Have you tried digging one up to see if the seed is still there? Outdoors they could have been eaten or rotted without ever germinating. Also is the soil warm enough yet? It needs to be between 55 and 65f. I start mine in a cold greenhouse.

Wow, just wow, we plant sweet peas (if we do) in February because they prefer cooler growing temps and May is about the end of it all for them here. I was about to say something about you planting to late, but apparently it may be appropriate in your area.

Thanks, NHBabs - good point. How do you keep them damp and in a warmer spot? You have them inside under grow lights, I assume?

This is my first time trying to grow Lathyrus,, and I read in several places to plant them outside in early spring or “as soon as the ground can be worked,” and I could work my ground easily starting 4-6 weeks ago. So I guess I’ve always assumed they’ll germinate fine in the colder soils of late March and early April here in zone 6B..

I start sweet peas in the kitchen in February. As soon as they germinate they go into the unheated greenhouse but I don't plant them in the garden until April. Do you know the temperature of your soil at the moment?

Dbarron, do you find they germinate decently in the cold soil of February? I see you’re in zone 7 in Arkansas, a bit warmer than me here in 6b, but I imagine your soil is still fairly cold in February.

It's been a LONG time since I planted sweet peas (thirty years probably), but yeah, for us the earlier we could get them to grow the better they did. I typically planted in Feb, we also plant potatoes in February for instance, and other cold crops.

Except when taking photos, they are kept covered with a damp paper towel that I rewet periodically so it doesn't dry out. These happen to be edible peas, but I do the same regardless. This is late for peas, but this year has been a late spring. I have a dish sitting on the table right now that will be planted later today. The presprouting decreases problems with rot or being too dry for germination IME.

NHBabs, I thinks there's a bit of a mix up going on. You're showing us photos of peas, the kind you eat. The discussion is about Sweet Peas, Lathyrus species.

Babs noted the difference......but it really doesn't make any difference between edible peas or the flowering ones. Germination times and conditions are very similar.

Where I live, the suggested planting time for peas is Washington's birthday.......late February. However, that also tends to be when we have unrelenting rain, so not advised to work the soil or plant anything until dryer conditions exist. And despite being a very mild winter climate, our soils are very slow to warm up (as are air temps) - we can't plant out tomatoes here successfully until after Mother's Day!! Peas really appreciate the cooler air and soil temps - they peter out rapidly as things heat up.

I just planted out my sweet pea seeds (after soaking overnight) earlier this week. I would normally have done so several weeks ago but several weeks ago we were under deluge so the need to wait until the soil could be safely worked. I would expect to see germination and emerging seedlings towards the end of next week - 10-14 days is typical.

Yes, I missed the sentence that said that.

I find that edible peas germinate far faster than sweet peas and grow faster too. They are also over quicker. My experience has been that the two plants are not very similar in culture. We tend to sow sweet peas either in autumn indoors for transfer to cold glass or in winter indoors. Outdoors is much more hit and miss whereas edible peas are easy outside.

I have half a mind to plant a few seeds inside under grow lights even at this late date just to have the satisfaction of being able to say I got some sweet pea seeds to germinate, even knowing that the summer heat would probably knock them out before they'll be able to flower. (My desperate way of declaring some victory over mother nature for thwarting this year's most anticipated spring project.)

Well, this is crazy, and wonderful, but still crazy. I just noticed that I have two 1" sweet pea seedlings from my seeds planted March 24 that must have just poked their heads above the soil in the last few days. They already have a few proto-tendrils. What is going to happen to them considering it's now May 1 I have no idea. And why I got only these two out of the 50 or so I planted is also a mystery to me. Note to self for January and February 2019: plant sweet pea seeds indoors!!!