My early sweet peas, grown in the greenhouse, are now flowering prolifically and I have to work hard at picking them regularly – but will have to work even harder soon as there are now buds on my outdoor varieties. The indoor ones have been bred specially to flower at lower light levels and in the UK have to be grown in a greenhouse. For some reason the lavender blooms are more dominant this year, although I sowed the same number of seeds of each colourway.
I bought my seed, which comes only in individual colours, from Owls Acre Seed, buying about 7 or 8 different varieties in packs of 10 seeds and mixing them, keeping half for a second year. I am due to buy more this year but the owners have retired, although their business was due to be taken over by a new owner. Unfortunately, the website is no longer functional so there is no link to the new company, and unless I still have emails from Owls Acre in my clogged-up inbox I may not be able to find the details; thankfully, a quick Google search suggests there are some alternatives…whew! I have never saved seed from them because there comes a point, when they are on the wane but still flowering, when I need to remove them to make way for tomatoes, so they never have the opportunity to form seed.
The vase is a cut glass bargain from the local tip shop, a larger version of one I used in IAVOM a fortnight ago, and is a useful splayed shape. Accompanying the sweet peas is a stem of a silvery Japanese painted fern, Athyrium niponicum, and a reproduction metal poster advertising Grenadier peas which I have temporarily prised off the wall in our kitchen. Does the American Seed Company still exist? I don’t think the Grenadier pea does.
If you would like to join us today with pickings of any sort from your garden that you have put in any sort of receptacle, then we would love to see you so please leave the usual links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
Love the beautiful arrangement, Cathy. Sweet peas are so delicate and!
Yes, and being able to pick them in abundance is a joy!
You really have got your sweet pea growing sorted. How wonderful to have an abundance of these beauties to pick. I love the romantic colour mix.
I don’t usually bother including white ones when I order the seed, as they don’t seem to germinate as well – this year has bucked the trend!
The metal poster is a wonderful backdrop for the vase of sweet peas. The flowers themselves are beautiful colors–delightful. https://pbmgarden.blog/2024/06/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-modern-red/
Nice to have a big bunch – and keep it for myself too!!
You are deserving of the vase. Enjoy.
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Ahh, lovely! Sweet pea season already. 😃 (I don’t have sweet peas, but I should have sugar snap peas soon!) I hope you find the seeds you want for next year, Cathy. Here is my vase – looking summery again! https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2024/06/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-favourite-flowers/
Ooh, fresh peas – haven’t had home-grown ones for years!
I love that little vase – such a perfect and elegant shape. The peas are beautiful and I can just imagine the delicious scent… it’s peony time here!
Yes, definitely a lingering fragrance, noticeable whenever I return to the kitchen
First I love the colors of these and how they are grown…fascinating. I also love the name of the seed company. I feel like they are grown in the 100 Acre Wood. Mine are grown outside and have a ways to go due to our cold April. The American Seed Company does still exist but sadly not the Grenadier Pea. This week I am contemplating on the 100 day project after completing my 6th such challenge. And I have a vase….https://gardenseyeview.com/2024/06/10/100-days-taught-me/
That’s a lovely image of the the sweet peas growing in the 100 Acre Wood, thank you! Interesting to know that the American Seed Company does still exist 👍
I love to see your sweet peas every year. They are dreamy in soft pastels and with a sprig of silver painted fern, just perfect. I love the ferns, they are an old favorite of mine. Did you start tomatoes already? Thanks for hosting. https://theshrubqueen.com/2024/06/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-ladies-of-the-front-garden/
These Owls Acre ones only come in mostly soft shades. For the summer I will have one support with red and pink sweet peas, and another in a bright mix. The tomatoes were sown at the end of January and are about a foot tall and not in a hurry
Growing in a greenhouse – so low light levels don’t slow them down? Impressive and the selection of colours is divine!
Well, they were sown back in October and just sat around in the greenhouse not doing a lot for a few months. I planted them into the g/h border around Christmas time and as day length and light intensity increased they began to grow more – the first blooms were the end of April. They have been bred to grow at lower light levels and supposedly can take more heat than other varieties (which they would get on a sunny day in the greenhouse)
Thank you – how lovely to have them so early.
