I've always heard that in the Seattle area President's Day is the proper time to plant sweet peas. That said, I'm about to try planting some this afternoon along a sunny south-facing wall and see how they do. My biggest problem with starting peas of any kind is keeping the mice from digging them up and eating them.

Oh, THAT'S probably what used to happen to my peas! I couldn't figure out why I had tons of peas in NY and none here. I suppose I'll run into the same issue with sweet peas.

Well, maybe I'll soak and start some - just to see. I used legume innoculant on them last time, and they did well - maybe the mice don't like it?

I've planted lots of sweet pea seeds and gotten a very small percentage that came up and grew. One year I planted them indoors in peat pots under lights and got no germination then put the peat pots out on the porch where they were in sunlight and some sprouted. Go figure. I did get good germination out of one of the very short non-vining ones.

Once I grew T & M's Navy Blue and the one or two that grew were fabulous and fragrant.

I know sweet peas are not supposed to be transplanted, but the best luck I had with them was starting them inside and planting them out when they were about 4 inches tall.

The year I planted several packets of seeds outside, I got nothing. When I dug around, I couldn't find any seeds, sprouted or not. I thought the birds had pecked out the seeds, but I do have mice so they were probably the culprits.

Look out for slugs, as well.

http://www.fragrantgarden.com/ Is a great place to check out. They ship from Brooking, OR. They are very friendly.

Faith

I bought some heirloom varieties in six packs from Shorty's Garden Center in Vancouver WA last spring. They transplanted wonderfully and WOW the fragrance was amazing. I'm for sure going to buy some again this year.

The only way I've ever been able to grow them is to start them indoors and then transplant them outside. I always thought my soil was too cold and wet, causing them to rot. Presoaking, or rubbing with sandpaper or put them between paper towels until the seed swells definately helps to get them to germinate. I won't be starting any until March and then it will be indoors under lights and heating cables.