Let’s be honest, everyone wants their bouquets to last as long as possible and often feel frustrated when they don’t. Here are a few tips to follow that will extend their life.

Water:
Just like humans, flowers need fresh water to stay nice and healthy. Changing the water in your container every couple of days is very important. Making sure the vase is also given a little wipe when you change the water will help to remove any debris that has collected in it.
Re-cut the stems:
Cut at least 1/2” off the stems every time you change the water to make sure any blocked stems are cleared and can drink up some fresh water.
Keep away from sunlight and heat sources:
Cut flowers do not like or want sunlight, they have already had enough out in the field. To extend their life and their beauty, keep them in a cool and darker location.
Avoid placing them near fruit:
Some fruit put off the gas ethylene which can ripen the flowers and in turn really shorten their vase life.

We are in growing zone 5, so we sow our sweet peas in late winter for beautiful late spring/early summer blooms. They are a very hard working flower and that is definitely a must if it’s going to stay in our seed line up year after year. The more you harvest them, the more they continue to bloom. They have the most beautiful fragrance and the sweetest little tendrils. We look forward to seeing them come to life every spring.

Fill deep pots with good quality potting soil.
Poke 2 holes in each pot, about 1/2” deep and put one seed in each hole.
Put a clear plastic dome over the pots to increase humidity and label each flat. Keep the flat in a cool but bright location for germination.
Once the plants have 4-6 leaves, pinch out the main stem just above a joint leaving 2-3 leaves below. This will encourage the plants to branch out.
We prepare our row by applying a thick layer of compost and tilling it in nice and deep. Sweet peas send their roots down quite low so you want to make sure they have nutrients to reach for.
Lay out drip irrigation and get netting in place.
Plant them 8” apart on both sides of the netting.
Water deeply throughout the season and fertilize with seaweed/fish fertilizer.
Continue to support the fast growing vines by tying them to the netting, this will encourage straight stems.
Harvest when there are 2 buds open on the stem and for continued blooms don’t let the plants go to seed.