Growing sweet peas from seed is not tough. As with many annuals, you could just poke a seed in the ground and wait. You would actually get pretty good results too. But this is not the way too get the best results. So how can we improve our chances of success?

We first need to define what we mean by "success". For the majority growers success can be a measure of germination rate, flowering period, number of flowers, length of the stems, uniformity of the blooms and so on. We'll look at how to achieve these in more detail below.

When to Sow?

There are a number of options open to the sweet pea grower. In short, autumn sowing is preferred, but is by no means necessary – most gardeners will achieve satisfactory results by sowing in spring. See Sweet Peas – When to Sow for a fuller discussion. Regardless of when you sow your seeds, the considerations that follow hold true.

Choosing Seeds and Varieties

Your needs and location will dictate this. Commercially produced seed is always favourable, as it ought to be free of rogues and the germination rate should be fairly dependable. That's not to say it isn't enormous fun saving and sowing your own seeds – because it is! But if you want consistent colours and reliable germination, commercial seed is the way to go.

Most types can be grown in the UK and Western Europe without much consideration, but for the US where the days are hotter, Cuthbersons or Royals are a good choice. Both were derived from Spencers by the Ferry-Morse Seed Company and are better able to stand the higher temperatures of an American summer.

How to sow?

There are really no right and wrong answers here. Different growers will report differing levels of success – and what one grower swears by, another may dismiss out of hand. I think it is important to bear in mind a few undisputed facts which will allow us to form a framework – sweet peas like sun, deep soil, plenty of water and freely draining soil – eveything else is just to help the germination process along and improve the chances of getting healthier seedlings, and ultimately more and better flowers.

Having selected our seeds, we need a growing medium (our soil or compost) and something to put it all in. I have obtained good results using Westland John Innes Seed Sowing Compost in 5" Rootrainers.

As an alternative, if you want a way to put your empty toilet rolls to good use, save them throughout the year and these can make good starter pots – just plant the seedlings along with the pot in the growing site and you'll avoid root any potential root damage. The pot will just rot away over the summer in the ground. You can also buy specially created sweet pea tubes that do the same thing, but my preference is the Rootrainers, just for the convenience of being able to move 32 cells at a time (I'm also incredibly clumsy, and find myself knocking the tubes over way too often). In the absence of any of the above it is possible to use 3" pots, but the restricted depth may hamper root development.

Many growers (myself included) find germination can be improved by chipping the seed coat. Using a sharp knife, cut away a tiny bit of the hard outer coating of the seed on the side away from the eye. This will promote the uptake of moisture by the seed, and hopefully provide more reliable and uniform germination. Plant the seeds about 1-2cm deep and cover. The soil should be kept moist, but not soggy – the seeds can easily rot if kept too wet for prolonged periods (some varieties are more susceptible than others).

Now you have to wait. Germination can occur anything between a few days and a few weeks after sowing. It is possible to move the seeds to a warm room to encourage faster germination, but I would caution against it. If the seedlings are started in a warm room, they will rocket out through the soil in search of a good source of light, becoming weak and leggy, and it happens very quickly! Better to wait and bring the seedlings up as hard as possible. It is beneficial at this stage to keep the soil consistently moist. Don't be afraid to give them a good soak if the weather has been warm.

Planting Out

When the seedlings reech 4-5" tall, its time to plant out (unless you are over-wintering). Pinching-out first is an option, but I have never found it to be necessary – the side shoots tend to come anyway. Over-wintered plants should be tolerant of all but the hardest frosts. Spring sown plants may need a little protection if frosts persist. Protect seeds and seedlings from slugs, mice and pigeons.

Sweet peas should be planted in a sunny position, although they can do well on a shady wall. As long as they get plenty of light they should thrive. The soil should be rich and well drained, and preferably deep. It is not necessary to make any special preperations, but a well worked spot with plenty of organic matter will reward you with better flowers and a longer season. The perfectionist would do well to read Bernard R. Jones' book The Complete Guide to Sweet Peas (sadly out of print – but readily available from second hand book shops) or for a completely up-to-date book, Sweet Peas: An Essential Guide by Roger Parsons.

