Happy Friday My Little Sweet Peas!

I ask you, who isn’t thinking about spring right now? Even the little birds outside my window are singing, yes singing, even though it’s still January and technically spring is still months away. I’m not one of those gardeners that sows buckets of seeds, but I do enjoy a handful of annuals that must be planted every year or summer would not feel like summer. Sweet peas are a necessity. Their delicate beauty and hauntingly ethereal scent make our garden complete. In the early morning, when they smell the sweetest, I like to pluck fresh bundles to place in strategic parts of our home. If you’ve ever read my previous blog, then you know that since I’ve moved from California to Pennsylvania, I’ve struggled with getting my sweet peas to grow as rampantly as they did out west. Last season, I think I finally cracked the code and gave them the type of home they craved because they got so large they outgrew their supports and gave me an abundance of flowers–behaving exactly as they should! The secret? Instead of planting them directly in the ground, I grew them instead in a very large container against the south-facing portion of our home that receives morning sun and afternoon shade. I think that even though sweet peas prefer to not be scalded by blistering heat, they must like their roots to be toasty and the sunlight warming the container was just the ticket. That’s my guess, at least. Do you have any tips for growing sweet peas in your area?