One of the UK’s favourite flowers, sweet peas, are guaranteed to freshen up any garden with their deep purple or pink hues.
As we enter the summer months, many experts and amateur gardeners alike will be relieved to find their sweet peas beginning to bloom throughout June and July.
But, do you ever feel like these English garden staples never seem to stick around long enough, often fading before summer’s end?
There is one simple trick to keep the scent of sweet peas in your garden well into October, backed by Gardeners’ World expert, Monty Don.
Assuming you’ve already picked out the perfect spot to provide the plant with ample sunlight and plenty of water, you may even top your sweet peas up with fertiliser every so often to prolong their blooming – but there is another tip.
You can get up to four months of flowers out of these beloved blooms if you follow these instructions and remember the golden rule – keep deadheading your sweet peas.
Deadheading refers to the removal of wilting or dead flowers from plants, in this case, your sweet peas.
It keeps plants looking lovely but also encourages more blooms, whether in beds and borders, containers or hanging baskets.
“Regularly pick all the flowers from your sweet pea plants is the best way to extend their flowering season,’ Monty Don noted in his popular gardening blog.
He added: “Sweet pea flowers will rapidly develop seed pods in warm weather and these drain energy from the plant and trigger more seed production at the expense of flowers.”
As mentioned, sweet peas love plenty of sunshine and water, so it’s best to keep soil moist at all times and potentially water a few times a week during hot spells.
They can also grow up to eight feet tall with the right support such as hazel poles or netting.
And, if you spot any fading flowers, keep on top of the regular deadheading and your garden should continue to bloom throughout the summer.
“I have found that the optimum picking period for sweet peas is about 10 days,” Monty insists.
“It is important to remove every single flower – and to enjoy the resulting fragrant bunches of blooms for the house.
“Use scissors and cut the stems as long as possible and as soon as you see any seed heads remove them immediately. This way, in a cool summer, the plants can go on flowering right into September.”