I had some great sweet peas in big (18'' square) planting boxes last summer,
in Spokane, Wa. I planted the seeds directly in the pots in mid-March -
around St. Patrick's Day. Then we had quite a bit of cold weather, so they
didn't germinate (or at least come above the soil) until almost mid-April.
However, they were blooming by mid-late June as I recall, and stayed in
bloom until the middle of August - although the foliage was getting pretty
skanky by then. I do think the secret is to plant them VERY early so that
they have a good root system developed by the time hot weather arrives. And
by all accounts, they despise the combination of heat and humidity found in
the East and Mid West during the summer, so you want to pray for your first
hot spell to arrive late........I suspect they'd be happiest in places like
coastal California, and the cooler parts of the pacific northwest.
Apparently my grandmother grew gorgeous ones in the mile-high alittude of
Butte, Montana. (Maybe the fact that summer nights are routinely in the 40's
helped her out there).
"B & J" wrote in message
...
"zhanataya" wrote in message
...
On 03 Feb 2003 02:20:41 GMT, arden (NAearthMOM)
wrote:

Please fill me in!


Love caryn
"Come into my garden, my flowers want to meet you!"

The secret is you gota hold your mouth just right when you plant
seeds. I still haven't learned how.

Zhan

In addition to holding your mouth just right when you plant the seeds, you
have to live in the right zone. I had great sweet peas (zone 3, northern
MN), which reached six feet tall and had foot long flower spikes. Sweet
peas
like cool temperatures to do their best. Even in northern MN they reacted
negatively to warm temperatures - that means days above 80, Zhan!

Plant them as early in the spring as you can or start the seeds inside in
pots from which they can be knocked out and planted without disturbing
the
roots as soon as it quits freezing. If you sow the seed directly in the
ground, use a trench that can be filled in as the plants grow. Mulch
heavily
to keep the soil as cool as possible and give regular feedings of
fertilizer.

No, I don't grow them in zone 6B!

John