Kitchen Garden Forum

I've always been confused by peoples facination with growing sweet peas. Why grow them? Is it 'cos 'they look pretty'? Or is it something to do with companion planting?

Dear Piglet6, if you've had a vase of sweetpeas in your house you wouldn't be asking the question, the scent is heavenly.

And of course they attract beneficial insects into the garden as well.

Hi Piglet

I'd not be without them on the plot. As OH says they smell heavenly and you can pick them clean of flowers every day, take them home and the following day there's a fresh bunch to pick. The more you pick the more flowers you get and you can't buy them in the shops very easily either.

Perish the thought of not having a row of Sweet Peas. Offer anybody a bunch and they think you have given them something wonderful. As Chantal says you can't usually buy them, we have probably raised hundreds of pounds for charities over the years by donating bunches to Coffee Mornings.

I plant them with the runner beans.

As others have said they smell lovely. I like a bunch in the bathroom. I always choose seeds based on the scent (a sweet pea that has no perfume is in my opinion a waste and the length of the stems but I don't spend time taking tendrils off and growing them show style - I just want them for cutting.

I like roses and pinks with perfume too the ones you buy at the florists rarely seem to have a scent. Much, much nicer than air freshner.

Oh, I do agree with all your answers. When they start flowering, we supply all family, friends and neighbours with bunches (the more you pick, the more flowers you will get!) and we always have bunches of them in the house. Actually, they are the only flowers I grow specifically for picking, all the others we just enjoy in their growing state, outside.

Have you ever grown them, Piglet6? If not, do give them a try and you might understand!

Yes, I think maybe I'll have to so I can see why you all love them so.

As Glallotments says, make sure you choose the seed based on scent first as some look beautiful but have no scent at all.

You'll love them.

Here's what I grew last year and have repeated for this year, well scented in a wide range of colours, I buy them from Wallis (this is quite a lot of seeds but I share them with two others).

Beaujolais Burgundy
Blue Velvet Dk Blue
Cream Ripples Cream/Lavender
Geranium Pink Cerise Pink
Gypsy Queen Ruby Red
Jane Amanda Rose Pink/White
Leamington Lilac/Lavender
Mrs R Bolton Almond Pink/White
Noel Sutton Mid Blue
Red Ensign Vivid Red
Swan Lake White

I just buy a mixture of unnamed varieties but ones chosen for scent and long stems. You don't get as much choice over colour but do get quite enough of a variety.