Are Sweet Pea Plants Perennial

Although Lathyrus odoratus, the most popular sweet pea variety, is an annual, there are also perennial forms available (Lathyrus latifolius).

1. Annual sweet peas are plants that go through their entire life cycle in a single growing season. They grow, produce seeds, and perish within the span of a year, just like other annual crops. The next year, you must replant new plants in your garden if you want to grow them again. The majority of sweet pea species are annuals.
2. Perennial sweet peas: These flowers reappear each year. After the growth season is over, you don’t need to replant them because they will keep growing for a longer period of time. Although there are fewer types of perennial sweet peas available and they tend to lack the traditional sweet pea aroma, they may be simpler to grow.

Choosing sweet peas and perennial peas

The major consideration is whether or not aroma is crucial to you when deciding between perennial Lathyrus and sweet peas. Decide if you would then like an annual or perennial plant. There are several color choices available as well as climbing and bushier varieties.

Fragrance

Choose sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), which are generally very fragrant, if you enjoy a pleasant garden and sweet-smelling flowers for indoor use.

Lord Anson’s blue pea (Lathyrus nervosus), a perennial Lathyus, is an exception to the rule since it does have a perfume.

How long the plant lasts

After setting seed, sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) only have a one-year lifespan. However, don’t let this deter you because they are quite simple to grow from seed. Lathyrus latifolius is an example of a perennial species that returns every year, however there are fewer options and they typically lack smell.

Colour

The annual sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) has a large variety of blossom colors, including bicolored varieties. However, the perennial varieties do come in some uncommon colors, like yellow and orange.

Habit

The majority of Lathyrus are climbing plants, therefore support them with canes, netting, or allow them to climb over a bank or through a bush. For ground cover and pots, clumping varieties like the spring-flowering Lathyrus vernus and dwarf bushy sweet pea varieties like “Snoopea” and “Bijou Mixed” are excellent choices.

Buying sweet peas and perennial peas

Although many garden centers also sell a few sweet pea seeds in packets, the largest assortment of sweet pea seeds may be acquired from internet seed suppliers. In the spring, several nurseries and garden centers sell pots of germinated sweet pea seedlings that can be divided into individual plants and raised in pots before being planted outside.

There are a few seed specialists who sell perennial Lathyrus seeds, like Lathyrus latifolius, but many gardeners opt to purchase the plants instead. The plant you’re looking for can be found using our Find a Plant tool.

When to plant sweet peas and perennial peas

Annual sweet peas should be sown either in late January or early April and planted out in April.
Sow perennial Lathyrus in the spring or the fall.

Where to plant sweet peas and perennial peas

Locate a sunny area where there is room for the plant to grow or to bush out (depending on its habit). Also acceptable is a little light shade, especially for Lathyrus grandiflorus.

How to plant sweet peas and perennial peas

To avoid cold shock, indoor seedlings should be hardened off for 10–14 days before being transplanted outside.
Ideally, four weeks before planting, enhance the soil by incorporating a soil conditioner like garden compost or manure.
Sprinkle general-purpose fertilizer, as directed on the pack, into the area where you plan to plant it, such as Growmore, Vitax Q4, or blood, fish, and bones.
Before planting, water your plants thoroughly to hydrate the roots.
Remove pots from larger plants and ease seedlings out of modules or pots while being careful not to snap or crush the stems.
Plants should be separated by 20–30 cm (8–1 ft).
Place climbing plants near to their intended support (within 5-7.5cm or 2-3in), with two plants at the foot of each cane if they are climbing a wigwam.
After planting, water once more to help the soil surrounding the roots settle.

Use garden twine or sweet pea support rings to secure young climbing plant shoots to canes, pea sticks, netting, trellis, or shrub shoots that they will be growing up. Tendrils in contact with supports will naturally start to cling on, but if any are straying or in danger of snapping, keep tying in new shoots.

In dry weather, check on plants in the ground every 3 to 4 days and on those in containers every day because they won’t flower as well if they become too dry. Each time you water, be sure to use enough water to completely moisten the roots.

Apply a high potassium liquid fertilizer, such as tomato feed, once or twice a week on light or infertile soils. This promotes flowering, particularly in annual sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus).

Pick or remove dead flower heads as frequently as you can once flowering starts. For annual sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), which will stop flowering if seedpods are allowed to form, this is especially crucial.

