sweet pea plea

[craigpugh]

Hello grapes,

I have been trying to grow purple, lilac and cream sweet peas for my wedding august 2nd, and while i have about 150 on the go, they are as yet only about 2" high, so i am just beginning ot get a tadge nervous.

I wondered if any grapes were in my neck of the woods, sheffield, or our parents in nuneaton/coventry are or wigan/ rossendale, are growing sweet peas and think you might be able to let us have some flowers for that first weekdn in august?

I hope it isnt too much to ask, i am trying to make sure we have a back up plan. Sweet peas being what they are, they need a regular picking anyway or they go to seed, so please let me know if you can help.

Failing that, advice on how to 'bring them on' or just general soothing reassuring words of comfort and wisdom would be a tonic!

Thanks!

Craig

[Two_Sheds]

2 inches? When did you sow them?
Mine went in quite late (March) and are now 2 or 3 foot high, and flowering.

[Rhona]

Hi - I'm in Sheffield and you're welcome to my purple ones if they appear in time! I'm pretty sure that they will, but I only have tiny quantities. Otherwise - there's the Sweet Pea Festival at Chatsworth on 12th July, or have you tried Heeley Farm? They have some beautiful sweet peas in plugs (or a couple of secret spots where they grow rampantly and need cutting back!). Good luck - I'm sure you'll be fine, and what a gorgeous idea for wedding flowers.

[craigpugh]

rhona- that would be brilliant. I know heeley farm very well, but where are the rampant spots??? PM me if they are secret!

We'll put the chatsworth date in the diary. Ta.

[craigpugh]

Hello,

well, the wedding is now 9 days away. My garden is full of short stumpy sweet pea plants that i think will give a fair few. Rhona, if that offer is still open, let me know.

Any other grapes got any sweet peas to spare in either the sheffield, leicestershire or rossendale east lancs areas?

Much obliged

Craig

[jackie j]

Pity I am so far away I have had loads of all colours. When my niece got married 4years ago they ordered sweetpeas from the florists only to be told the day before the wedding she couldnt get them, my niece had to choose someting else and the flowers looked awful.
Hope you get some and have a wonderful day.

[Rhona]

Craig - definately still open and I've PM'd you.

[kwa50]

Can I tag on a question about sweet peas....

everyone says how easy sweet peas are to grow and I must admit I have grown them this year and they flowers and scent are beautiful, but I dont understand how you can pick them, when I picked some they died the next day and didnt smell like they do when they were growing in the garden.

Next year I intend to make a sweet pea screen, and I intend to pinch them out a bit (I think this year mine were very straggly and very tall), I have found them very untidy - any tips at all.

Thanks

kwa50
CraftChallenge.co.uk - Home

[Kristen]

They don't last long in water, but "died next day" is not my experience! (Unless the flowers were already over-blown?)

I have Sweet Peas that are grown only for cutting. I cut the flowers twice a week (to prevent any going to seed, but also so that we always have them in the house - they last about 1/2 a week in water)

I grow them as a cordon - I pinch out all side shoots - as this produces flowers with longer stems - otherwise the stems can be too short to put in a vase.

You either need tall canes, or to "layer them" - take them off the canes, strech them along the row to a couple of canes further along, and then up that cane. So they are all given the cane of their next-but-one-neighbour. Its a bit tedious (took me at least 2 hours to do 100 plants this weekend) so taller canes might be an idea! My canes are only 5' or so. But then I don't think I could pick them from canes 8' tall!

Make sure you tie them in to the canes often - as soon as they grow much beyond the tie the growing top drops over, and the flower stalks [i.e. now pointing down] then grow in a curve to get up to the light - and they are useless, of course, to try to put in a vase.

[kwa50]

Thanks for your reply

What does overblown mean.

kwa50
CraftChallenge.co.uk - Home

[Kristen]

"What does overblown mean"

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English says "2. (of a flower) past its prime: an overblown rose."

Although the first definition "1. excessively inflated or pretentious: overblown dreams of glory and success." seem to imply exactly the opposite to me!

[craigpugh]

OOh, i got all excited then i saw there had been 10 repluies and thought my luck was in. However it is all good stuff for bumping the thread up the top of the list.

Still calling out for sweet pea donations, can collect from the M1 corridor from coventry, via leicester, nottingham, derby, chestefield and sheffield, the south yorkshire area, wigan, rossendale east lancs, manchester, london

Hope i dont sound too cheeky. I am still miracle growing mine in the garden i reckon by a couple of days after the wedding we will be over-run by the things!!!

[Kristen]

Sorry to have stolen your thread. I have hundreds of sweet peas in flower, but I'm also a hundred miles away from you

[SlugLobber]

Bumping up for you. Good luck!

[KayJay]

Craig
Congratulations on your wedding 2nd August . How where the sweet peas on the day? Did the grapes manage to save the day? Where you surrounded with their delicious scent, ie the sweet peas!
Let us all know we're dying to find out.