Planning for sweet peas

Photo by John Brierley

For those of you who are very organised, you may like a reminder that sweet peas can be planted now and overwintered in a green house or cold frame.

• Sow in Oct/Nov into rootrainers or long thin pots. Push 2 well spaced seeds about 2.5cm below the compost surface.
• When roots fill rootrainers, pot on two seedlings into a 2 litre pot. Pinch out the tips when plants have 3 or 4 pairs of leaves. Over-winter undercover in a light, cool place.
• Plant out - 2 plants to a vertical - in a mild spell in March.
• Tie them in every week to encourage straight stems.
• (Can also be sown in Mar/April and planted out in April/May)
• Flowers: Autumn sown in late May. Spring sown in earlysummer. Keep picking as often as you can.

Close your eyes and smell the bouquet floating across your plot.