Tips for Growing Sweet Peas

My Garden Life
February 17, 2021
Table of Contents
Sweet peas are a long-time garden favorite, loved for their beautiful flowers and unforgettable fragrance. These climbing flowers are easily grown from seed each year and add enchantment to any garden where the springs and summers are cool. Here are our best tips for selecting and planting sweet pea flowers.

Choosing a Sweet Pea – Heritage vs. Modern

heritage and hybrid sweet peas

The original sweet peas grown in Europe had small blossoms with a strong, pleasing fragrance. Breeding work in England during the nineteenth century produced the modern sweet pea.
  • Heritage varieties of sweet peas have an exquisite perfume, but the flowers tend to be much smaller.
  • Modern varieties have large, spectacular flowers, often at the expense of their scent.
If you want to have fragrant sweet peas in your garden, check the information on the packet when you are choosing the seed. If the packet doesn’t state that the flowers will be fragrant, they probably won’t have a scent. It’s possible to find modern sweet peas that have a strong fragrance as well as large showy flowers, but finding a variety that offers both may take a bit of searching.
There is a way to ensure the scent of sweet peas in your garden. Buy a seed packet of a fragrant variety and mix them with the seeds of a modern variety that produces beautiful scentless flowers. Then, plant the seed mix in a sunny location. By mixing the seeds, you can enjoy the fragrance as well as the beauty of the lovely flowers.

Tips for Growing Sweet Peas

sweet pea seedlings

Choose a sunny spot that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight.
Sweet peas should be grown from seed because they don’t transplant well.
Plant the seeds in very early spring. Or, they can be planted in the fall where winters are not severe. The blossoms last much longer in cool temperatures because it encourages strong root development. The flowers quickly die and form seed pods in the heat of summer.

sweet pea flowers on the vine

Most sweet peas are climbing plants that will need support. But there are also varieties available that have a naturally smaller size and can be grown in pots.
To keep the flowers blooming for a long time, do not allow them to go to seed. Pick the seed pods as soon as they appear.
sweet pea seed pod

If you live in a location where the springs and summers are cool, why not try growing the sweet pea? Whether you prefer the modern sweet peas that have stunning, large frilly flowers, or the more modest scented varieties that first captured the hearts of gardeners centuries ago, you can find sweet peas to suit your taste.
If you want to grow more sweet-smelling flowers, check out Fragrant Plants for Containers.

fragrant phlox in a decorative planter

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Vegetables that Grow in Shade

Vegetables that Grow in Shade

Learn what herbs and vegetables can handle some shade and still produce a worthy harvest.
Vegetable Garden Basics – Start a Small Vegetable Garden

Vegetable Garden Basics – Start a Small Vegetable Garden

Even if you've never gardened before, you can grow your own vegetables with little investment of time or money. Let us show you how to plant a 4’ x 4’ area from scratch.
How to Grow Peppers in Pots

How to Grow Peppers in Pots

Sweet or spicy—green, red, yellow, purple—peppers of all sorts are easy to grow in a container garden.

Related Posts

Succession Planting for Vegetables

Succession Planting for Vegetables

When to Harvest Garden Vegetables

When to Harvest Garden Vegetables

How to Grow Zucchini Plants

How to Grow Zucchini Plants

frost map with dates

Frost Map with Dates

USDA zone finder with zip code search and maps

USDA Zone Finder

plant library

Plant Library

Save plants to your personal library

Join My Garden Club to access more features

Already a member?
Log in now

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share this post with your friends!