How to Plant, Grow and Care Sweet Peas Flowers

Do you love having colorful flowers in your garden? Have you ever thought of growing sweet peas flowers? This article will help you learn to grow sweet peas flowers easily. Keep on reading!

Sweet peas flowers are gorgeous flowers, and their scent is exquisite. They are easy to grow and provide irresistible colors and fragrances for spring and summer bouquets.

Sweet peas are one of the few annuals with different requirements than other annuals. As a bonus, they are excellent cut flowers; the more you pick, the more they’ll grow. And you can easily preserve the flowers too.

Sweet peas flowers are available in a palette of colors in the shade of pink, dark purple, red, yellow, white, medium pink, dark pink, not to mention bicolours.

And as if that weren’t enough – its fragrance is a blend of orange and honey, which is intoxicating.

It is one of the few flower plants that have as many colors and varieties as hibiscus. You can easily grow hibiscus as well in your home garden.

So do you want to grow sweet peas flowers? We’ve got you covered with all the details in this article below that will help you grow sweet peas flowers easily.

All About Sweet Peas Flowers

Lathyrus odoratus

The botanical name of Sweet pea is Lathyrus odoratus, which are annual plants famous for their delicate flower and strong scent.

Sweet peas come in a massive range of colors, and you can grow them in a cutting garden, border garden, or even train them up in trellises or fences for a beautiful display.

Along with their bountiful blooms, sweet peas flowers are famous for their combination of delightful scent that smells like orange blossom perfume.

One of the secrets of growing this impressive column of sweet peas is early sowing. So plant your sweet peas in late winter or early spring, depending on growing conditions.

Sweet peas proliferate from large seeds, but it’s still tricky as it takes slow to germinate. But you can give it a try from different seeds.

However, you don’t need to worry, we will provide a stepwise guide that will help you to grow sweet peas flowers without scratching your heads.

Types of Sweet Peas Flowers

All the varieties of sweet pea grow wonderfully in every situation. Most of the varieties grow from 5-8 ft, be it a dwarf bedding one to giant frilled ones, and it can grow without support in containers and borders.

Most sweet pea varieties are annuals, but they also come in perennial varieties. To determine which one to grow, check out these varieties that you can select according to the place where you live in. Have a look!

1. Modern sweet pea varieties are stronger-stalked and have more prominent blooms. While in Sicily, the sweet pea has weak stems with an intense, strong scent.

2. Some modern varieties have larger flowers and a contemporary look. But it lacks the fragrance of earlier sweet peas. Sweet pea ‘Cupani’ is still one of the easy to grow and popular varieties with bi-coloured flowers and maroon upper petals with violet wings.

3. The scented ‘American’ variety is an heirloom with stunning red petals and white wavy stripes.

4. The Old spice collection from Sicily blooms in white, lavender, cream pink, and purple hues. Growing Plumeria is great too if you looking for white or cream pink colored flowers.

Also Read: How to Take Proper Care for Orchids

One of the modern varieties of sweet pea flowers is ‘April in Paris,’ a fragrant one. It has a lilac shading along with large creamy yellow blooms.

The perennial variety of sweet pea is Lathyrus latifolius. It is an unscented broad-leaved everlasting pea clambering plant that can reach 6 – 7 feet. It is a low-maintenance plant that flowers regularly every year.

These are some of the varieties of sweet peas flowers that you can choose according to your preferences and interest.

When to Plant Sweet Peas

You need to plant sweet peas flowers in late winter or early spring when the soil is dry enough to work. Because in most of the locations, frost starts to occur.

So it’s better to plant within the given period. If you live in mild winter conditions, plant your sweet peas in the late fall. So that it develops and blooms in late winter and early spring.

Sweet peas need a good amount of nutrient compost manure to thrive. So for the best display, dig a trench and fill it with well-drained compost or manure at six weeks before you sow the seeds.

How to Sow Sweet Peas Flowers Seeds

Hope till now you have chosen what variety of sweet peas flowers you will grow in your yard? You know when to start planting sweet peas flowers.

It is time to learn how to grow sweet peas flowers in the right way. There are two ways to grow sweet peas flowers, either indoors or outdoors.

We have described both the ways that will help you to grow sweet peas flowers the way you want. Have a look.

Sow Sweet Pea Flower Seeds Indoors

If you live in colder zones, start sowing sweet pea seeds indoors to ensure the most extended season of blooms. Here are the steps to follow:

1. First, sow the seeds in trays or containers in early spring for about 6 – 7 weeks. Then plant as soon as the soil is dry. Sweet peas can handle light frosts. Check some best soil preparation tips as well.

2. Soaking the seeds overnight will soften the outer coating, which helps in germination. While scoring the outer ring of the seed with a nail file, slowly will also work.

3. Then sow the seeds about half an inch deep in the individual seed tray. Don’t sow the seeds closely as the long roots of Sweet pea tend to tangle, making it hard to separate.

4. Once the seeds appear like pea leaves, scoop them out gently and place them in a larger pot to harden off.

Plant them outside as soon as the soil is worked. This is how you can start sowing sweet peas indoors.

Also Read: How to Choose Succulent Pots the Right Way

Sow Sweet Peas Flower Outside

• Sweet peas enjoy the sunlight. They like their roots cool deep in the moist soil. So if possible, plant a low-growing annual in front of sweet pea plants to shade their roots.

• For soil, choose a well-drained soil with high pH. Sprinkle some lime powder on the surface of your soil and it tends to be a bit acidic.

• Sweet peas need good nutrients to thrive, so prepare the soil by mixing manure or compost to feed the plants.

