New varieties make growing sweet peas in planters easy
The trend toward smaller gardens has become more prevalent, and there is a desire to grow vertically and use containers more.
Have you thought that you do not have room for sweet peas? Plant breeders have come to your rescue! There are now wonderful single-colour container sweet peas, as well as varieties with splashes and stripes. Some will trail in profusion or form thick bushes that will fill a large pot or tight areas in your garden. This is very handy if you live in a windy spot. Some sweet peas will happily climb and not exceed 90 centimetres in height.
These are early bloomers that can withstand a summer blast of heat much better than the regular tall varieties. So, yes, even if you only have an apartment balcony, you can grow sweet peas.
One variety to consider is a tumbling or trailing sweet pea. Electric Blue (Lathyrus sativus azureas) is a deep azure blue with a pink throat; it’s very prolific and an early bloomer. Suttons Seeds has a lovely Sweetie Mix of single brilliant colours. The yellow species Lathyrus luteus will bloom a bit later. Last year mine were quite outstanding, tumbling among dark blue cascading petunias.
Bushy sweet peas do just that: grow in bushes without support. Villa Roma series bush sweet peas are coming out in several different single colours, with the easiest to find being Scarlet and Navy Blue. Cupid is a popular standby now available in many colours. The Minuet series is exciting, with splashes and speckles of different colours. Minuet Orange bloomed early in June last year and Minuet Dark Blue Splash bloomed soon after. The Sprite series features lovely pastels and Sprite Lavender has won many awards in England.
Intermediate sweet peas will climb about 90 cm up a teepee in a nice large pot or will even grow through a rose bush. Jet Set mix from Suttons Seeds will brighten up a bare spot in the garden or in a pot on the deck with a brilliant show of single bright colours. Theresa Maureen is a softer pink and lilac or cream, and Turquoise is quite fabulous. The blooms eventually soften to a light blue. All these sweet peas provide lovely bouquets for the house, but do not have the straight long stems of the Showbench varieties.
All sweet peas need rich, deep soil. They do not do well in shallow or hot soil, so invest in the biggest pots you can afford. Here in southern Alberta, it is almost impossible to overwater sweet peas. This is a flower that needs consistently moist soil in pots with good drainage.
Container sweet peas do not require pinching back, and if you do, you will severely delay bloom. Tie up intermediates to supports when there are six pairs of leaves, and try to not play with them as you do so. As they begin to bloom, it is essential to deadhead regularly, by snipping them off at the base of the stem. Do not pull off faded blooms, as this will cause damage to the entire plant.
To have June blooms, seeds should have been started indoors in early April in 20-cm deep pots. Sowing in regular packs will result in roots curling up and around, and they will spend the rest of the summer trying to disentangle themselves. All peas like to germinate in cool soil and resent an environment that is too warm. Decent light and a temperature no higher than 15 C are required. A higher temperature will result in weak and stringy seedlings.
Protect your plants from extremes; a shade cloth is essential to protect from both frost and burning sunshine. Sweet peas can tolerate quite a bit of frost, but when the weather gets too cold, bring your pot back into the house for the duration of a cold period. At this stage in the season, you can plant your sweet peas outside with some protection in case of snow, and keep well watered.
You can look forward to blooms in June. Then you will be cutting and cutting throughout the summer. Enjoy!
Contributed by the Sweet Pea Lady, Diana Calder, of Baily Hill Greenhouse, Cowley, Alta. The Calgary Horticultural Society is a registered charity focusing on gardening education and offers the knowledge and skills to do it well. The organization has been educating, promoting, and celebrating gardening throughout the Calgary area for more than a century. Come grow with us. www.calhort.org