Hi Beachartist. Sweetpeas do well in Temecula. I plant seeds of early blooming types during the end of August (try to get them in before labor day), and they bloom in the late winter/early spring for me up until it gets hot (around May or June here). Mine are in sun/part shade. Last year I gave seeds to a neighbor who planted them late (think it was October or later even)---she planted them in FULL sun, and they bloomed all winter long (way before mine in partial sun). Hers petered out much earlier than mine though because of the sunnier warmer location she planted in (up against a stucco wall).

Hope this helps.

-Becky

It depends where in Temecula. If she is in the hills we get quite a bit of frost in the winter.......

I live in Lake Elsinore and last year was the first year that I planted them. They were the most beautiful plant in the yard this spring. I planted mine very late, around Jan, Feb. time frame. Morning sun afternoon shade.

"It depends where in Temecula". Temecula is a unique area that has large climate changes depending on where you live. It seems to be just on the edge of being inland or coastal. For instance, it was 47 last night in RedHawk area but only 62 at our location in the southwestern hills. We have not had frost in the past 5 years we have lived here, but many parts of Temecula have hard frosts.

If you're new to the area, check with your neighbors or look around the neighborhood and see what is growing for a hint on your particular climate.

Here is a link that might be useful: Temecula area weather

I sow mine in October for spring blooms. They handle the frost fairly well and grow slow until around Feb then they take off. Watch out for snails and slugs which can easily eat all your little sprouts.

Becky is right, they'll bloom well into June.

Edna

Sweet peas are quite frost tolerant, at least to the upper 20's and maybe to the low 20's. They're naturalized along the I-5 corridor through the Siskiyou and Cascade ranges; given the climatological conditions prevailing in the area and how early they bloom, it's highly likely that most of them germinate in the fall and survive over the winter.

Ryan