Sweet pea
Seeds planted in pots will grow quickly into strong, vigorous climbers that can be planted out in a couple of months, ensuring your garden is full of colour and their intoxicating perfume from June until the first frosts.
What to grow?
Heralding from the Mediterranean, sweet peas are a large tribe of showy annuals that are largely varieties of Lathyrus odoratus. There are hundreds of tempting varieties to grow, some with large flowers and others that are smaller. These broadly come in shades of pink and red, blue and white, with many two-tone flowers.
Among the best in the pink and red camp is maroon ‘Midnight’, fiery red and orange 'Firecrest' and 'Painted Lady', a variety with small pink and white bicoloured flowers. If you’re looking for blues, try dark 'King Size Navy Blue' or pale lavender 'Chatsworth'. 'Singing the Blues' is a handsome mixture of different shades of blue.
Lovers of white flowers should try 'White Supreme', large frilly cream petalled 'Cream Southborne' or 'Hi Scent', a very strongly perfumed variety whose petals have an attractive fine blue edge.
Preparing seeds
To improve the chances of the seeds germinating give them some attention before sowing. The hard coat of seeds can prevent water entering easily, so some are best soaked in water overnight, while others need rubbing with fine grade sandpaper or the coat to be nicked gently with a sharp gardening knife (ensure your cut is at the opposite end to the eye, where roots will develop). The method depends on variety, so read the back of the packet for individual treatment.
How to sow them?
Sweet pea plants develop really long roots, so are best grown in deep containers to allow their roots to run freely and avoid a check to growth. Either sow seeds in toilet roll inserts or buy some Rootrainers – these are special, hinged plastic seed trays, which can be folded together to form four deep holes for planting. Vertical grooves run down the sides of each channel to help the plants develop long, straight roots. Once a book has been filled it can be placed into a holding tray to ensure it remains upright.
To sow, fill each hole with multi-purpose compost, place a seed on top of each filled hole and press into the compost with your finger to a depth of ½in. Cover with compost, water and put into the holding tray.
Looking after them
Put trays in a coldframe, greenhouse or unheated porch. Some Rootrainer kits come with a clear lid, which can be put on top of the tray, allowing it to be placed in a sheltered spot in the garden.
Ensure the compost doesn’t dry out, then when seedlings have four leaves, pinch out the top pair with your fingers to encourage side shoots to grow. The well-rooted sweet peas can be planted into their flowering positions, 8-15in apart, from April.
Where to buy sweet peas
Owl’s Acre Sweet Peas - www.lathyrus.com
Matthewman’s Sweetpeas – www.sweetpeasonline.co.uk
Unwins – www.unwins.co.uk
Where to buy Rootrainers
Ronaash - www.rootrainers.co.uk