After years of trial, error and picking through research articles, I’ve finally had great success growing in my own microclimate:

Heat Zone 1, Cold Zone 9a

Which led to me growing six different Sweet Pea varieties really well last year, and then this year having great success growing fourteen different Sweet Pea varieties! In October, the hope is to plant out twenty different Sweet Pea varieties; mind you, that number is on the rise.

Through these trials, I worked out when was the best time for me here at Fairy Wren Cottage to grow Sweet Peas successfully. To  sow sweet pea seeds in your area check the dates recommended and experiment. For example the recommended sowing time for our climate is Summer + Autumn (Spring in cooler climates), other recommendations have been Summer + Autumn or only on St Patrick’s Day.  If you don’t have a clear date for starting Sweet Peas or haven’t had that much success, don’t give up.

I encourage you to experiment. The most you will lose is the cost of some packets of seed. What you will gain is:

1.The knowledge that you will learn through trial and error. 

2. When to grow Sweet Peas successfully in your microclimate.

3. An abundance of Sweet Pea flowers once you discover the perfect timing for your own microclimate.

Australian gardeners swear by sowing Sweet Pea seeds on St Patricks Day, 17th March, which means that the Sweet Peas grow outside during the rest of Autumn, all of Winter, and then flower in Spring. At Fairy Wren Cottage, I did this for years and epically failed. Planting on St Patrick’s Day works in warmer climates because planting at this time beats the powdery mildew that appears on the leaves when the weather really warms up heading into Summer. Also, Sweet Peas aren’t that fond of those hot winds – the flower petals fry and become blemished.

But here at Fairy Wren Cottage there is a different microclimate. The wind is my biggest garden enemy, especially cold south westerly winds.

I now sow my Sweet Peas in late August, September, and even early October.

I plant them outside after the September winds. September is the windiest month for us; urghh, it is horrid.

I did trials by sowing Sweet Pea seeds inside on St Patricks Day, and planted them outside when the plants were strong and healthy. I also direct sowed Sweet Pea seeds on St Patrick’s Day. Both plantings limped their way through Winter and, like in previous years, they struggled badly. I then sowed some Sweet Pea seeds inside in late August and planted them outside in October. They were planted next to the St Patrick’s Day Sweet Peas and received the same amount of light, nutrients, and protection from the wind.

The late August sown Sweet Peas were much more robust, better flowering, and outgrew the St Patrick’s day plantings. Why? The late August Sweet Peas were planted outside in October, after those horrid, cold winds we get throughout late Autumn, Winter, and especially in September had been and gone.

We are half way up a hill, and when we shifted here our neighbour, who could grow anything (a retired orchardist), said the biggest problem is the wind, and he wasn’t wrong. Those St Patrick’s Day Sweet Peas got battered about in the wind and I think that is the problem – the wind makes their little roots unstable and their tender shoots and tendrils flop about and find it hard to cling to the trellis. Because of the wind, they focus on surviving not thriving.  After I came to this conclusion I saw a Youtube video of a vegetable garden in a remote part of Scotland. The Scottish gardeners talked about the strong cold winds they dealt with and how they planted crops around the seasonal winds. It confirmed my theory.

What is your microclimate? If you are struggling with growing Sweet Peas, think about where you are planting them; are they too exposed to the wind? Trial sowing seeds and planting out at different times.

Love from the Garden,

Jude x

Where I source my Sweet Pea seed from.

If I haven’t saved seed from the previous growing season, I now source all of my seed from Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds. They are a local Tasmanian specialty seed company available Australia wide. I’ve had 100% strike rate with their seeds.

To see the Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds’ Sweet Pea seed collection, please click here:

https://veggiegardenseeds.com.au/collections/sweet-pea-flower-seeds?page=1