I love sweet peas too - and I also start them in spring - but I have not grown them for some years because I never really had great luck with them. I get good germination but somehow I am doing something wrong between the germination stage and the planting/growing on stage. I can only wish I had the problem of "constant picking" lol.

But hope springs eternal (or more likely some other saying dealing with folly lol) so perhaps one spring I will try again. Goodness knows I always drool over the sweet pea pictures in the catalogs when I'm planning my seed purchases lol.

:)

Dee

So I am going to plead with you both (Dee and GG) to try some now, just in litre pots outside (although you will need a net cos of mice). Like other hardy annuals (and biennials), they will germinate and grow very slowly all winter...but they will also be growing a storming root system which will make really vigorous plants by mid May. You can still do your main sowing in spring (I do a smaller, secondary sowings in January and March because I really can't stay on top of deadheading/picking so mine invariably run to seed after a month/6 weeks or so...but with later sowings coming along, I can have sweetpeas into September. Sweetpea growing year is a bit intense but so worthwhile when I do it.

Dee, I know your zone is colder than mine but hardy annuals are tough...and the difference between an autumn sown centaurea or consolida for example, is astonishing - compared to spring sown plants they look like totally different species. You absolutely don't need a greenhouse - just like sowing hardy perennials, I line my sweetpeas (and paeonies and lilies) along the northwall of my garden. I put 6 seeds in a 5inch pot, cover with an onion net and leave them alone until I tip the pots out and plant the entire clump in a planting hole, sometime in March (no need to worry too much about frosts - these plants are hardened off and raring to go). If I have saved a bunch of seeds and have lots to spare, I might even sow direct at the same time as the autumn broad beans.

Try it as an experiment - just do half a dozen for a lark.

Just a few spindly ones, but beautiful! I I aspire to do better since I know they enjoy our cool climate and I also love the amazing clove fragrance, but I just haven't had much luck so far so I didn't even bring cut bouquet inside, just enjoyed the few that grew on the deck. I think I need to learn how to make a sweetpea harp and put them in my sunniest spot! and maybe start them indoors under lights ... For these, I placed the seeds in pots on the deck in April but took their time to sprout and finally began blooming in August, lasting even until now, although they aren't happy anymore ! I wonder if seeds will develop, I did not keep up with cutting them at all, so the pods are all there (likely too cold for them to mature).

.

(Editing to say, please ignore the embarrassing weeds and mess in the background, that is a work in progress to reclaim an area of attempted creating of a 'garden room' where the weeds are way ahead of me and will be top of the list this spring, fingers crossed) .

Edit again to add another picture from October 2 - I love how they are hanging on

I tried to grow peas a few time but never succeeded: spring sow, fall sow, winter sow, etc. Maybe I will try again this time in pots.

Please do, forever. The breeding of sweet peas has really improved so we can grow some incredibly early flowering ones (the 'Solstice' range), as well as dwarf varieties for pots and hanging baskets. And don't overlook some of the more interesting species such as l.tingitanus, l.sativus and my current favourite, the brick red .rotundifolius). While they can take a while to germinate, you can increase your chances by gently scarifying the seeds with a bit of emory cloth or a sandpaper nail file. Mice will certainly try to eat the seeds unless you cover the pots with fine mesh. I sow 5 or 6 at a time, in a 5inch deep pot. Once the seedlings are up and growing, I nip out the tops and eventually plant the whole pot in a prepared hole - the seedlings do not enjoy being prised apart so just gently upend the initial planting pot, keeping the clump of seedlings together. As a vague rule of thumb, the paler creams, whites and lavenders tend to have more scent than the brighter reds and deep pinks.

I sowed some sweet pea seeds indoors on 1/11/2025. They germinated within a week. I planted about 11 seedlings in the ground on 1/31. 5 or 6 grow well

I really love them and also feel encouraged. I will fall sow some seeds in October this year.

For sweet pea lovers, I read thar one needs to pick the blooms diligently to avoid the to set seeds. But don’t you save the seeds, or always need to buy new seeds each year?

