Yes, it will look wonderful. What color are your sweet peas?

They are Ferry Morse seeds. I planted 'Early Blooming' (mixed) and 'Royal Family' (mixed).

The Early Blooming has red, pink, blue, violet, coral, cream and white. The flowers are large, ruffled & very fragrant (says here). Blooms earlier than other varieties. Prefers cooler weather.

The Royal Family has red, salmon, pink, white, lavender, and purple blooms. Also supposed to be very fragrant. Will bloom all summer long. Nice long stems for bouquets. I grew them last year and they really did bloom on and on.

All but seven seeds sprouted out of the two packets, so not too shabby. I went ahead and tossed them in the soil too. They may go ahead & sprout later.

If I get all those colors, it will be quite a display. Can't wait for the perfume.

Annie that is going to look and smell soooo good, I'm looking around for an old wooden ladder to paint I want to grow pole beans on mine, I was thinking red. I think there'll be more then you and me borrowing (:o)) Brenda's idea.

Annette

Love the ladder! and the color! I have a general question about sweet peas - I've tried to get them to grow from seed - and I haven't been very successful at it. Any tips? Do they need a lot of sun?

Estelle

Annie ~ Love your pink ladder and I can just see it covered in sweet peas. That's what makes this forum so much fun, all the ideas and inspiration that get all of our creative juices flowing. Your gardens are always an inspiration to me. Looking forward to pictures of this latest addition to your gardens.

FlowerLady

Estelle:

Sweet pea seed has a hard, water insoluble seed coat. Nicking the outside coating will allow quicker hydration of the seeds and helps both with speed and germination success rates. Nicking can be easily accomplished by using a nail clipper (knife or nail file works, too) to score the sweet pea seed coat. Sweet pea seed will germinate in soil at temperatures of 55 to 65º F or 13º to 18º C.

I'm going to be trying them again for the first time since childhood - we have the cooler climate here they just might love. Have a collection of broom handles to make tripods with since I have no fences, etc.

What a cute idea! I've been growing sweet peas every year in my garden. Just this morning I found a bloom just getting ready to open - seems extra early but the weather has been weird this year. I soak mine first and always plant by late November every year. Otherwise they don't have time to develop before it gets too hot. I have several of those small trellis' about 3 ft tall that I use to grow mine on. I scatter several throughout the garden to plant seed around. The vines dry up by about mid May for me. I find it is well worth taking the time to plant the seed. The timing seems to be the key to success with sweet peas for those of us further south.

I love the idea! Please post pictures when it is covered in sweet peas :) I'm hoping I'll have better luck with them this year since it is not so windy in my new garden. I've made trellises out of the prunings from some overgrown trees, so I hope I'll have a nice display too!

I skipped sweet peas this year. I look forward to seeing everybody's pics when they bloom. I'll have to imagine the perfume, which isn't hard to do.

Nell

I can't wait to see the whole thing in bloom Annie! I love the color of your ladder.

I have a really tall step ladder that I keep eye balling for string beans but I'm scared one of our very windy summer storms will take the whole thing out, likely just before harvest ;)

MeMo

Estelle,

I take a paper towel, wet it and lay it on the counter. Then place the seeds on the damp towel and fold it over the seeds so it has a double layer (looks sort of like a ladies nappie). Then place them in a ZipLoc back and stick them in a warm, dark place for a week - checking them every 3 days. They sprout within a week or so. Carefully remove the sprouts from the damp paper towel so as not to break off that white sprout root. They are now ready to be planted out into the garden. Easy Peasy! (hehehe) Adequate moisture and soil temps are the top two keys to successful germination for seeds of any kind. Good soil is important after that. Sweet peas are a legume - you don't need to fertilize them. Just add compost around them once a month and water deeply. Don't spray or overhead water them. They get moldy.

I hear many people say they need to planted early while it is cold or very cool so they will germinate. This has much to do with moisture levels in the soil in the springtime. The moisture and warming and cooling of the soil in early spring helps soften their hard seed casings. By pre-sprouting them before you plant them, this process is attained much faster. (and you will know in short order whether the seed is any good or not, giving you time to get new seeds and try again - A real plus!)

When I was a child, my father always let me grow the sweet peas every spring. They were planted when Papa planted his edible peas, lettuce, radishes, onions and beets. They were beautiful and so fragrant. We had a bouquet on the table every day.