Pinching out

When plants are around 7.5 to 10 cm tall, pinch out the shoot tips of new spring-sown sweet peas for gardening (3-4in). This promotes robust side branching. Autumn-planted seedlings frequently naturally branch.

Cordons

Pick the strongest shoot and keep pinching out all the tendrils and other sideshoots as they grow whether you want to enter your sweet peas in a local show or just want to maximize the size of blossoms for cutting. By using this technique, the plant directs its attention to the blossoms. The term “cordons” is used to describe these single-stemmed plants.

One stem per bamboo cane or tall stake needs to be tied to them on a regular basis. To keep the shoot in place as it grows, you can use twine looped in a figure-eight pattern around the cane and stem. Use sweet pea rings, which are wire loops that wrap around the stem and cane and are lightly squeezed until they hold, to make things simpler.

Cordons have the potential to grow much taller than the typical 2 m (6 1/2 ft) estimated height.

Cutting back

Cut perennial Lathyrus back to the ground in the fall, or better still, wait until February to do it so the dead stems can serve as wintertime cover for wildlife. When flowering is ended at the end of the summer, annual sweet peas can simply be pulled out and composted. This might happen a little bit sooner during hot, dry seasons.

Methods

Sweet peas can be immediately sown into the ground in April, or they can be planted in seed compost pots in the fall or spring. Although it takes more time, pot-sowing is typically more dependable than direct sowing. If you plant in the fall to enhance your chances of getting early blooms, keep seedlings in a coldframe or cold greenhouse over the winter to protect them from growing lanky. Keep the coldframe’s lid elevated unless a strong frost is anticipated. Sweet peas planted in the spring flower in 12–14 weeks.

Sweet pea seeds frequently have a tough outer covering that makes them more challenging to germinate. Place your seeds on a layer of damp vermiculite or kitchen tissue and store them in an airtight container in a warm area. As soon as the seeds swell or start to sprout, plant them. Some gardeners like to soak the seeds overnight instead, but if you don’t plant them right away thereafter, they might rot. With a sharp penknife, chip off a little portion of the hard seed coat to allow moisture to enter and promote germination on recalcitrant seeds that haven’t swelled.

Individually sow seeds in seed compost-filled rootrainers or 9 cm (3 in) pots. As an alternative, sow five to seven seeds per 13 cm (5 in) pot, spacing them 2-3 cm (3/4-11/4 in) apart.
Add 1 cm (1/2 in) of vermiculite or compost to the top of the seeds.
Add water and maintain at around 15C. (59F)
It is optional to cover the pots with clear polythene or glass to reduce the likelihood that they will dry out, but keep in mind to remove the covering after the seeds have germinated.
Once they have grown to around 3.5 cm (11/2 in), carefully transplant single seedlings into 9cm (3 in) pots if you have seeded them several to a pot.
Use your thumb and finger to pinch out (remove) the top of the shoot just above a healthy leaf when the seedlings are 7.5–10cm (3–4in) tall. This will promote side branches, which are always stronger than the core stem that has been removed.
At least four weeks before planting, remove all weeds from the soil and add a soil enhancer, such as garden compost, manure, or composted bark.
Only plant seeds as the soil begins to warm, typically around April.
To create a wigwam, plant any temporary supports, like pea sticks or bamboo canes, in the ground.
Take out a shallow drill of dirt 2.5 cm (1 in) deep for rows of sweet peas, and plant a seed every 5 to 7.5 cm in it (2-3in)
Seedlings should eventually be spaced 20–30 cm (8–1 ft) apart to provide the plants enough room to flourish. The extra seedlings may seem like a waste to compost, but unless treated carefully, their roots are typically too damaged to recover.
Push two seeds into the ground at the base of each cane to a depth of 2.5 cm (1 in) when sowing around a wigwam of canes.

Perennial peas

In the spring or the fall, divide bigger plants. If you want to divide Lathyrus vernus in the spring, wait until after flowering.

Unfortunately, very few of the issues with sweet peas and perennial peas are extremely problematic.

Powdery mildew, which is brought on by drought or insufficient hydration, results in a grey leaf coating.

spring

From March to May, you can easily plant your young sweet pea plants outside. Before planting out, sweet pea seeds sown in the winter or autumn need to be potted up into larger containers. Spring-sown seeds can be transplanted from their rootrainers.

summer

Pick your sweet peas, then put them in indoor vases. Remove the seed pods from your sweet peas to continue deadheading them. You’ll need to harvest and deadhead them frequently when they’re at their height.

