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Sweet Peas
One of the most fragrant of flower the Sweet Pea is often over looked. There are over 150 species from annual, herbaceous and evergreen perennials. They can grow wild and are found doing so in sunny, sandy, grassy and wetland, especially here in Ireland. They come in a vast array of colours but some varieties have just one colour. If you do not have a colour theme garden them mixed colours can give a dazzling display of colour and fragrance.
In Ireland one of the wild varieties is Vicic villosa which loves to grow near the beach. It has purple flowered heads with between 10 and 30 flowers on each stem.
Sweet Peas can be grown from seed but these should be socked for about 24 hrs before planting to soften the seed shell. Although the seeds can be put straight into their permeant place it is really better to start them off in a green house in Autumn or Spring as this usually produces stronger plants. The small plants should be planted out when the ground temperature starts to rise and the risk of frost has gone.
Sweet Peas usually start to bloom from early June onwards, but to keep them blooming until early autumn you need to pick them regularly because once they have had a run of seeds they will stop producing flowers.
These plants need to have supporting stick on most varieties as they can grow easily over 6 ft tall. They like lime soil and need to be feed and watered regularly. The plants should be placed 10-12 inches a part as they like to spread their roots.
These are very good cut flowers and they can also be dried to add to photo frames for decoration. The seeds should not be eaten as they could make you very sick.
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