beautiful. I guess I do cosmos over the winter, but I think'll try these too next winter. and to me water is not a big issue. I reuse a lot of my graywater, and see no problem in using my graywater for ornamentals.

Grant, Sweet Peas bring fond memories of my Mother. She aways grew them and as a youngster I often took bouquets wrapped in a wet paper towel to my teachers.

Sweet Peas, Snapdragons, & Stock...all remind me of my Mom.

Thank you for sharing.

WOW so beautiful thanks for sharing

Dang you! I have NEVER been able to get those things to survive.

Thanks for the nice comments, I appreciate them. They do have an olde tymie sort of aura don't they? I always make sure to select varieties that are nice and fragrant (not all are, especially newer hybrids). I love cutting little bouquets to put in small jelly jars in the house or at my desk at work--they smell so nice! Of coure by trimming away the flowers for bouquets it encourages the plant to bloom even more--win win! I leave the last flowers of the season on the plant to get more seeds, though 'Lord Nelson' is a classic and easy to find. I did 'America' the last few years, another old time scented variety (pink and red stripes, or white and red depdending on your opinion).

Thanks again,
Grant

As wonderful and beautiful as they were, like magic, *poof*, they are dead, LOL. It's about what to expect at this time of year, and I've already ripped them out and replaced them, but the show was good while it lasted. I've seen some vines in Tempe still looking good, but as it gets warmer and warmer it's time to say goodbye to sweet peas until November, LOL.

There's a manettia in their spot now.
Take care,
Grant

Grant have missed your posts!!!! I am with lazy gardens, I have not had luck with them either.

elizabeth, are your sure what you have are sweet peas? First, they are not bulbs but grown from small seeds that look like dried up peas. They are a cool season crop and generally will not tolerate ANY hot weather as others have mentioned. Even in my very mild climate (cool summers), they get planted in February and are done by the beginning of July. Michigan Bulb is notorious for mislabeling plants so who knows what they sent you :-)) Can you post a photo? If they are sweet peas, I would love to know what kinds are so remarkably heat tolerant. In all my years of growing them, have never encountered any that would last through the summer.

Perhaps I used the wrong term, bulbs, but they came packaged which I have photos of below. They are definitely sweet peas, I also took a photo of them yesterday with the first bloom. They arrived the end of April, my gardener planted them in the container in May and I had my 1st bloom this week. I was shocked because I grew up with these flowers and never thought they would grow in our 118 degree days. The container is on a West wall.

Ahhhh, that's a perennial sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius), not the annual climber (Lathyrus odorata). Very different animal and far more tolerant to heat. Even neglect!!

Perhaps they sent me that kind because of where I live in the time of year it was delivered to me Are they still as fragrant as the other sweet peas. I Searxhed the Internet for sweet pea seeds and that's the only company that came up. where would you recommend I buy them and the best time of the year to plant them in our weather.

elizabeth, Here's a great guide for flowering plants in the desert:

Low Desert Flowering Guide

No fragrance at all with perennial sweet pea :-(

I am not sure why you couldn't find sweet pea seeds online.........virtually every seed company sells them - Burpees, Johnny's Select Seeds, Renee's Garden (sweet pea specialist!!), Baker Creek, Swallowtail Gardens, Eden Brothers........even Amazon!!

In your climate, you want to plant in fall for late winter/very early spring blooms. Once the temperature routinely reaches around 75F, the plants will stop growth and blooming. Look for the Winter Elegance series.

Thank you all for the information. As you can tell, I don't have experience with planting I had a wonderful elderly woman, Fern, that did all my outdoor planting, but she has passed. I do have a plant company that takes care of my indoor plants so I will definitely have them plant sweet peas during the appropriate time. I grew up with the plant but the fragrance is what I love as well as the beautiful flowers.