SWEET PEAS - PART II

What are sweet peas? Although they look similar to the peas you'd grow in your garden to eat (Pisum sativum), Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are actually grown only for the flowers.

They are not edible (actually mildly poisonous) so I've been chasing the cats off when they try to help with the pruning.

The sweet peas will grow into tall vines, that need a structure or something to hold them up.

Sweet peas are fragrant, colorful, and will keep blooming as long as you pick the flowers or pinch off the spent flowers before they become seeds. If you don't pinch them back, they may feel like their job here is done and just sort of wither away.

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My plan is to put sweet peas here alongside the garage:

Here's the progress the seedlings have made so far:

They're looking a little scraggly.

I've potted some of the seedlings up into 4 inch pots, to see which ones are happier. I do continually pinch them back to just 2 leaves, (without the help of the cats) with the intent that they will put the energy into the root systems instead of the stems and leaves.

Am I sort of afraid that I planted them too soon? Am I also afraid they'll fall victim to a passing toddler or feline? Of course. But instead of letting that stop me, I've planted them anyway. Even if they never make it into a pretty garden wall outside the garage, they've achieved success by cheering up the winter days while I wait here for spring.