WHEN to plant Sweet Peas depends much upon the climate where you live and your soil type. They have shallow roots systems. They like loose, loamy soil and moist, cool conditions of that soil in the Spring where they can get their roots systems going. Their shallow root systems is also what kills them off when the temps begin to rise. Papa fixed that problem by always putting leaf mold (Nature's mulch) around them once they got up and began climbing. This kept moisture in the soil & their roots cool as the temps slowly increased.

Also, keep in mind that "Full Sun" in Washington state is like "Part Sun" in Oklahoma. Here, they like full sun but only part of the day, with part-shade or filtered sunlight in the afternoon.

I try, but I am certainly no expert on growing sweet peas. Better off asking Edna or some others on the forum about successfully growing them.
BTW, I pre-sprout (germinate) all my seeds this way, except the tiny ones, like petunias, salvias, nicotiana, & etc.

I checked my Sweet Peas today in the Potager - they are going to town in their new soil bed with this unusually warm weather we are having for March. I swear they grew a 1/4 inch since yesterday! :)

Today, however, there is a dark cloud looming over my joy. Oklahoma has very erratic Springs. It can be 80 for a week and then suddenly drop back down into the 20s or 30s and kill everything back. Sometimes it gets down into the teens or even single digits and continues that way for a week or so, freezing everything tender. This afternoon the NOAA weather folks predicted another cold snap, coming in with temps dipping down into the low 30s one night and mid-30s other nights, then slowly warming back up again. Supposed to finally get that much needed rain, which is great, but with low temps like that, they are now saying there is a good chance for it to change over to snow on Wednesday or Thursday evening! Good grief.

I am going to try to rig up a blanket over them. Should be easy to drape one over that ladder and weigh it down with rocks at the bottom on the ground. The ground is warm enough now with all this hot weather we've been having that it will create a heat pump and keep the little pea sprouts snug as a bug under that blanket. It should work. That's all I can do.

I will take photos of their progress. God willing they don't get spoiled by late freezes.

~Annie

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I think yours are going to be gorgeous, I love the idea of pink and sweet peas together. You may want to run a bit of twine up and down to give them something extra to cling to.

I have seven ladders, rainbow color - Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black. It's been 2 years in the elements and I think I need to re-paint them this year. Spray paint, that is. I'm thinking I need a pink one too. {{gwi:649151}}From Circular Potager
{{gwi:649152}}From Circular Potager

I just love these ladders! Such a wonderful way to make a trellis! I should paint one red and grow hummingbird favorites on it! I think we have an old wooden step ladder in the garage.

Cameron

Annie - I sent you an email but I'm not sure you got it...thanks so much for that great info above! I really appreciate the time you took to explain. I was inspired by your post so I'm going to try again. I put my trellis up on Sunday for them. I can't wait to see them bloom. I'll take photos if I'm successful!
thanks so much again!

Estelle

Love this idea, Annie! The pink ladder with all the colors will be beautiful. It's an idea I've wanted to do since I saw Brenda's. Thanks to you both.

You're growing info is helpful Annie, I'm going to try sweet peas again, hopefully with better success. I've never pre-sprouted and that's a good idea.

Love all the colorful ladders! Annie, be sure and show us the sweet peas in bloom.

That's such a cute idea..... I think I know what to do this spring when outdoor flea markets start opening up....

What else can one do with recycled objects?

Annie, that's it! ... I'm bringing a tent and moving in. I LOVE YOUR GARDENS!!!!!! I love the fence made with branches to the right.

I can hardly wait to see what transpires with the sweet peas climbing the ladder. It's sure to be stunning.

Thank you everyone.
I hope my advice is good advice. :0

Maybe you ought to wait until April to sprout those seeds.
I'm crossing my fingers on my sweet peas...we have a cold front moving in and we're supposed to get winter weather the rest of the week, maybe even snow. I put some hay over the sweet peas which are already up about 2 inches tall. This morning I checked them and they have grown up through the hay already. Wow! I may put a little more over them.

That happened two weeks back too. The baby's breath had emerged because of the really warm, even hot temps. Then a cold snap swooped down into the state last week and bye bye baby's breath.

This week it has been warm again. We had several days in the 80s. Many things came up and I found that a few more baby's breath came up...now this cold front will probably bite them too.

