This afternoon I have been trying to get the sweetpeas under control - the strong winds had tangled up a lot of the stems, blowing them off the frame and the miserable weather had made me put off doing anything about them. The result was a whole load of flapping stems at funny angles and hoop shaped stems. Today has been sunny though and it is good to have a job to do that isn't muddy so that I can still serve in the shop.So I have cut off most of the old leaves and the tendrils - the former so that the plant's energy goes into making long stems rather than supporting the leaves and the latter so that the stems don't get caught and bent by the tendrils clinging on. It is a tedious job really and the sweet pea vine looks much worse afterwards - a gangly mass of awkward stems - but hopefully by the middle of next week it will be covered in flowers again.
The sweet pea bouquet was put together for a man who ordered our whole sweet pea crop (120 stems) today for his wife - how romantic is that?
15 comments:
You know that is just the sort of thing Stuart would do. There used to be an elderly lady round the corner who sold pinks from her garden gate and he could never resist buying everything she had for sale when he went to buy his newspaper, we sometimes used to run out of vases.
Oh wow, why doesn't my husband do things like that?!! I'll have to show him this blog. Lovely bouquet.
To be honest I don't think many people's husbands do that - so lucky Carolyn as well!
J
x
Sweet peas were my Mum's favorite flower, she always grew them up the fence by the kitchen window and they flowered all summer. Lovely.
ack - i am jealous.
tracy x
Sweet Peas just the very best, I love them, mine are miles behind.
Blossom
How long will sweet peas last once they've been cut. They look so pretty.
Love sweet peas mine are about 8 inches high, nothing like yours.x
What a lovely bouquet
The difference with the sweet peas is purely that I sow them September/October and then overwinter them under cover (they hate wet, don't mind frost) until March. You don't need a tunnel to do this - a piece of glass on bricks will do as long as it keeps the rain off.
Sweet peas should be cut with one bloom open and the other 2 still closed, then they will last about 5 days if the vase is not in sunshine. If you have sweet peas growing then it is definately worth cutting thm as it encourage new flowers - a win/win situation.
As long as they don't form seedheads they will keep on flowering and flowering - but they must be cut or deadheaded regularly.
J
x
I love sweet peas, something so decadent about their scent, heady and pleasing on a Summer's breeze.
I am with you on not totally trusting these so-called "carbon neutral" schemes, I'm not sure I'd trust someone to plant a tree for me (I'd like to see it being done myself!) - and I think it's a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. In my opinion it's much better to tackle climate change on an individual basis and *really* make a change, even if that means no flights, as opposed to finding a quick and easy way out!
As for the gent who bought the sweetpeas for his wife, he is obviously a gentleman - my husband brings back flowers after work on a Friday for me - I am the luckiest gal alive :)
P.s. my next post will be showing off flowers fresh from the garden, hurrah!
My mums favourite flower. I carried a basketful on my wedding day.
I love sweet peas they are a favourtite
Sweet Peas - my favourite. Here in Australia we plant around St. Patricks Day. Mine are around 20 - 30 cm at the moment so hopefully beautiful in Spring. Love that bouquet - what a lucky recipient!
I once bought some sweet peas from a doorstep, on the way to the swimming baths with my class.I must have told the class they were my favourite flower because my dad used to grow them. Last day of term ,huge bouquet of sweet peas and handwritten message from seven year old Ethan,"sweet peas are your favourite flowers and you are my favourite teacher." They were all picked from his grandads garden. I still have that letter, of course.Thankyou for reminding me. The teachers will love your bouquets. milly
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