Maine Garden Ideas
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How to Grow Sweet Peas

Picture
Sweet peas resemble garden peas, but are grown for their colorful blooms and sweet fragrance. This old fashioned flower is ideal for brightening corners of the yard or for creating a quiet area for rest and relaxation.  According to Irish legend, sowing sweet pea seeds before sunrise on St Patrick's Day will produce bigger, more colorful and more fragrant blooms. That may be a bit difficult here in Maine, but give it a try if you can and you may be rewarded with an abundance of sweet pea blooms.

  • Long Day vs Short Day: Sweet peas bloom according to the day length. For northern areas that means choosing a variety labeled as long day, while short day sweet peas are better suited for southern areas. The height, color and intensity of fragrance of your sweet peas depends on the cultivar. As a rule, smaller flowers have the most intense fragrance as larger varieties have been bred for the size and shape of the bloom and have lost some of the fragrance. Read descriptions carefully when choosing sweet peas for your garden.
​
  • Location: Sweet Peas prefer full sun, with cool growing conditions. A location that provides shelter during the hottest part of the day and direct sun in early morning and late afternoon is ideal. Otherwise, mulch the plants to keep the soil moist and roots cool.
​
  • Soil: Amend the soil with generous amounts of organic matter, such as compost or aged manure, as sweet peas prefer rich, friable soil that drains well. Even though sweet peas prefer moist soil, they will suffer if soil remains soggy.
​
  • Preparation: Soak sweet pea seeds in lukewarm water for several hours before planting. This causes the seed to swell, preparing it for quicker germination. 
​
  • Planting: Plant sweet peas in early spring as soon as the soil has dried. Sow seeds to a depth of ½ to 1 inch spaced four inches apart in rows. If you are growing tall sweet peas, erect your fence or trellis first and plant the seeds two inches from the trellis.
​
  • Watering: Keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge in 7 to 10 days. Reduce watering to once or twice a week, depending on the weather and soil conditions, or whenever the soil feels dry to the touch 1 inch below the surface.
​
  • Mulch: Mulch sweet peas with grass clippings to maintain moisture and keep the soil cool. Mulch also creates and effective weed barrier if applied to a depth of 2 to 3 inches.
​
  • Deadheading: Deadhead spent blooms as soon as they begin to fade to keep your sweet peas blooming for an extended period.

Sweet peas make delightful cut flowers to fragrance the home. Consider a small vase in the bedroom to promote relaxation or set the mood for romance, or display them in the kitchen and bathroom to spread summer cheer.

Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • Grow Your Own Amazing Pomato Plant - Tomatoes on the Top and Potatoes on the Bottom
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
      • Control Blister Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables