Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus L.) are beautiful pollinator-friendly plants that blossom in all kinds of colours and range from pastel pink, to white, purple, red and blue.
Sweet peas are climbing plants and need support to be able to trail upwards. Bamboo cane sticks can serve as support (bamboo cane tipi tents look fabulous!) or if you have a garden fence, sow your sweet pea seeds along the fence. They will climb upwards and thrive as a stunning curtain of pastel flowers that will result in a lot of buzzing pollinator traffic. Sweet pea flowers will attract especially honey bees, wild bee species and bumble bees in spring, summer and autumn.
Sweet peas are rich in nectar and pollen and are ideal plants for every biodiverse garden. They have quite a long flowering period and will bring colour to your surroundings for a good part of the year. Sweet peas bloom between June and October.
Start sweet pea seedlings indoors any time between October and February, or sow directly into the garden soil between March and May. The pre-grown seedlings can be transplanted outside after the last frosts.
It's tricky to say how long the seeds take to germinate - some might pop their little leaves out of the soil after about two weeks but some take a couple of months, depending on the variety.
A few tips to speed up the germination process:
- Some sweet pea seeds - depending on the variety - have a fairly hard outer shell. Before you sow the seeds, let them soak in water or lukewarm chamomile tea for 24 hours to speed up the germination process.
- Sweet pea seeds germinate in the darkness, so make sure they are covered with soil (sow approx. 1 cm deep).
Here's another little handy tip for a more sustainable and waste-free way of gardening: If you plan to start off your sweet peas indoors, then instead of buying new planting trays or containers you could use recycled egg cartons.
Happy start of spring and happy sweet pea growing, love from Franzi at Confetti Gardens.
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