So, I may have to start my sweet peas again if they don't survive this. This kind of weather could continue all the way into May. Gads Zooks!

On a happier note, in the greenhouse this morning I found that all my tomatoes are coming up (finally), as are the Mini-cucumbers, multi-color Yarrows, red Nicotiana, Crazy Daisies. I winter-sowed the Texas Blue Bonnets and some of the those are up. I put a pane of window glass over them when I first planted the seed and it has helped them sprout, so they will be protected from the cold.

Out in the front yard the Foxgloves, Cascade Penstemon, Forget-me-nots, Gloriosa daisies, and Agastache are up. Shirley poppies and wildflower mix and others too. Phlox coming up that I moved there last fall and green coming up at the base of the Zebra grass. The Pansies are beginning to poke their noses up out of the soil in the 1/2 whiskey barrel planter this morning. And all my flowering shrubs are in full glorious bloom, as are all the fruit trees. The Lilacs have buds and new leaves came out last night, darn it.

I tried to take photos of everything last night, in case they get ruined, but my camera is acting up and the pics didn't come out too great. It is already much cooler. Supposed to drop down into the mid 30s tonight. Yesterday the AC was going. Today the heat is coming on. Hopefully, this winter storm won't be as bad as predicted. Snow is okay. It acts as an insulator many times, so we shall see.

Yes Estelle, I did get your e-mail. Thank you for your kind words. I was outside working most of the day the past several days. Bermuda grass took over my circular knot garden last year and what a pain to dig that old devil grass out of there. I made a little dent. I've been cutting back non-flowering shrubs, digging out little trees that come up everywhere. I had to chop back the ground-cover Euonymous that had spread out into the main bed (what a chore) and installed length of that plastic edging. The vinca has spread into one of my big spreading junipers and totally covered it, so I had to wade in there (before the snakes come out) and cut that all back. Sorry I didn't answer your message. (Having an acre of garden has gotten to be way too much for me - ugh - I could hardly walk last night, so I slept in today. But I can't help myself! Gardening is one of my addictions! They say gardening keeps you young - How come I feel a hundred today?)

Hope you all have better weather luck and have great success with your sweet peas.

I'll keep you informed.

~ Annie

BTW - I know, I know...I always write LONG messages. My brother says - "Too much information!"
I guess so...sorry.
My family and friends say I don't just write messages or letters - I write Epistles!

Annie, do not worry about the cold. Every year I sow seeds in October. They survive the bitter cold and frost. For such a fragrant delicate plant they are a real trooper. Our temps are in the 30's and mine are still growing.

Can I see a picture of your branch fence? ppllleeeaasssseee :-)

Edna,

Sent you an email with a picture of the fence. :)

~Annie

Hi Annie! Love your idea and look forward to photos when everything's in full bloom. Our son was married in our garden two summers ago and his wife wanted sweet peas for her wedding flowers, so we pulled out all the stops and grew them specially for the day.

I'd not had very good luck with them in the past - seeds wouldn't germinate, spindly plants etc. Then I had the great good fortune to meet a master gardener at a gardening show...long story short, he said it's not really a "cheat" to plant seedlings that have been started at a nursery because seeds can be particular an it's okay to plant them early because they can take some cold. They turned out so well for the wedding, we grew them last year (120 row feet) and sold them in local markets all summer. Everyone loves them and nobody sells them commercially it seems (not around here, anyway).

The other advice he gave me (maybe you know this already, sorry if I'm repeating) was:

1) Plant them in good, prepared soil and don't fertilize them once they're in (you'll get more leaves than flowers)(this was hard advice to follow);

2) water them well and never let them dry out;

3) cut them daily or they'll go to seed and stop flowering.

All good advice that worked for us.

Good luck and please post some photos later in the season! It's going to look gorgeous!

westcoastgardener,

That is just beautiful! I bet your nose was in 7th heaven with that many sweet peas, like Edna is with hers.
Something about my soil is not right for growing them. I have been adding peat and bagged compost to my potager for two years and I am hopeful that will make the difference. Everything else is doing better. the lower level of the potager has had the most compost and the soil there is deeper and fertile and holds moisture better (less sandy). Weeds will tell you what condition your soil is in and the weeds that have been popping up in there show me that it has improved "muchly". :)

My dry, sandy soil is generally iron deficient in certain areas of the property. I can tell by the color of the Lamb's Quarters - purple tinged leaves and stems indicates iron deficiency. Lamb's Quarters grows in fertile soil, so I guess, otherwise, my soil must be pretty good in the potager now because that's where it likes to grow! Know your weeds and know your soil (I read that in an old Organic Gardening newsprint many, many moons ago - 1970s).