Oh definitely
Such soft pastel shades Cathy and no doubt delicious scent too. I wonder why the lilac shade predominated. I’m a little bit envious as it will probably be July before I see any sweet pea in flower especially if the weather continues in the same vein. A shame that the tomatoes have kicked the sweet peas out of the greenhouse before you’ve had a chance to save your own seed but hopefully you will find an alternative. A little vase from me this week here : https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2024/06/iavom-glow.html
Thanks Anna – and definitely a delicious scent! I didn’t expect to see buds on my outdoor ones yet, because most things in the cuting beds are a bit slower to bloom this year. These ones won’t be ousted for the tomatoes until the end of June or so – and the tomatoes don’t seem in a rush yet
My sweet peas are gone so I’m glad I can enjoy seeing yours, Cathy. Thanks for hosting and here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2024/06/in-vase-on-monday-homage.html
How long is your sweet pea season. Kris? I am not very good at remembering to pick regularly, especially when they are flowering prolifically, and the outside ones can easily succumb to heat and dryness in a hot summer
I usually direct sow sweet pea seeds in my cutting garden in late November, Cathy. When they germinate and how quickly they grow depends a lot on weather conditions and if/when we get rain. Without looking at actual records, I’d guess they usually start to bloom sometime in April; however, this year I had one variety show up in February but the majority didn’t join in until early May. 2024 has been a little weird.
That’s interesting, Kris, thank you – so generally similar to my greenhouse ones, although March is the earliest I have had blooms
I do love sweetheart and your are so refreshing looking. Never grown them but someday I will.
We just have to start early..like before Christmas to get them up.
Yes, these ones were son in October – and outdoor ones can be sown then too, but I find sowing the latter in January is less of a faff and gives better results
If only we had the ability to share the fragrance on the blog.
Can you imagine…
I love sweet peas but I’ve never grown early varieties in the greenhouse – one to add to the list. This week I have a vase of first roses from the plot http://lifeonalondonplot.com/2024/06/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-10-06-2024/
Hi Sharon, sorry to be late catching up with you – it has been a busy week! Yes, if you have some space in your g/h I would certainly recommend them
These look gorgeous Cathy! Mine outdoors are just starting to flower, but have very few flowers on the spikes. It’s so cold here with hail and high winds today. Temperatures went down to 6C at 3pm, so the poly tunnel and greenhouse are closed up for the night. I’ve never known a year like this. Everything is quite hard work. However, the roses love it, and we have more baby birds than ever before.
Yes, it is interesting to see what things seem to have benefitted from the rain – my astrantias are better than ever before and quite a few things have clumped up really well, but that may be as much down to their relative maturity than the rain, of course. And yes, I recorded a temperature of 5 degrees one of the days this week -not sure what time of day it was though, but I could check
I adore sweet peas and I bet yours smell divine. Mine are very slow in coming… it is hard to wait!
My vases this week: https://wp.me/p3O3z4-3g0
I suspect these are possibly not quite as fragrant as the summer ones, Eliza ps sorry to be late catching up
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How awesome! I used to send sweet pea seed to my niece. They are not easy to grow in Los Angeles. She started them in autumn and let them grow wild through winter to bloom for spring, but they did not last for long as the weather got warm and dry. ‘April in Paris’ was her favorite for fragrance. She mixed it with more colorful sorts.
Yes, I have heard about the fragrance of’ April in Paris’
For my niece, they bloomed in March in Los Angeles.
I have such a soft spot for sweet peas, my mom used to grow them and had a lovely bouquet of them on our dining table.
I love those shades of periwinkle and lavender. And your arrangement is lovely. I’ve grown Sweet Peas in previous gardens. I have such limited sunlight here, but maybe I should try some in pots in a sunny spot. They are so beautiful. 🙂
I tried these early ones in pots in the greenhouse one year, but they didn’t do as well – make sure you use really big pots if you do give it a try
How amazing are your sweet peas! I suffer from a serious case of Sweet Pea Envy whenever I read English garden blogs. I’ve grown a few here, but they never thrive for long in the Midwest because it gets hot too quickly. I should be content with the heat-loving annuals that do well here–but we always covet what is rare and difficult to achieve…. Thank you for sharing your lovely success with growing sweet peas! Best, -Beth
Gorgeous.