• Plant early as soon as the soil is worked.

• Dig an excellent deep trench in-depth and fill it with 4 inches of good compost in the trench.

• Sow seeds one inch deep and one inch apart, firm them well and shut out any light.

• Either soak the seeds overnight to soften or remove the outer shell by nail file before planting for the seeds to sprout.

If you live in temperate conditions, you don’t have to soak the seeds. And that’s how you can sow seeds indoors or outdoors. Time to learn how to grow sweet peas flowers plants once you sow the seeds.

Also Read: A Complete Guide to Grow Balloon Flowers

How to Grow Sweet Peas Flowers

Sweet pea plants come in both bush and climbing plants. Once they have been planted, the germination takes 7 – 15 days, depending on the soil temperature.

Gradually fill the trench as soon as the seedlings grow. Then dig up the soil on the seedlings. Keep the soil moist by watering the plants when the soil is dry in the morning.

The sweet pea plant can suffer from a budding crop if the soil is dry. Before planting the seeds in the soil, add plenty of manure to nourish the soil.

Sweet peas are greedy plants that need enough energy to grow well. You can also use high potash feeds as nitrogen feeds for top growth.

Also Read: A Complete Guide to Grow Poppy Flowers

When the plants have become established, mulch the soil well to retain its moisture. If you mulch the soil, you don’t have to water the sweet peas unless the soil is dry.

Pinch off the growing tip of the plants when they are all about 6 inches to stimulate lateral and bushy growth. Moreover, this period is also the best time for mulching the plant.

How to Support Sweet Peas Flower Plant

Now, you know how to grow sweet peas flowers, it is essential to know some important tips. The first one is supporting the sweet peas flowers plant.

Sweet peas need regular maintenance; here are a few steps to provide support to the plant.

• Sweet peas prefer to grow well in excellent conditions. When the temperature exceeds above 65°F, they tend to fade.

• Sweet peas are real climbers except for the bush varieties. So provide them the support of at least 6 ft. Some appealing support materials are bamboo poles, a woven willow obelisk, or a trellis.

• If you don’t have a trellis, you can also use chicken wire or bushy twigs so that the sweet pea plant can cling for support.

• For sound support to the plants, tie the first few stems of the plants. When they gradually grow about 4 – 8 inches high, pinch out the growing tip of the plants with your thumb or forefinger. It will lead to sturdier plants.

And that is how you can support your growing sweet peas flowers plants. Next, the article will help you protect your plant from pests and diseases. 

Protect From Pest and Diseases

While growing sweet peas in the garden, you need to protect the plant from pests and diseases.

Though they are free from specific issues, they are prone to problems attacking young growth. Here are a few things to watch out for:

1. Protect from Insects

To protect the sweet pea flower plant from pests like slugs and snails you can treat them with bait like Sluggo. Insects like aphids can blast off with a stream of water.

If you witness caterpillars and cutworms near the plant, consider sprinkling diatomaceous around the base of the plant. For spider mites, try neem oil, while leaf miners or thrips consider traps.

2. Protect from Diseases

The plants may get affected by fungal diseases like Pythium root rot, powdery mildew, rust, and gray mold if the plant doesn’t get enough sunlight or has been packed tightly.

Also Read: 9 Reasons for Yellow Leaves on Plants and How to Fix Them

How to Care for Sweet Peas Flowers

In our guide on how to grow sweet peas flowers, next is how to take care once you plant them.

Sweet pea requires regular maintenance, and it is a climbing plant of either annual or perennial members of the legume family.

Here are caring tips for each variety of Sweet peas flowers for healthy growth.

1. Fertilizer

Feed your sweet peas plants with fertilizer during the growing season. Feeding them with high potash foods such as tomato food every month will increase growth.

You can also add a blood meal to the soil to keep the stems sturdy enough for cutting.

2. Temperature and Humidity

As sweet peas originated from the Mediterranean, they can handle the chill climate but not the harsh winter. So it’s best to plant after the last frost and in warmer temperatures.

Though sweet pea seedlings tend to handle light frost, they dislike extreme hot temperatures. So plant early to enjoy the blooms.

3. Light

Sweet peas enjoy full sun to thrive well. Although in warmer climates, they do well if they are placed in a location that receives a shade in the afternoon’s heat.

4. Water

Sweet peas need thorough watering. If you let them dry out, they will get stressed. So to keep the soil moist, water the soil weekly during the growing season.

Also, you can check the soil by placing your finger an inch into the soil to find out whether it’s dry. If it’s dry, it’s time to give water to the plants.

5. Soil

Sweet peas prefer rich alkaline draining soil of about 7.5 pH. If the soil is dry and poor, you can add compost to improve the soil and boost energy to the plant.

These sweet peas caring tips will help you grow a healthy plant full of blossoms in the season. 

Bring Colors to your Garden with Sweet Peas Flowers!

With this, we came to an end discussing how to grow sweet peas flowers along with their caring tips and varieties to choose from. 

Sweet pea flowers are exquisitely beautiful and easy to grow a plant. One of the essential things to know is to get them in the ground early to take advantage of cool spring weather.

Water and feed the plants regularly during the growing season. Regular picking flowers will encourage more buds to grow and prevent plants from setting seeds.

There are different varieties of sweet peas, and I hope you found the detailed guide mentioned in the article about how to grow sweet peas flowers.

So purchase a mix of sweet pea seeds to grow together, making the best-looking posies.

What do you think? Will you add a dash of colorful colors to your home garden? Would you give it a try to grow sweet peas flowers following our guide?

Do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. 

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