Thanks everyone for your advice and input on the subject.

~Annie

So far so good!

The low last night was 32 degrees F (0 degrees C). I checked the sweet peas this morning and they didn't even shiver! They are growing in leaps and bounds right up out of that hay mulch and standing tall and snappy in the cold! Yippee! Yahoo!
I am so thrilled!

~Annie

Westcoastgardener, I looked at all your pictures and your garden is spectacular. A paradise. You even made me like Shasta Daisies.

Oh, I LOVE Shasta daisies.

You are so kind!! Thank you!! We bought the property for the house and what is now the cultivated garden was landfill - and dirty landfill at that. It's taken five years and a LOT of work (not to mention trial and error). Where there isn't rock, it is clay (which I think is probably easier to amend than sand). It was worth every second on our son's wedding day when he could marry from home and have such a lovely day of it. Sweet peas saved the day as they shared the arbor on the 'bridal path' with clematis that got the dreaded "wilt" four days before the wedding!

I love your arbor and fence and think your garden looks absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to talk roses with you over on the rose forum! I'm fairly new at this (this is my 6th year of growing roses) and one of the things I love is how the more you learn the more you realize you don't know!

Westcoastgardener ~ I love your gardens and want to know what are the blue flowering shrubs by your greenhouse? Such a beautiful, vibrant blue they are. Probably won't grow here in hot and humid s.e. FL, but I thought I would ask anyway. Your sweetpeas are something else. Do post more from your gardens as we always enjoy pictures, for eye candy and inspiration.

Annie ~ I thoroughly enjoy your epistles. Writing is a 'lost art' these days. I'm going to try your method for seed sprouting, it sounds great.

Hope you don't lose any tender plants with this next bout of cold weather you are expecting.

FlowerLady

Cold and snowy today.
Really big, wet snowflakes drifting by my window. It's not sticking because the ground is so warm. Very pretty to watch out the window.
Supposed to get down into the 20s and freeze everything to death and then...warm back up again this weekend. (grrrr)
Great, just great.

~Annie

Hi FlowerLady! and thank you again for your kind and encouraging words. Sometimes we are so busy doing what we do we lose sight of it all!

That lovely blue-flowering shrub is Ceanothus Impressus 'Victoria' ("California Lilac") - there are many other varieties and I chose this one for the colour, growth habit and because there's lots of it around here so I know it will thrive.

When I mapped out a landscaping design for the front part of our lot which began as 1/2 acre mess of brambles, mint, horrible landfill and rock - I needed a fast-growing evergreen screen for what is now a parking area that can take three vehicles.

In three years it grew to 10' tall; it's now 12' tall. In midsummer it is literally covered in those gorgeous blue blossoms (in fact another name for it is 'blueblossom'). Sitting in the rose garden on a warm summer afternoon you can hear the background bzzzzzzzzzz of countless bees as they do their work on those lovely blooms (much too busy to be bothered with anything or anyone else). We love it. It's taken quite a beating this winter with the snow (unusual for this part of Canada where we get more rain than anything else) but it's quite resilient.

I would imagine it would do alright in Florida? One of the plus factors is that it originated as a desert plant and is drought resistant; we don't water it at all even during the hottest summers. The shiny leaves retain water naturally and aside from tidying it up a little with my pruning shears it is maintenance-free.

Here's some photos for you and a link to read more about it:

{{gwi:649153}}

and this is a close-up of the beautiful blooms (can you see the bee?)

{{gwi:649154}}

Beautiful garden westcoastgardener! Beautiful.
Great greenhouse setup and the garden around it.
Beautiful blue-flowering shrub. Love the color. How special!
~Annie

10'in three years and with beautiful blooms like that? I want it!!!

Thanks for sharing your garden photos, esp. on a chilly day like I'm having here.

Annie, I'm in central Oklahoma also, and I'm growing sweet peas for the first time this year. I've never seen them and wasn't convinced they could be grown here. Thanks for all the guidance.

I stop by here every week or two, just to see what's happening. This post made my day. Must be serendipity.

Thanks,
Seedmama