Sweet peas look and smell great from garden to vase

This is the year when many gardeners will be looking for ways to get more while spending less. While standing in front of several seed racks, I realized that this might be where those values lay hidden for 2009.

As I looked through the alyssum, all the way around the corner to the zinnias, I was struck by something in the “S” area: sweet peas. These flowers are great bargains in that they are easy-to-grow annuals that grace the early season garden with color, wonderful scents and great flowers for the table or vase.

In one garden center I counted nearly 30 varieties, and if you check Thompson and Morgan you can probably come up with at least another 10 varieties. Best of all though, the seed can be planted any day now.

A Sicilian monk named Francisco Cupani first described the plant in 1695 in written form. It was not an outrageous plant, and it had only a couple of flowers on each stem and even these flowers were not spectacular. But two things made the sweet pea outstanding: first, the flower’s marvelous aroma; and second, the almost endless succession of flower spikes on stems that just begged to be cut and displayed.

Mr. Cupani was a great correspondent and began to write to colleagues throughout Europe about the plant. In 1699, he sent some seed to a botanist in Amsterdam and a schoolmaster in England. The Englishman was so captivated by the plant and the perfume of its blossoms that he began giving his friends seed and, by 1724—just 25 years later—English seedsman were distributing it throughout the Isles.

Sweet pea has since become one of the most popular annuals in British gardens, though it has never become quite so popular on this side of the pond. Still, don’t let that sway you.

As always happens with wild plants that are brought into cultivation, the sweet pea began to mutate and soon there were a multitude of varieties available. First were pure whites, then pinks and bicolors, and, in 1793, one seedsman was offering a black (scarlet) one. For the next 50 years, no new introductions—but in 1860, blue, yellow, striped and picoted forms were discovered. By 1875, 15 varieties of the sweet pea were being sold.

It was at that time that a Scotsman, horticulturist Henry Eckford, took an interest in the plant. By the time of the great botanical exposition in London in 1900, there were 264 varieties exhibited and 115 of them were Eckfords, named after the father of the sweet pea.

In the course of his business of selling sweet pea seeds, one of Mr. Eckford’s customers discovered one plant whose flowers were not only much larger, but frilled and ruffled. This man’s name was Spencer and he saved seeds from which were developed a ruffled class of plants that are now still grown as the Spencer class.

Americans were also working with the plant, especially in the cooler region of New England as the sweet pea resents hot climates. In this century, the Burpee seed and plant company has done a great deal of work to develop particular colors, heights, perfume and heat resistance.

The original sweet pea species grew to about 6 feet in height and would cling to supports by means of tendrils, much like our taller, edible pea plants. But now there are varieties grown from 2 to 3 feet tall all the way up to 8 feet and beyond, necessitating the use of a ladder to pick the freshest blooms.

The more common strains that are grown on supports, wires, nets, posts and fences are Galaxy, Royal and Spencer, though there are plenty more. Other varieties, such as Jet Set, Knee-Hi and Little Sweetheart, are shorter and more heat-resistant.

Burpee offers five choices in mixed colors and a blue that was first made available in 1893. The Burpee selections include climbers and one bush type. The seed company Thompson and Morgan, on the other hand, exposes its English roots by offering approximately 45 varieties.

A trip to a large garden center should result in as many as two dozen varieties from several seed companies. Or shop online at thompson-morgan.com or burpee.com for additional selections.

That is, unless you are taking a trip to England within the next few weeks. Visiting a local seed shop, like Sutton’s in London, should offer you dozens of varieties to choose from. Chiltern’s Seeds in the United Kingdom offers no less than 47 varieties.

Sweet peas are generally started indoors and in peat pots from mid-February and early March with successional plantings made in situ outdoors from late March through April. It is critical to start the early spring plants in 3-inch or larger peat pots as they do not fare as well as direct transplants.

A few gardeners will try some seeds again in late summer as the soil and air cool again. At that point, the peas might be ready to give it a try, but the gardener is usually pretty beat.

When you are ready to plant the peat pots, just make sure the pot is damp (some like to slit the sides), dig a hole in the earth or the transplant container as deep as the pot, and then simply plant the pot.

Sweet peas like bright sunshine, cool temperatures and rich, well-drained soil. They will fail rapidly in stifling heat and they will never tolerate drying out. For these reasons, gardeners planting near the ocean or bays might have a longer season while those inland, like in Riverhead or in warmer Nassau County, will have a tougher time and a shorter season. My advice is to still try.

Germination of sweet peas can be difficult because the seed coat is very hard. Some gardeners soak the seeds before planting but there’s no evidence that this helps. What does speed up and increase germination is nicking the seed. You can do this with a nail clipper just by taking a tiny sliver off the seed coat, or using an emery board to sand the seed coat down a bit in one spot.

The actual growing part is very easy with only one difference from the garden pea. You must make an effort to keep the flowers blooming, as that is the object of these plants, by picking off each stem as it blooms and before it sets pods.

Remember that these are annuals and once seed is set (pods), this is a signal to the plant that it has reached its goal in life and it is time to quit. The best time for picking is in early morning and the best stage of development for picking is when the uppermost flower of a spike is about to open.

If there are any other tricks to growing sweet peas, it is in keeping the vines strong and vigorous as late into the summer as possible. This is accomplished by having a deep-foraging root system and that is achieved by starting the plants early, in early March, and transplanting them outdoors as soon as possible, somewhere between April 15 and May 1.

Avid growers have been known to dig planting holes or trenches 1½ to 2 feet wide and as deep, mixing into the soil as much rotted manure as possible. Good compost can be substituted for the manure as this will ensure both a highly organic soil and one that will retain moisture as well. Limestone may also be necessary in our acid soil as these plants prefer a pH of around 6.

Dwarf sweet peas and other diminutive varieties suit hanging baskets, window boxes, pots, urns and all other sorts of containers.

Now is the time for all good gardeners to get their sweet peas seeded, whether for ground or container. Keep growing.

Andrew Messinger has been a professional horticulturist for more than 30 years. He divides his time between homes and gardens in Southampton, Westchester and the Catskills. E-mail him at: Andrew@hamptongardener.com. The Hampton Gardener is a registered trademark.