails eat his seedlings.

I have grown Renee's sweet peas (they have fragrance) in past. This year to get seeds from England at local nursery in Pasadena - Burkard's. You buy by the scoop.

Susan in Altadena

I think it's too early to plant anything in southern CA right now. Better to wait till October when it's cooler. And maybe it's even rained.

Hi, it's me again.

For anyone interested in a status on the sweet peas I was asking about, I am happy to report that the sweet peas survived those late August hot spells beautifully and I had my first blooms around Dec 20. Today, there are new blooms daily, which I keep picking. I now have these messy little sprays of sweet peas all over the house.

The seeds were Renee's variety called Early Chiffon Delight.

Now if only my Steve would just get rid of our Christmas tree, it could really start to feel like spring around here. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of today's pea 'harvest'...