Good Friday to you all.  On a happy note in the garden for the first time in seven years I have sweet peas blooming! I’ve tried for years to grow these darlings of the spring garden to no avail. Then last fall I decided to try again, one more time. Success!

Are your seeds old?

Before I tried only for the upteenth time to grow these blooms I did some research on why my sweet pea seeds weren’t taking and found out that seeds do grow old. 

For years I have been using the same seed packets and realized that maybe I needed to get a fresh batch.  I threw away all my old sweet pea seed packets and stopped by the nursery and picked up a bunch of new ones.

Making sure your seeds sprout first

I’ve been planting my seeds the lazy way by just planting them in the soil and hoping that they would sprout.  It worked in my old home but in my new garden this was just not working. 

Finally after years of planting the seeds the “lazy way” I decided to sprout the seeds first indoors and then plant them in the garden.  I came across a very unique way to accomplish this.  It’s called the “paper towel method.”   The paper towel/baggie method on thefancygarden.com.

The Paper Towel Method

The paper towel method is a very creative and easy way to make sure your sweet pea seeds sprout before you plant them.  Basically all you do is wet a few paper towels, place the seeds on the towel, and place them in a ziploc bag.  Wait a few days and check to see if the seeds sprouted. If they did, they are ready to plant!

For more detailed instructions on how this process works take a look at this link The paper towel/baggie method to sprout sweet pea seeds on thefancygarden.com.

Once sprouted plant the seeds in the garden in the fall timeframe

Once the seeds sprouted I planted the sweet pea seeds in my veggie patch up on my hill last fall. That was back in October.  Just so I knew what seeds I planted where, I took pictures of the seed packets next to where I planted them.

Wait for the vines to leaf out and pinch them to make them bushy and for more blooms

Then it’s just a matter of waiting for the seeds to leaf out and send out some shoots. This takes about 3 months.  At this time you want to pinch the shoots so they grow more bushy rather than lanky, this also assures that you get more blooms.

Sweet Peas Finally Blooming!

We are in April timeframe and some of the vines are already sending out blooms! Others vines are bushy and huge but I am still waiting on those to flower.  In the meantime, I am enjoying the sweet peas that are blooming right now in shades of white, lavender, indigo and lavender striped.

Arrangements made with my first flush of sweet peas.

Stay well, stay healthy and please take care.  Wishing you all a good weekend 🌸.