What do I do with my Sweet Peas?

[cider_babe]

I have some Sweet Peas that were bought and planted when small plants. They have done brilliantly but I never cut the flowers and I now have seeds. Will my Sweet Peas die down and come back next year or what do I do with the seeds ( dry them or plant them as they are straight off the plant) Really need some advice on this please....from a new to gardening enthusiast.

[VirginVegGrower]

I have some Sweet Peas that were bought and planted when small plants. They have done brilliantly but I never cut the flowers and I now have seeds. Will my Sweet Peas die down and come back next year or what do I do with the seeds ( dry them or plant them as they are straight off the plant) Really need some advice on this please....from a new to gardening enthusiast.

No they will not regrow. They are an annual. Save seed and grow again next year. Funnily I have ripped mine out tonight after saving seed.

[pipkins]

If you had picked the flowers they would have flowered for a longer period

[Aberdeenplotter]

Pipkins has hit the nail on the head. Sweet peas will continue to produce flowers till the frosts come if you keep cutting the flowers and pick off any seed heads that have inadvertantly been allowed to develop

[Two_Sheds]

No they will not regrow. They are an annual.

Although they will regrow if you're lazy and leave the plant where it is all winter (the seeds will drop to the ground and germinate)

[cider_babe]

Thankyou....do the seeds need to be dried or just left in a dark place???

[cider_babe]

Pipkins has hit the nail on the head. Sweet peas will continue to produce flowers till the frosts come if you keep cutting the flowers and pick off any seed heads that have inadvertantly been allowed to develop

I will remember to do this next year..thankyou

[rustylady]

Thankyou....do the seeds need to be dried or just left in a dark place???

They should be fairly dry already. Pick the pods off when they are brown and crispy and pop the seeds out. Store them in a paper (not plastic) bag till next spring.

[cider_babe]

They should be fairly dry already. Pick the pods off when they are brown and crispy and pop the seeds out. Store them in a paper (not plastic) bag till next spring.

Thankyou Rustylady...job for the weekend then :-)

[sewer rat]

Pipkins has hit the nail on the head. Sweet peas will continue to produce flowers till the frosts come if you keep cutting the flowers and pick off any seed heads that have inadvertantly been allowed to develop

On a recent episode of Gardeners World, Monty Don sais that through years of trial and error, he has found that picking every open flower stem from the sweet peas at 10 day intervals gives the best results in terms of flowers produced and extended period of flowering - am trying it in some of my gardens at the mo -will let you all know my results.

[VirginVegGrower]

Although they will regrow if you're lazy and leave the plant where it is all winter (the seeds will drop to the ground and germinate)

Tut Tut! My plants looked awful after a while owing to the extreme winds, so I left them to seed,having picked loads of flowers off on a regular basis - think they'd had their run.

[Florence Fennel]

I'm waiting for some sweet peas to shrivel to harvest the seed. I thought I was going to be disappointed with them. My son and DIL bought the kit for me from M & S. There was a load of seed, a packet of compost and a small pink metal bucket. I put all the seed into the bucket and got ready to complain about M & S selling duff kits. I was really surprised at the lovely show they have given me. They were dwarf sized, pink and purple and the scent was lovely. Oh me of little faith.

[Florence Fennel]

Tut Tut! My plants looked awful after a while owing to the extreme winds, so I left them to seed,having picked loads of flowers off on a regular basis - think they'd had their run.

My tall ones I grew in a wigwam in a container have had a real wind bashing. They look terrible, but I'll leave them a while longer to see if I get any more flowers. It will be interesting to see how Rat gets on with the 10 day picking.

[bramble]

I have had a brilliant display of sweet pea flowers this year but they are absolutely covered in greenfly. Every time i go to cut or dead head them i end up covered in the little blighers. bliters (sp) ?