I grew peas in 5 gallon bucket last year and they did quite well. I don't recall how many I had in each bucket but it was definitely more than 8 (I direct sowed and used innoculent). Be sure to stake them - I hung mine about 5 feet off the ground and ended up with a pea blob that climbed all over itself, the cukes next door, the fence - you get the idea...

Many thanks for the input. So, I looked at the seeds I have. I have planted Oregon Giant Sugar Pod, Cascadia Snap, and Dwarf Gray Sugar peas. For my shelling peas I have planted Green Arrow. I have grown those before & like them a lot. The Dwarf Gray seed is smaller & smooth, so thanks to farmerdill I know that will be the flat-podded snow pea. Last year I planted some Blondie peas in a 15" high raised bed along a 4' high section of fence for support. Did not care much for their flavor though (seemed starchy), and also, since they grew to 4 1/2 feet, if they had not flopped over the top of the 4' fencing they would have been out of my reach as I am barely over 5' tall myself! I also grew Sugar Lace II, which was interesting since it is "leafless" (not entirely, but lots of tendrils!) but did not find it to be as flavorful as Carouby, the other one I grew. So, trying a few different ones this year in addition to going back to some shelling peas. I prefer all peas that do not grow over 30-36"; I like to support them with brush trimmings. Thanks again for the responses!

I just got my peas (and lettuce, spinach, radishes, etc. seeds) out of the fridge. No inoculant - where do you buy it? My great-uncle just soaks his, don't think he adds inoculant. But I'm thinking of starting them. School conference tomorrow, maybe Thurs? All my peas rotted last year - never came up. But half my lettuce rotted too, hope this year is better. Started my tomatoes Monday (a week ago) and they're almost all up, but won't put those out til Memorial Day (*maybe* Mother's Day but we've had late frosts...) so plenty of time for peas. Got some peppers going, but most still hiding -could take another week or 2 for chiles. Then again, it's going to be 80 tomorrow and Thurs - crazy weather! Should I wait til weekend when things cool off to 50's to plant?

Your dwarf gray sugar snow peas will have purple blossoms...that's the easy one for me to tell early on. The others you list should all be white flowered. The pods on the Sugar Pod 2 Snow Peas will be flat for quite awhile and the seeds will show though as small bumps. Pick them before the seeds grow large and the pods become rounder since the pods will be tough by then. The Burpeeana Early Peas will have pods that do not stay flat for long and do not show small seeds through the pod. Of course you want to leave this growing until the pods fill with good sized peas. I'd have trouble telling the Sugar Daddy Snaps from the Burpeeana's but since both are picked with rounded pods you can try them and see which has the fibrous pod.....BINGO...that's the Burpeeana and the other should be the tender snap pea, Sugar Daddy. In my garden, heights have not always agreed with the reported info. And some keep growing aller for a longer time and the height when flowering begins changes alot.