by Sammy Stein

Created on: September 04, 2010

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odorata) are one of the most delicious, colorful and beautiful flowers to grow. They come in dwarf, mid or giant varieties and can be self supporting or used to climb up supports, walls, trellis and any other garden feature. They are incredibly versatile and can be used as a focal flower in a garden or as cut flowers, brought into the home to release their scent and enhance the house with their blooms.

The sweet pea is a successful plant in nature and one of the reasons is that it produces fruit in the form of pods, each containing several pea-like seeds (hence the name). These are designed to pass through the gut of an animal and be deposited far away from th eparent plant, thus spreading the plant and also ensuring each seed has its onw small supply of manure to get them off to a head start.

Because of the nature of their natural distribution, sweet pea seeds have a thick outer casing (testa or seed coat) which enables the seed to pass through the gut of an animal or be ground in the cro of a bird in some bases relatively unscathed and in fact either process thins the seed coat and allows the seed to germinate.

Knowing this, there are one or two things a grower can do to ensure the sweep pea gets a good start if sown indoors. First, make sure you choose a free draining seed compost to sow the seeds in. Sweet peas will rot if they remain waterlogged so free drainage is essential. Choose 7cm diameter pots and aim to place 5 seeds in each. They are large seeds so placing them will not be a problem.

Next, scarify (scrape) the seed coat to mimic the passing through an animals gut and break down the testa a little. This will allow water in faster and stimulate germination. Use sandpaper and simply rub the seed coat to roughen and thin it. DO this for each seed before planting or you can put them all in a jar with sharp sand and give it a good shake.

Place the seeds at a depth of 3cm in the pot - they are large seeds so need to be buried in the soil and light excluded (by soil) before they germinate. Water the compost and place on a warm but not hot windowsill and protect from direct sunlight.

Many sweet pea varieties grow perfectly well if sown outdoors but if you want to exhibit or get an early start then sowing them indoors is fine. You can also extend the blooming period by sowing indoors from February until April in succession and using early, late and mid season flowering varieties.

Sweet peas enhance any garden and are very attractive flowers.

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