sweet peas

[heyjude]

I am required to produce a very large quantity of sweet peas in mid-september (daughter, wedding, get the drift?).

I already have some sown last autumn before wedding was thought of but should I do more now and keep picking and feeding or delay sowing for another few weeks to have a late crop?

Or both?!

[Gilly C]

I find my perenial flower later not the same choice of colours but might be useful to pad out the others. Might help to say where in the country you are and if in a frost pocket ! Good luck to your daughter I wanted Lily of the Valley but for a December wedding was only offered artificial, might be worth having some silk ones to mix in ? as back up too

[Primrose]

I'd suggest growing in succession as much as you can, and grow them in a safe environment. Many years ago my father-in-law had a similar idea and grew rows of them to provide for flowers at my sister in law's wedding reception. The day before the wedding she went to the allotment to pick them fresh and do the flower arrangement and some bast**ds had stolen the lot.

[John]

Hello Heyjude
I only grow a short row of sweet peas most years just enough for the kitchen windowsill so I'm not pretending to be any sort of expert. A few points come to mind though.
By mid-September you are getting to the very end of the sweet pea season and they do become very susceptible to mildew at this time.
As you know the flowers are at their best for only a few days so if you need lots and lots of flowers for the big day then you will need to be growing a very large number of plants to be sure of getting what you need.
Once flowering starts remove old flowers immediately because as soon as pods form the plants rapidly lose interest in further flowering. If they start too early you could even simply remove these first flowers.
A better way of delaying flowering is probably by pinching out the growing tips rather than a very late sowing - once is usually recommended but in your case perhaps twice.
How are the flowers going to be used? I'd suggest you grow only the best named varieties with long stems and large fragrant flowers if they're for any sort of arrangement or bouquet.

Best of luck. Let us know how you get on.

John

[Monika]

Our local horticultural show is on the first Saturday of September and every year we have problems keeping the sweet peas going until that time. I sow my first lot in February but they are long over by September, the varieties which we are hoping to show in September will be sown any time now and the watched very carefully thoughout the summer.

As John says, keep picking the flowers as they appear and never let one set seeds. also make sure that they have plenty of moisture at all times, dryness at the root encourages powdery mildew. If you are not averse to chemicals, you may have to spray against greenfly.

[heyjude]

I usually sow them in February from collected seed (one blue/purple and one dark red though also sometimes cream) and probably a packet of mixed colours as well. And I do try and keep them picked regularly. Gradually the stems get shorter, though presumably being more careful about food and water would stop that as well as the mildew. We don't seem to get greenfly all that much. Eventually I start to think less about flowers and more about collecting seeds and then the plants fade quickly but I don't ever keep a note of the date, so the show info was very useful.

We've got a fair amount of space so I will just keep planting from now on and hope for the best, And if anybody breaks in, well the dogs will eat them!

My other plan is to grow masses of sunflowers and plant them all round the fence.

thanks for suggestions

Jude

[Shallot Man]

Heyjude. Why not do both. shallotman

[lizzie]

Hey Jude

Grockie grows a lot of sunflowers on her plot and they look beautiful. She gets a load of different seeds, all different colours and sizes, and just chucks them on the soil then covers them up.

The result is visually stunning for very little effort.

[heyjude]

I'm going to start the sunflowers in pots because most of the places they will go are previously uncultivated field and it will give them a bit of a start. The soil is good agricultural earth but a bit heavy for a mere gardener!

And the rabbit fence has to go in first as well, so they might as well get started in pots and then go out later when it's safe.

I went to a PYO veg farm a few years ago where they had hollyhocks growing round all the hedges and that looked pretty spectacular too.

And I shall be doing both - probably several times over!

Thanks for your ideas