Care

From now on, your sweet peas will require lots of water, and the occasional feed (use a general purpose plant food formulated for flowers). Use supports in the form of canes, cane wigwams, strong netting or a trellis. Keep an eye out for greenfly or any signs of fungus and treat as necessary. Soon your plants should start to flower! Cut the flowers regularly to prevent the plant going to seed – when it does it will no longer produce flowers.

Final Thoughts

The guidance provided here is pretty general. Your local conditions, budget, time and growing site may have the final word. Remember, all sweet peas really need is a good sunny spot. If you don't intend to exhibit your flowers, you will get satisfactory results as long as the plants get plenty of sun and water. If you do intend to exhibit, and haven't already done so, joining a specialist society will help enormously. In the UK the National Sweet Pea Society is the way to go. The members are very generous with their knowledge and will gladly give support, advice and encouragement.

The municipal department responsible for the traffic, parks, and the "urban room" in Malmö are appealing to sweet peas to beautify the Swedish city. The theme for this years flower beds is "Sunset and Moonlight". The designers have been inspired by the pattern Unikko by Marimekko and are aiming for a pale bakground (white and light yellow), with accentueting colours like purple (Moonlight), orange and pink (Sunset). The "prima donnas" will be sweet peas and lillies and the overall theme is fragrance - a wish from Malmö's City Gardener, Gunnar Ericsson, who is retiring this year.

Responsible for the flower programme is Englishman John Taylor, who is head of Slottsträdgården, a garden belonging to the Malmöhus castle.

The city's publication Anslaget is available for download (Swedish language).

Two varieties added to the catalogue.

Burnished Bronze won a First Class Certificate at the 1991 Scottish National Sweet Pea Trials held at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. A dark-maroon it was described as "glistening and good".

Apricot Sprite is truly delightful and fills an important niche in the sweetpea colour spectrum.

The good folk at BBC Gardener's World Magazine have recently been in touch as they are running a feature on growing sweet peas specifically for their fragrance. Of interest was how to get the most blooms, and how to improve/extend the scent of cut flowers. I don't know if any of my response will be included in the feature, so it seemed worthy of a mention here.

My recommendations when growing sweet peas for fragrance would start with choosing the right varieties. With very few exceptions, sweet peas are strongly and sweetly scented, but some are stronger and sweeter than others. It is widely held that the old fashioned, or Grandiflora varieties are more fragrant than the newer Spencers, but I have found with recent Spencer introductions that this needn't be a deciding factor any more.  The Spencers are generally very highly perfumed, and the range of colours along with the size, quantity and quality of the blooms will easily make up for any lack of potency! Varieties like Lizbeth, JIlly and Princess Elizabeth jump to mind as having a very attractive scent. Roger Parsons (holder of the Sweet Pea National Collection) has a variety named Solar Flare which has a slightly citrusy scent which is also attractive.

To get the most blooms, I would let them grow pretty naturally. The cordon method, popular with serious exhibitors demands a lot of work and focuses on quality rather than quantity of blooms. Also, the resulting stems are long, stiff and straight - perfect for the show-bench, but not at all like the blousy and informal vases most casual growers would welcome around the home. Many people also insist on pinching-out the main stem when three or four pairs of leaves are present to encourage side shoots, but I find these will come anyway. If you didn't spend the winter putting in the groundwork and manuring the growing site, or if you are growing in containers or on the patio, a little feeding will benefit the plants, once they are mature. High potash and phosphate (at the expense of nitrogen) feeds should promote plenty of flowers rather than increasing foliage.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to extend the fragrance, and I don't believe it is necessary (or even possible) to improve it! The lifespan of cut sweet peas once in a vase is fleeting, maybe two days. Luckily the plants will reward frequent cutting with a long season of fresh flowers. My suggestion would be to grow plenty. The rate at which you will need to pick the flowers to prevent them going to seed will provide ample vases full of beautiful fresh flowers.