In the garden, how long do sweet peas last?

To make those cut sweet pea flowers endure as long as possible in the vase, some management is required. Provide clean water every day to provide the flowers the minerals and moisture they need to be healthy.

Each stem can be periodically trimmed by 1/4 inch to encourage the flower to continue drinking water for a longer amount of time and prolong bloom time. Cut sweet peas can look stunning for up to a week if you take care of them.

Is a shrub of sweet peas a perennial?

A tried-and-true perennial, this neat evergreen shrub is adored by passionate gardeners everywhere. It boasts brilliant, pea-like flowers in shades of purple and magenta with a gentle pink crest in the center. In regions with warm winters, this lovely bush flowers virtually all year long. Bees, butterflies, and birds are drawn to it, making it a great addition to a wildlife garden. Trees, shrubs, grasses, and groundcovers are among the plants that are included in wildlife gardens because they supply the four essential habitat components that wildlife needs to survive: food, water, shelter, and places to raise their young.

A compact, mounding plant, Polygala fruticosa ‘Petite Butterflies’ matures to a height and width of 3 feet. Its compact form will be maintained with some late winter pruning. Due to its high wind and salt spray tolerance, it makes a fantastic foundation plant for gardening along beaches. Plant in well-drained soil with full to partial light. Regularly irrigate the lawn. The Sunset Climate Zones are 8–9 and 14–24, and it is hardy to 15-20F. We now offer 1 gallon pots of Polygala fruticosa “Petite Butterflies.”

Sweet peas can they endure the winter?

According to Gardeners’ World (opens in new tab), sweet peas should be treated like any other non-hardy annual: “Plant your sweet peas outside starting in late May, after all danger of frost has passed. Put them outside throughout the day and bring them inside at night to harden them off before planting.

The most recent edition of Sarah Raven’s podcast (opens in new tab) claims, however, that “Sweet peas are hardy and can go in the garden from the middle of March.”

Confused? So were we up till we learned the RHS’s excellent sweetpea-growing tips (opens in new tab) (watch in the video above). Sweet peas are in fact “extremely tough,” says Propagation Leader Sam Gallivan, and they can withstand frosts “with no issue at all.” They do struggle with extended cold and rainy times, though. Your young sweet pea plants could perish if you reside in a region where early spring can bring both low temperatures just above freezing and a lot of rain.

Because of this, you have two options: either hold off and plant them outside in April when the weather will be warmer, even if it rains, or keep them in a cold frame until the chilly showers stop. However, sweet peas are typically categorized as half-hardy annuals and can withstand dry frost up to -4C. (25F). You will need to cover them with horticultural fleece in the event that temps fall below that.

Do sweet peas reproduce on their own?

Although sweet peas can be grown in pots or hanging baskets, a larger in-ground growing area is typically preferable. These plants want lots of space both in breadth and depth because the size of the blossoms is inversely proportional to the size of the roots.

It is advised to use containers that are at least 18 inches deep because lesser sizes can stunt growth. Use smaller containers if you don’t care about this. In either case, the blossoms are lovely. Just make sure to water them regularly to prevent drying out.

Look for sweet pea seeds that are advertised as being suitable for container growth.

In a warmer climate, yes. It is definitely feasible for some sweet pea plants to self-seed the next year if you allow them to go to seed in the fall and let the seed pods burst open and release the seeds. This is known to occur in zones 7 or warmer. If the seed does not freeze throughout the winter, it might also occur in regions with lower temperatures.

With pinching back (selectively removing the tips of major stems) and deadheading (removing dead blooms and their stalks), sweet peas will grow more profusely, although it’s completely optional.

At the time of planting, install the trellis or arch. Make sure the plants are getting hold of the supports and nicely covering the trellis by checking on them every few days.

Yes. Pods will develop once the blooms have finished blooming. These pods will contain seedlings. When they are brown and dried and the pods are just beginning to open, they are suitable for harvesting.

Yes. The secret is to select sweet peas when the blossoms at the stem’s top are still closed. Make a precise incision through the stem. Put the freshly cut flower right into a vase filled with room temperature water and cut flower preserver. In a vase, they typically last for 4 to 5 days.