Sweet Pea

The Sweet Pea or to use its posh Latin name Lathyrus is native to Crete, Sicily and southern Italy. Sweet Peas are grown for their pretty pea-like, often scented flowers and are normally grown as annuals but a perennial sweet pea is available.

What we think of as the normal Sweet Pea today first appeared in 1901.

Silas Cole, gardener to Earl Spencer at Althorp Park, Northampton produced a new hybrid which had large frilly flowers and became the Sweet Pea flowers to have in preference to the smaller, plainer cultivars.

The original sweet pea flower was a purple and blue bicolour with small flowers and sweet scent. Try growing this type along with the larger sweet pea flowers and cut and put together in a vase to get the best of both worlds.

Many climb using tendrils while others are clump forming.

Growing Sweet Peas

Sweet peas should be grown in a humus rich, fertile soil preferably in full sun with a supporting framework. Incorporate well rotted organic matter in the season before planting but do not make the soil too rich which can encourage leaf and stem growth at the expense of flowers and apply a weak strength liquid fertiliser such as tomato feed every two weeks while in growth.

It is essential to deadhead regularly to prolong flowering. It is not very often I deadhead as once in bloom they end up in a vase in the home!

Aphids can be a problem. Spray if you must but personally I do not spray as I have managed to get quite a good balance back into the garden and the predators on the whole beat the bad boys.

Powdery mildew will affect established plants but keeping the plants well watered and strong is a great help.

Propagation

Seeds should be sown in containers in a cold frame in autumn or early spring or alternatively in the ground in mid spring or autumn in mild areas.

Sweet Pea root trainers are available which encourage the roots downward. Alternatively plant two or three seeds in a deep pot and plant as a block when the ground has warmed and the plants established in the pot.

To help germinate the tough sweet pea seeds it has always been advocated that sweetpeas seeds should be soaked in water, rubbed against sandpaper or chipped with a sharp knife (very carefully if you want your fingers for another day). Current thinking is that this may not be necessary and that there is a great risk of damaging the seeds when chipped.

Sweet Pea plants can also be bought ready to plant from garden centres.

By late June or Early July you should be starting to pick flowers.

How to plant out

To grow using the cordon method plant out seedlings 8 to15 inches apart and let each sweet pea plant have its own cane to grow up. Restrict the growth to the strongest shoots and tie in to the support. Growing on the cordon means that all the plant's energy is concentrated into producing better flowers and growth of the single branch.

If not growing as a cordon plant out 8 to12 inches apart and grow up sweet pea netting over a frame, a fence or a wigwam of canes with some string or raffia for the tendrils to grip to.

Encourage the plants to cling to the support by tying in at first and spreading out the shoots over the support.

Pick and take the sweat pea flowers into the house and enjoy their scent.

Grow Sweet Peas as they can be one of the very best plants you can grow in your garden and enjoy in your home.

Varieties are also available that can be grown in hanging baskets, containers and in the flower border. When choosing your varieties it can naturally be very tempting to just go by the pictures of beautiful Sweet Pea flowers but read the descriptions carefully and pick varieties that will provide you with a beautiful perfume.

Celebrities seem to love having these beautiful flowers named after them, the Sweet Pea Alan Titchmarsh has proved to be a very popular addition.

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