Should You Pick Sweet Pea Flowers?

The best sweet peas for cutting are those with long, straight stems and strong fragrance. The best way to ensure straight stems is to train sweet peas with the cordon method. Regular picking is essential to keeping them productive, too, so you’ll never be short of vase or two of scented blooms.

Should I pick all my sweet peas?

Pick your sweet peas and arrange them in vases indoors. Continue to deadhead your sweet peas by removing the seed pods. At their peak, you’ll need to pick and deadhead every couple of days.

How do you know when to pick sweet peas?

Harvest sweet peas when the pods are still tender, juicy, and green. Pick them before the seeds inside over-mature and their pods begin to yellow. Sweet peas can be eaten raw if they’re picked while they’re tender and have brightly colored pods.

What do you do with sweet peas after they have flowered?

The seedpods don’t begin to form until after the flower dies, so the flowers must remain on the plant until they are dead. Treat the rest of the plants in the garden as usual, deadheading to keep them blooming freely all spring.

Should you cut the tendrils of sweet peas?

Cutting off the tendrils is not essential, but it does prevent them from getting tangled up with their neighbours and the flower stems. Tendrils wrapped around flower stems result in bent and curly stems that are useless for cutting.

Do sweet peas grow back every year?

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) only live for a year, dying after setting seed. But don’t let this put you off as they are super easy to grow from seed. Perennial species such as Lathyrus latifolius come back year after year, but mostly lack fragrance and there are fewer to choose from.

How long do sweet peas last in the garden?

If you actively maintain your cut sweet peas, they may last beautifully for up to one week.

Can you eat the peas from a sweet pea plant?

Sweet peas will keep flowering if you pick the flowers regularly – a good excuse to have some beautiful flowers in your home. Remember- sweet pea seed pods look similar to edible pea pods but they are poisonous and must not be eaten.

Do peas continue to produce?

Most varieties of peas need about 60 days of growth before harvest. But they will stop growing and not produce flowers or pods once temperatures get above 85°F, as often happens in June.

Does picking sweet peas encourage more flowers?

Regular picking will encourage more flowers and prevent plants from setting seed. Water sweet peas growing in pots, and during very dry weather.

How toxic are sweet peas?

Sweet Pea Toxicity
The seeds of sweet peas are mildly poisonous, containing lathyrogens that, if ingested, in large quantities can cause a condition called Lathyrus. Symptoms of Lathyrus are paralysis, labored breathing, and convulsions.

Why have my sweet peas got pods?

When you stop harvesting flowers and pruning the sweet peas, they will go to seed. When this happens, the flowers will die off and the sweet peas will start to form pods that are full of seeds. Then, you’ll have to wait for the pods to develop and brown before you can pick them.

Why are my sweet peas only flowering at the top?

Sweet peas do not flower in shady areas, excessive heat or in soil with too much Nitrogen or additional fertilizer. Sweet peas flower best when in full sun and in medium to low nutrient soils. Excessive heat can temporarily prevent flowering.

Can you stop sweet peas growing too tall?

When the sweet peas have grown too tall for their supporting canes, untie all of them and lay the stems carefully on the ground, taking care not to snap the brittle stems. Next, re-tie stems to a cane further along the row, so the tip of the plant reaches about 30cm (12in) up its new cane.

Do you pinch out sweet peas more than once?

If left to its own devices that shoot will grow taller and taller. By pinching out the top growth, you will make the seeding through out side shoots so that there is more than one single shoot. This means later in the year, more flowering stems per plant.

What do you do with sweet peas in the winter?

Sweet peas can withstand temperatures of about -5 at night but will not like to be frozen in their pots all day. If you overdo it and lose the top growth, chances are, if you give them some warmth they will have established enough root to sprout again.

Can sweet peas survive winter?

Generally, though, sweet peas are classed as half hardy annuals and will be fine in dry frost up to -4°C (25°F). If temperatures do drop below that, you’ll need to protect them with horticultural fleece.

Why are my sweet pea stems so short?

As side shoots develop they spread the energy, which may result in shorter stems and a smaller number of flowers. Having planted the sweet peas out in late April / May they will start flowering in late May / early June.

How often do you pinch out sweet peas?

Pinching out sweet peas is not required, but many gardeners choose to do so in order to keep sweet peas short and bushy. Others choose to pinch back sweet peas to stimulate the growth of numerous flower buds. Keep in mind that sweet peas are vining plants and can reach 6 to 9 feet tall.

Can you eat sweet peas raw?

Garden peas are sometimes called sweet peas or English peas. The pods are firm and rounded, but you must shell them, remove the peas inside, then discard the pods before eating. The peas are sweet and may be eaten raw or cooked; these are the peas you typically see canned or in the freezer section.

Are sweet pea flowers toxic to dogs?

Although the name “sweet pea” (Lathyrus latifolius and L. odoratus) sounds innocuous and lovely as can be, the family Fabaceae plants are actually toxic to various animals, including dogs.