Planting sweet peas in autumn may seem counterintuitive, but it is the best way to get a head start and ensure success if you live in an area that experiences hot summers. Sweet peas hate the heat and quickly peter out when temperatures are in the 90’s and above. Growing sweet peas in autumn gets your plants way ahead of the game and blooming in early spring before that darned heat arrives! Please remember, all parts of the sweet pea plant are toxic.
I started growing sweet peas in containers out of necessity. I had an incredible desire to experience in my own garden these gorgeous fragrant flowers I was seeing all over Instagram. But I don’t own land. I’ve been renting for 10 years and have moved four times within that time period (once I had to move my baby sweet peas with me!) So container growing was, and still is, the only option for me. After five successful years growing sweet peas in containers I am ready to share my secrets! I can tell you that they grow amazingly well and you will be astounded at the amount of blooms your plants will produce!
I LOVE sweet peas! The flowers are so gorgeous, and that fragrance!!! Incomparable! Where I live it is impossible to find sweet pea seedlings available for purchase, so I have no choice but to start my own. I met with lots of failure until I finally figured out the secret. If your sweet pea seeds won’t germinate, try what worked for me….
Am I the only one already dreaming about next year’s sweet pea blooms? I hope not! Ok, maybe I’m just the teeniest bit obsessed with these amazing flowers…but I know that in order to be successful growing sweet peas in my super hot climate (California’s Mojave Desert zone 8b) I need to get plants started this fall. With this in mind, I thought I would do a quick post on the best places to buy sweet pea seeds online.