How To Grow Sweet Peas

Sweet peas are the epitome of the romantic english country garden. They are a great plant to grow for all abilities and you can grow them in pots as well as in the ground. They have big seeds, so are good flowers to grow with little ones.

Sweet peas come in the most wonderful variety of colours. Some of our favourites are Wiltshire Ripple, Juliet and Earl Grey. They are cool weather plants so benefit being sowed early so that they can become established and produce nice, long stems. They are a cut-and-come-agin flower so need regular dead-heading to ensure that more flowers grow.

• You can soak the seed before you sow to encourage faster germination, and you can soak it in seaweed feed to deter mice if you have rodent problem in your garden. Beware of mice, there’s nothing they love more than feating away on sweet pea seeds!

• Sweet peas need fairly tall pots to grow in because they have long roots. I often sow them in toilet roll middles filled with compost. You can then plant the whole thing in the ground because the cardboard will decompose. We are doing three sowings of sweet peas at Bloom - in September, January and March. This will ensure that we have a longer succession of flowers.

• Sweet peas grow curling tendrils from their stems, so need something to climb up. I usually make a bamboo teepee, however this year we are going to make a tall fence out of wire for them to grow up. I am hoping that this will make it easier for me to reach them, and they won’t get so tangled up.

• Sweet peas can grow a bit wild, so when they are in full growing mode tie them into the support regularly to stop them getting out of control. And don’t forget to cut them! The more flowers you cut, the more will grow. So don’t be scared to bring the stems inside to fill your own with beautiful fragrance.

• When the flowers have gone to seed, don’t forget to collect the seed pods and use the seed next year. Such a quick and easy way to save money and to have something to look forward to next year.