My sweet peas are in full bloom now. The more you cut, the more they grow, I'm told, which is good as I'm cutting a lot of them. A vase on my bedside table, another on the mantel in the living room, their heady scent filling the air. The sight of them brightens up an otherwise dull brown fence and provides variety and interest on our decking, and their perfume drifts through the door into the house.
I like to check which colours have opened up overnight and the riot of colour has been a delight to watch unfold; creamy white, papery pale pink, golden peach, delicate lilac, deep lipstick red, hot pink and velvety aubergine. My favourite is this one, a kind of chalky, mottled grey-purple.
I'm really enjoying our garden this year. I've worked very hard on it, and am still learning what works where, when it flowers, what I enjoy growing and what I don't. It's a constant work in progress and I've got so many ideas for things I'd like to do. Any serious landscaping is out of the question so I must make do with planting and painting what I can, creating little corners that make me happy. And this painted planter crammed with the sweetest sweet peas is making me very happy indeed.
They're so pretty. I've never grown them myself, but I love the way they smell. You have a lot of lovely colors. Enjoy them. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely selection of colours & also a great crop all round. I wonder if I plant some again this year, I'll get more than 2 colours, which was not what they were supposed to be. Glad you are enjoying your garden. Have a good weekend & take care.
ReplyDeleteYour sweet peas look fantastic. Way ahead of ours. I found the snails enjoyed them this year, and ended up sowing 3 lots! I always think summer is here when we start picking them. Hopefully summer will come back soon. Enjoy your lovely garden.
ReplyDeleteI love sweet peas, the beautiful colours and the most glorious scent, yet we haven't grown any this year! Yours are beautiful, your house and garden must smell delightful xx
ReplyDeleteSweet peas are such great flowers to grow, and look and smell fantastic in the house, too. In my early twenties, I had a Laura Ashley phase (we are talking late 1980s/early 90s here). I remember a sweet pea theme in one of the home decorating collections. It looked wonderful but needed careful dosage so as not to become overwhelming in a room. Not so with the real flowers - can't overdose on them :-)
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a grey one like that before - it is fabulous. You are lucky to have got such a good crop because sweet peas like deep soil because they throw out a tap root which then develops the feathery ones on and it, it likes to go deep down. Your planter must be just big enough. People who grow sweet peas in pots don't normally succeed. Keep picking, as soon as a pea pod grows it will start sending all its energy into making seeds rather than throwing out new flowers. Enjoy! Jo xx
ReplyDeleteSweet peas are gorgeous aren't they, I like to have them around the house in summer too. The deep plummy red ones are my favourite. Glad you're enjoying your garden, it's always lovely in the garden at this time of year isn't it. Once you have a puppy you'll have the opportunity to enjoy it really late at night and really early in the morning too.:) Actually, it's been lovely out there just as the light disappears, with blackbirds standing sentry and singing and otherwise perfect stillness. The whole dog thing might work out okay after all. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks stunning, you can now sit and enjoy all your hardwork. I bet those flowers smell gorgeous.x
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! I love the that about sweet peas, that they really do want to be picked so your house can be full of beautiful posies. We named our home Sweet Pea Cottage, and grow them each summer. This year though, while they are tall, green and still healthy looking, when you get up close you can see that all the tips have been nibbled. Sigh
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos of your beautiful sweet peas. My favourite is Cupani, a bi-coloured deep red and purple flower with the best scent of any sweet pea. I would tie a piece of string round your mottled grey-purple one and save the seed for sowing next year. Keep feeding and watering your planter and they should last until you go on holiday and then you can pull them all out, top up the compost and replace with some late summer delights. I would choose white cosmos (Purity) and a deep red dahlia (Queen of the Night) or Chocolate Cosmos (it really does smell of chocolate) which will all flower and continue looking good until the first frosts. Have you planted anything against your bare brick wall yet? Try and get a sniff of Trachelospermum jasminoides (Star jasmine) a well-behaved twining evergreen climber with jasmine scented flowers. Will do in a pot if there is no possibility of planting in the ground and needs support such as wires fixed to the wall or even a stout post or two to twine around. Mine is flowering its socks off now and everyone is swooning over its scent. It is great to see you enjoying your garden Gillian.
ReplyDeleteSarah thank you so much for this wonderful advice! A great idea about the string, I'd never have thought of that. No, I haven't had time to plant anything against the wall yet, I think I'll have to leave it till next summer now. Everything will need to go into pots and planters, which I need to make/save up for, as the ground is concrete below the wall. Anything scented next to a bathroom window though has to be a good thing! x
DeleteOooh missing my sweet peas this year. They really are special aren't they.
ReplyDeleteMine did so well last year I was put off growing them again in case they didn't do as well. How silly is that. Anyway I've given the soil a rest and will be back to growing and picking them next year.
Jacquie x
I think I was a bit late with my sweet peas this year - mine are yet to flower. I'll just have to live vicariously through yours for a while. xx
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