With it's Royal Heritage, Sweet Pea is the Princess of the Garden

Blue Ripple

If the rose is the queen of flowers, the sweet pea is truly the princess of the garden. If you have visions of garden walls and patios covered by clouds of flowering sweet peas this spring, now is the last chance to get those seeds planted.

I live in Sunset Zone 14 and I'm planting sweet peas now so I'll have a burst of bloom come spring that will prompt stares from passers-by. Sweet peas can also be planted all the way into February. The later you plant the later they bloom, making for a wonderful Summertime display.

Father Cupani, a Franciscan monk, reportedly sent sweet pea (Lathyrous odoratus) seeds to Dr. Uvedale, a schoolmaster at Enfield School, Middlesex, England, in 1699. By 1860, there were nine known varieties.

In 1878, Henry Eckford, a Scotsman who made his home in Wem England, and who has been called a genius of sweet pea breeding, began crossing varieties. He was honored the Victoria Medal of Honour from The Royal Horticultural Society for his efforts in developing one of the most wonderful garden plants.

Since he was the gardener to the Earl of Spencer, the varieties he bred are known as the Spencer types. At the time of his death in 1905, he had developed more than 300 varieties, many of which survive today.

Locally just a few kinds of sweet peas are available on racks, but seed catalogs have more choices. Seeds often are sold as mixtures that produce as many as eight different flower colors.

One mail-order company that specializes in Spencer type varieties is Enchanting Sweet Peas, which acquires its seed stock directly from a 100-year+ old English seed company (a fourth-generation family grower). Many of the varieties are available in an assortment of colors; for example, the Cottage Garden Collection includes five varieties of 10 seeds each, perfect for the small garden.

The varieties are: Gwendoline (rose lilac with white), Jacqueline Ann (lavender with white Flush), Noel Sutton (blue sapphire), Sylvia Mary (sunset pink), and White Supreme (white).

Individual varieties also can be acquired, or you can choose to create your own collection. One type that caught my eye is Oban Bay, which is a light silvery blue and generally produces for to five blossoms per stem. The topmost blooms are a lighter shade (almost white) calling to mind the foam of the waves of Scotland's Oban Bay.

You can accelerate germination by pre-sprouting seeds: scatter the seeds evenly over a paper towel and cover them with another towel, then roll them up like a diploma, moisten and put the roll in a plastic bag in a warm area. As soon as the tiny sprouts emerge, plant the seeds in a good loamy soil with composted manure in a sunny location.

Sweet pea seeds are poisonous, so keep them out of the reach of children.

Many of the Spencer varieties are known as climbing types (six to nine feet tall) and need vertical support.

It is easiest to set your trellis in place before planting, after you prepare the soil. Plant the seeds into the soil one inch deep, spaced about two inches apart in a four-inch-wide band along the trellis line. Keep soil moist until the seedlings emerge from the soil. When plants are four inches tall, thin them to six inches apart.

The best way to keep your plants healthy and pest-free is to regularly foliar-feed the plants with a weak manure tea or fish emulsion. This will make the foliage distasteful to aphids and stimulate plant growth; keeping them nice and green.

Remember the old rule of thumb: The more bouquets you pick (and give away), the more blooms you get (and smiles too).