Somehow I missed this and never responded. Sorry 'bout that! I do all my seed-starting by winter-sowing, so everything starts going out in January or early February, starting with perennials, then hardy annuals, then more tender annuals, herbs and veggies. And the few things I have grown that need warm-cold-warm stratification go out in fall. So my sweet peas did get an early start - perhaps they need to go out in fall? Although you say you do successive sowing in January and March that appear to be successful for you as well, so I don't know....

But again, I don't seem to have a problem with germination. It's after that when they seem to give up the ghost lol. It's likely due to my time constraints as a gardener, my tendency to sow too much which then makes my time constraints even more impactful (bad enough I don't have time to get out and plant, but when I have too much stuff to plant it takes even longer!) It's been awhile since I tried them (despite drooling over them EVERY season in EVERY catalog I get!) so I can't recall - perhaps they are a plant that resents transplanting? Maybe that is my issue. Although somewhere in the deep recesses of my vague memory I think I did try direct-sowing one year and that also didn't work out so well.

Ah well, perhaps sweet peas (and morning glories) are two lovely flowers I will have to live without. I'm sure I will try again in the future though. I can only hold out against the catalogs for so long!

:)

Dee

P.S. Lovely blooms, forever_a_newbie!

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, I also feel transplanting is the biggest challenge. I later transplanted a batch to a big decorative pot and all failed. I think I will try different approaches next time

1) fall sow in pots then transplant in ground

2) fall sow directly in ground

3) winter sow in pots then transplant

4) early sow indoors then transplant

As said I feel encouraged so would like to try more

I am surprised you have trouble with morning glory. I dare not grow it but that is because it is too invasive for us. The zone difference

newbie, when *I* was a newbie, lol, I grew Heavenly Blue morning glories and they were spectacular. After that first or second season of gardening, I just couldn't get them to grow again - gosh this was decades ago but again, I wonder if transplanting was an issue? Although I'm sure at least once I would have tried direct-sowing. After a few years, I tried... Grandpa Ott's? Or maybe Carnevale di Venezia? I think I actually grew both but one of them was surprisingly (to me at least) a heavy reseeder. Which was not at all my experience with HB. I think it was the Carnevale that was the reseeder.

It was grown along a short (in length) fence which literally is surrounded by my very large paver patio, my very large asphalt parking area, the asphalt driveway, and the house. Th soil area is about 10 feet by two feet,where the fence runs along the side of the patio. But despite the contained area I was a bit concerned about the vigorous reseeding. Part of me loved it - yay! morning glories are finally a thing! But the other part of me was nervous - yikes, I will be pulling these thing forever.

So I ripped them all out. Have since tried one or two other varieties but again, not much luck. Seems like feast or famine lol.

Ii think next season I will try the same things you are considering for sweet peas. It's just too hard to resist lol. Good luck to both of us!

:)

Dee

Dee, your post made me go to check my seed packs. I found 3 MG seed packs, HB one of them. They must be over a decade old. Never did plant them. But who knows maybe I would have had trouble growing them . I just have been taking things for granted. I really miss the view of the blue mountain of MG in the flower bed in my parents University. Now come to think of it, I seldom see MG anywhere now

I wish you great success on the endeavor on MG next season🌼

And same to you newbie! We will have to compare notes next spring - and hopefully share pictures of our glorious sweet peas and morning glories!

:)

Dee

Back to my previous comment from last fall, no seeding for me, either then or this spring. I just have no place in my tiny little house and garden to grow anything from seed really. Other than nasturtiums which will germinate virtually all on their own with minimal intervention on my part. Plus, I tend to have a serious case of instant gratification. So I buy sweet pea starts :) I am happy with the selection.........Black Knight, Cupani, Blue Ripple, America and Spenser Heirlooms (mixed colors). btw, I find they transplant for me just fine.

I do not grow morning glories, never have. It doesn't get hot enough here for them to bloom well, they remind me too much of bindweed anyway and I'd rather adorn my fences and trellises with clematis.