Picking Sweet Peas
The colorful and fragrant sweet pea flowers are blooming so beautifully this season.
The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a garden classic - producing beautiful blossoms with the most amazing scent. Sweet pea seeds can be sown into small pots of compost in autumn and overwintered indoors, or planted directly into the ground come spring. We planted ours along a trellis in my vegetable garden in March. And just last week, we picked bunches of gorgeous flowers and made several arrangements to decorate my home.
Enjoy these photos.
-
- We planted the sweet peas down in the vegetable garden along this natural trellis made with materials we already had on hand. Sweet peas work well here, attracting bees and other pollinators needed for the vegetables.
-
- There are so many gorgeous blooms – it’s the perfect time to pick these fragrant flowers. Sweet pea plants are annual climbers and need support to thrive. Most will grow to five or six feet tall.
-
- The old-fashioned varieties are grown for their vibrant colors and intense fragrance. These smell so amazing.
-
- The flowers resemble fringed butterflies while their stems appear to be folded. Luckily, the stems are sturdy enough to hold up their profuse flowers.
-
- This is a relatively new variety called ‘Nimbus,’ a unique color of gray-white petals with inky, blue-black streaks throughout and lining the petal edge. These plants produce showy, abundant, bicolor blooms on nine to 12-inch stems.
-
- Here’s a bright pink and white variety. Originating in the southwest of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, sweet pea has been cultivated for use in gardens since the 17th century.
-
- The sweet pea is a climbing annual member of the legume genus.
-
- The leaves are pinnate with two leaflets and a terminal tendril, which twines around supporting plants and structures, helping the sweet pea to climb.
-
- Peas use tendrils to climb. They can grasp anything that’s a quarter-inch or less. It’s important to get them blooming early before the summer heat knocks them out.
-
- As annuals, sweet peas can be grown in all USDA hardiness zones, though they do best in climates with relatively cool summers. They thrive in full sun, although in warmer climates they do well in a location that receives partial sun, especially in the heat of the afternoon.
-
- Sweet peas grow in a wide variety of colors including pink, blue, white, and lavender.
-
- This dark red and white sweet pea is a big favorite here at the farm. Sweet peas prefer rich but well-drained soil. A slightly alkaline soil pH of about 7.5 is ideal for sweet peas.
-
- To keep the vine productive, it’s a good idea to cut flowers frequently and remove the faded blossoms. Some varieties tolerate heat better than others, so check the seed packets carefully.
-
- Most sweet pea varieties will begin blooming in late spring or early summer.
-
- Sweet peas love water, and without consistent moisture, they’ll fail to thrive, and feed the plants weekly with a diluted fish and seaweed emulsion.
-
- Sweet pea varieties include mixes with exceptional fragrance. These are very attractive to hummingbirds. This mix provides large, two-inch blossoms in bright, clear colors of purple, pink, and white.
-
- Here’s another favorite – a light lavender sweet pea with ruffled edges.
-
- Sweet pea seeds resemble edible sweet peas, but they are very toxic if eaten, so be sure to keep them far from children and pets.
-
- Back in the winter house, Elvira prepares to cut them for the arrangements.
-
- Elvira gathers a few stems in varying colors. She shows how they will be trimmed to the same length keeping in mind the size of the container.
-
- After selecting a good amount of flowers, Elvira cuts the stems leaving them about six to eight inches long.
-
- For the longest vase life, pick sweet peas when there are at least two unopened flowers at the tip of a stem. Look how beautiful they are in this short clear glass vase.
-
- Two were made for the kitchen – the colors are so vibrant.
-
- And these two arrangements are for my servery – the fragrance is intoxicating. What are your favorite sweet peas? Share your comments with me below.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
