Behind the Myths Is an Easy-Growing Sweet Pea

Myths and legends surround the sowing and growing of sweet peas. Many were first spun when showing sweet pea blooms was almost a competitive sport in England, with gardeners fiercely competing for flower show awards. That’s where farfetched ideas like pruning sweet peas to a single stem came from. Or the advice to dig a trench as deep as “the bottom button of your waistcoat” when you’re standing in it.

As sweet peas have become popular in Southern California, we have developed our own myths, and some of them are just as farfetched and illogical, especially if you’re just trying to grow a few flowers for the center of the dining room table.

Myth No. 1: Sweet pea seed must be sown before Labor Day. That’s only if you want flowers in time for the winter holidays. This information dates back to the early days of gardening in this state. In the 1940 classic “The Garden Beautiful in California” (Times Mirror), Ernest Braunton said of August, “This is the best month for sowing sweet peas for winter blooms. If left until next month, they will not bloom until spring.” But, note that they will bloom--just later--and, actually, quite nicely.

You still have all of fall and winter to plant. Another classic, “California Garden Flowers” by E.J. Wickson (Pacific Rural Press)--this one from 1915--suggests planting early kinds in October for February bloom, “or you can get a wealth of bloom on all varieties in May by sowing the seed in December and letting the early rains do the irrigating for you.”

Seeds sown in early spring (January and February) will bloom just as long as you plant early enough so flowers can open “before the hot and dry weather sets in,” according to Wickson, because sweet peas are a cool-season annual in the Southland.

As for blooming in time for the holidays, Renee Shepherd of seed supplier Renee’s Garden in Felton, Calif., suspects that only certain varieties will bloom in time if planted before Labor Day. Winter Elegance is one she thinks has a good chance, though the old books do not specify certain varieties. This could be another sweet pea myth--I’d like to hear from gardeners who have managed to get flowers by Christmas. You can write or e-mail me at the addresses shown at the end of this column.

Myth No. 2: Frilly Spencer types from England are the best sweet peas. They have been the most requested kinds these last few years, but they may not be the best choice for inland gardens. According to Pat Sherman of seed supplier Fragrant Garden Nursery in Canby, Ore., Spencers only bloom when the day length is quite long, and by then it is often too hot in the inland valleys. Spencers seem to do best grown near the coast in Southern California.

However, the “Old-Fashioned” and “Italian” types, the Royal Family and Cuthbertson strains, and good old Winter Elegance, all bloom when days are shorter, so they flower before the heat sets in. These would be good choices inland, she says. The flowers are a little smaller and are usually not ruffly, but they are more fragrant, often powerfully so. “They can really perfume a room, “ said Shepherd.

Some brand-new crosses from New Zealand--Cheri Amour and North Shore--supposedly combine the qualities of both groups.

Myth No. 3: Sweet pea seed must be soaked overnight in a dish of water before planting. Shepherd disagrees and thinks that it is too easy to forget and “over soak” the seed. She never soaks seed before planting, and neither does Sherman, who sprouts way too many seeds to lavish this kind of attention on them.

If you can’t get seeds to sprout, you may be planting in a too-dry soil or are sprinkling too often. The old-time garden books such as Braunton’s suggest thoroughly wetting the soil to a depth of a couple of feet, several days before planting. Then sow the seed and don’t water again “until the plants are up an inch or two. This is how to grow the best sweet peas.” Wickson says to let “the hose run,” then sow seed a few days later and “let it be for several days.”

It’s hard--darn near impossible--for a gardener to sow seed and not water, but if the soil was thoroughly wetted to a depth of several feet before planting, enough moisture will wick its way up to the seed to sprout it. You can try other methods of watering, but the important points are not to sow seed in a dry soil, and don’t keep it so wet that the seed rots.

If seeds still refuse to sprout for one reason or another (give them two weeks), simply plant more. Snails, slugs and cutworms are often the reason seeds “don’t sprout”--they do but are immediately eaten. Be sure to bait for slugs and snails before you sow the seed, or sow it in little pots that are kept safely above the ground. To avoid cutworms, the old gardening books suggest planting sweet peas in soil where nothing else has recently grown.

Glenys Johnson of Enchanting Sweet Peas in Sebastopol, another grower of cut sweet pea blooms and a supplier of seed, does soak seed before planting and is prepared to go one step further if they do not swell up overnight. She has found that a few varieties have an extra-hard coat and that she must nick or abrade these so they can become moist enough to germinate.

Myth No. 4: Sweet pea seed is best sown directly in the ground--where it is to grow--rather than in little pots for later transplanting. Johnson grows thousands of plants from seed and sows them all in commercial cell packs that hold 50 seedlings apiece. She plants in regular potting soil and then transplants them into the garden when seedlings are about 8 inches tall.

Sherman grows over 3,000 plants each year and sows all her seed by putting single seeds into 2-inch plastic pots. She then transplants them into the garden, spacing the seedlings about 8 inches apart.

Renee Shepherd sows seed directly in the ground, spacing seeds only 3 to 4 inches apart, which shows you can start seed in small pots or directly in the ground. Either way, plant seed about an inch deep.

The importance of planting or transplanting sweet peas into deeply dug soil may not be complete fiction. The old books make quite a point of these plants needing really good drainage, and say things like (from Braunton): “The best growers actually dig a trench 3 feet deep if in heavy soil, to get the perfect drainage needed. Those having favorable soils need not delve so deeply.”

Three feet! It may not be necessary to get quite that carried away, but Sherman says to “dig down two spades deep” when preparing a clay-like soil for sweet peas.

In the old books, quantities of “well-rotted animal manure” are added to the soil, but this may be a little hard to come by nowadays. Being in farm country, Johnson has a friend who supplies her with aged turkey manure. Stay away from steer manure--it contains way too much salt. Use any good planting mix instead.

Don’t forget to provide a 6- to 7-foot fence, trellis or pole for peas to climb on. For maximum blooms, fertilize plants every two weeks once they are several feet tall, if you have not already added fertilizer to the soil. Shepherd fertilizes with fish emulsion and kelp fertilizer; Sherman uses Miracle Gro or Peters.

Keep all seed pods picked off until mildew sets in. That’s the sign that sweet peas are about to finish up and you can take them out. Save seed if you like, said Johnson, and you can sow it next fall or winter.

*

Seed from Renee’s Garden (https://www.reneesgarden.com; [888] 880-7228) can be found on seed racks at many nurseries. You can get catalogs from Fragrant Garden Nursery (P.O. Box 627, Canby, OR 97013; https://www.fragrantgarden.com) or Enchanting Sweet Peas (244 Florence Ave., Sebastopol, CA 95472; [800] 371-0233; https://www.enchantingsweetpeas.com).

* Write to Robert Smaus, SoCal Living, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; fax to (213) 237-4712; or e-mail robert.smaus@latimes.com.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Picking Sweet Peas

It is definitely not fiction that constantly cutting sweet peas keeps them blooming. Allowing plants to make seed pods will quickly cut short their season. Gather flowers every day if you can, for the house or for friends. “You’ll make someone extremely happy,” said Renee Shepherd of seed supplier Renee’s Garden in Felton, Calif.

Cut the stems when four or five of the flowers are open but two are still in bud. They don’t last long in a vase. Pat Sherman of Fragrant Garden Nursery in Canby, Ore., recently tried making them last with various treatments, none of which worked.

If stems are too short to cut, “you can lengthen them almost overnight,” according to Glenys Johnson, by adding blood meal and watering it in.