A Tale of Woe...

Has anyone else found that sweet peas this year are not as good as usual?
I usually put the seeds (last years saved mixed with a fresh packet) in the ground in November and always have an excellent show. I didn’t sow until March this year and had three germinated! The carrots were also a no-show, and the runner beans are very slow. What a tale of woe! It gets worse, the pigeons beat me to all the fruit on my only red currant bush and the squirrel ate a good portion of strawberries, taking unripe fruit to store under the lavender bush!
I’m sitting here with my catapult, daring anything to go near my fig tree.

 

Usually I keep the street in sweet peas! How long do the perpetual type flower for Armandii? Is it a longer season than the annual?

 

Well worth thinking about.

 

Hi @Emaggie I had very mixed germination results - some came up very quickly and another batch just rotted! However the ones that did come through are flowering wonderfully. The snag with the perpetual ones is the lack of scent - I just love the perfume of the annuals!

 

Lathyrus latifolia. > Everlasting sweet pea. This must be the first botanical name I learned. A great favourite of the day. Strong plant, and strong well presented flowers. Sadly when ones nose was thrust at it. Alas. No scent. So in time adventuouse gardeners produced sports and in time many new varieties of the sweet pea. Growing them soon became something of a competition. In past times, within the walls of stately homes. Floral decorations played a very important part not only for the residents but perhaps more so for visiting guest. The delicate flower somehow attracted ones attention and despite have practically no perfume, nevertheless it still remained a great favourite.

Thanks to the great efforts of gardeners and nurserymen, the introduction of new varieties soon spread. Amazingly so, but suddenly this humble pea type flower produced a very delicate scent. The sweet pea has remained a great favourite amongst gardeners and florist. Sadly gardeners are experiencing some dissappointments. New varieties are being introduced and so we tend to make a grab for them. Ooops! Oh dear! What have I done wrong? I sowed the seed accoring to the instructions. Germination has been patchy. Growth, well? should I have pulled them down?

Truly. Honestly. Perhaps I look beyond the garden. I have made it a practice to specialise in growing certain plants. Roses, fuchsias, lilies etc. Perhaps concentrating more on the scientific side. For what it's worth. Yes there are each year, more and more new varieties on the market. They are. Here today and gone tomorrow. Check out the lists and catalogues. So many new commers fail to last. Whereas, those old favourites are still in demand. So. What is the answer??

 

My usual very successful SPs, have been a disaster this year. No problems with germination and growing on and pinching, but they have struggled after planting out early April. A couple are growing strong others look feeble or dead! Why

 

Beautiful pics Shiney.
Mike, I think you are right. I bought Lady Di runner seeds this year, I thought I’d have a change. Bad move. They are pathetic. I should have stuck to the tried and tested! Sad to read you had a disappointment too HarryS.

 

my "everlasting" sweet peas have been utter poop this year too. No sign of any flowers as yet. They usually go mad.