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lilyfinch

Do you grow sweet peas?

I picked up 3 packs of pretty sweet pea seeds and will be sowing them today. I grew them once in pittsburgh and thought they were charming (and smelled wonderful! )and would do it again. I have some sowed to trail on my wagon wheel, and I have a couple places for the others. Do you grow them? Have photos ? I only have these old photos to share but will of course have pics this summer to add!
Eta, I'm posting from an old iPad and can't seem to get my photos uploaded ... Sorry ! When my new phone comes in I'll editi this post.

Comments (9)

  • 9 years ago

    I have Old Spice sweetpeas soaking right now. I have not had great luck with them in the past, but I am hoping this year does the trick. I am thinking of a location that gets morning sun so they don't immediately fry.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Beautiful photo schoolhouse !! I tried some morning glories last year as well and none of them grew but a couple inches.. I'll try again this year but it certainly wasn't what I was dreaming of !

    Veronica , I hope we have some pics to share soon ! I didn't put any in shade .. Maybe I'll get another pack and put some in front of my home where they may get some shade. I thought they were full sun but they do like cooler weather and we are already in the 70s so I may have missed the boat! We will see! I also planted some moonflower , but the pack only had 5 seeds and one floated so I'm not sure it'll take


  • 9 years ago

    Lily I planted some last year and a few did pretty good but last years heat wave got the better of me so I really didn't tend to to many things like I should have and they dried up. I have more growing waiting to go in the dirt in my yard. Love them!!

  • 9 years ago

    The sweet peas were a variety supposedly planted by Thomas Jefferson at
    Monticello. Pretty pink to magenta color, but no scent at all. They
    were robust and came back in the Spring every year. Strong climber. I think I have also seen this variety planted as a ground cover on slopes.

    I haven't had nice morning glories for the past four years or so. I used to grow them on the side of the barn where I switched to sweet peas. But the MGs stopped doing well there and also failed on a picket fence I would normally have great luck with them. I don't know if it's the seed source or what. I plant the Heavenly Blues and have tried different companies.This photo is from 2012. After that, leaves turned yellow, flowers bloomed late and few.


  • 9 years ago

    Pretty petals here's to hoping the summer heat dosnt get the best of us this year ! I know I get worn out and just let things go too. Then regret it all fall as im pulling weeds as tall as I am :)

    Veronica I checked and I also have the old spice blend , summer streamers and fairytale blend , all from botanical interest. Fingers crossed!!

    Oh schoolhouse wow !! So beautiful! Wonder what on earth is going on that you can't replicate that . I've read they don't love overtly fertile soil but you can't unfertilize you know ? I hope this year is better for you . Will you be trying again this year ?

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here I have to plant annual sweet peas as early as I can work the soil, when the ground thaws. Otherwise the plants fade away in our summer heat. We go from early spring to full summer in about 4 weeks, so there isn't a lot of time. I wasn't happy with the perennial sweet peas since they tend to seed around and are quite persistent; I have to pull a few every year, and I haven't purposefully had them in the garden in something like 15 years. I realized that they would be a problem in my area when I saw a couple of fields over-run with them near old farmhouses, and so removed them.

  • 9 years ago

    Lily, one thing about that little barn is that there is a big walnut tree right nearby. I've heard that the roots of walnut trees emit a kind of "poison" that other plants can't abide. Until this past January, there were some big limbs that had grown over the barn and close to the big window in the photo. Maybe the walnuts caused the soil to go bad there over time. I had the limbs taken down.

    But that doesn't account for the picket fence that is in full sun morning to around 2pm. and no overhanging trees of any kind. I've talked to other MG growers and they seemed to be experiencing the same - yellowing leaves, brown spots, late blooms. Perhaps there is a MG disease of late.

  • 9 years ago

    Schoolhouse, black walnut trees (and hickories) produce a substance called juglone, which is toxic to many plants. This chemical is present in all plant parts. The linked article, from Penn State Univ. Extension, is pretty comprehensive, even including a list of juglone-tolerant plants.

    http://extension.psu.edu/plants/gardening/fact-sheets/trees-shrubs/landscaping-and-gardening-around-walnuts-and-other-juglone-producing-plants


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