Here They Are! Sweet peas growing in my cut-flower garden. As a sweet pea growing newbie, the experience of growing them from seedlings is bringing tremendous gratification. The once-upon-a-time baby plants have grown up. And thus far, surviving!
I forgot to mention in last post. . . the annual sweet pea seedlings I used were Burpee 'Galaxy Mix'. There is another sweet pea patch growing near my garden shed. But for reasons unknown, although could be soil issues, they aren't performing as well as the ones here.
Last week, aphid infestation began to appear. I've resorted to spraying them in the early evenings using a mixture of Castile soap, a dash of vegetable oil, and water. The following morning, I spray off the mixture due to the potential risk of soap scorching the plants. We're having extremely hot weather conditions. Hope this works. I'd liked to see these plants last until September!
Drawbacks to my trellis setup:
The bamboo canes and twine trellis placed centrally in bed, has become enormously cumbersome. Two Reasons: firstly, the surrounding cosmos flowers growing profusely (staked with twine). Since sowed, they're making it difficult to snip sweet pea flowers, weed, water, and spray aphids. Secondly, sweet peas were growing taller and needed more poles for added height. So, two weeks ago I found some willow twigs from a willow tree growing nearby. These were tied with wire to existing cane poles (see photos 1, 3, 9). A major task stepping carefully around cosmos to avoid breaking their stems. The experience reminescent of phrase -
to paint oneself into a corner. In sum, won't do this setup ever again!
Plans for growing sweet peas next time:
1) purchase hardier seed varieties. Also try growing perennial sweet pea to use as a hedge plant
2) sow seeds earlier than previously in March
3) sow seeds using root trainers (cell packs) as suggested by
Sarah Raven
3) plant in rows and provide trellis netting
4) purchase beneficial insect larvae/adults to rid the bad insects.
A few Favorites To Visit ~ Regarding Sweet Peas
How To Sow Sweet Peas In The Winter (video from brilliant English gardener Sarah Raven)
Instruction Booklets (
found on Sarah Raven's website. Scroll down page for sweet peas)
Floret Flowers (Erin Benzakein farmer-florists extraordinaire. Link leads to sweet peas posts)
Happy Gardening!
~ June
