Add a splash of colour to your plot

While I am passionate about growing vegetables, one of my greatest pleasures in life, is picking my first bunch of sweet peas of the year.
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I usually grow a row of sweet peas across my allotment, this keeps us supplied with wonderful scented blooms for a good two or three months, as well as supplying most of my friends.

I find the best variety to grow are the Spencer sweet peas, originally bred by the Spencer family, the ancestors of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

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Although I usually plant my seeds in January or February, ready grown plants are available from most garden centres, which I am pleased to say, are now open again.

Flowers to attract bees SUS-200518-104302001Flowers to attract bees SUS-200518-104302001
Flowers to attract bees SUS-200518-104302001

There are several different ways of growing sweet peas including up a wigwam made from canes or up garden netting. I prefer to grow mine up hazel pea sticks which can be purchased from a local wood yard. Put the sticks up first constructing a double row about two foot apart. Angle the sticks each side of the row and let them meet at the top.

When you buy sweet peas, you will usually find there are about eight or ten growing in the pot. Knock all of the plants out of the pot and try and separate each plant without breaking too many roots. Dig a hole as close as you can to the stick, cane or netting, get a can and fill the hole with water. Once the water has soaked away plant your sweet pea and firm it in with fine soil. As the plant grows you may have to encourage it to climb up the support by tying it in with string. I prefer ties you can buy which are a bit like pipe cleaners, these are softer and don’t damage the plant. Keep the sweet peas well watered on a daily basis. The main thing to remember with sweet peas is, you must pick them as soon as you see the flowers. If you leave the flower to die on the plant it will just form a seed pod and will stop other new flowers developing.

As an old fashioned gardener, I do like straight rows across my plot. For several years my wife has been asking me to plant her a bee garden. The only position I could plant her bee garden without interfering with my straight rows, was underneath the old plum tree on my allotment. After tying a piece of string around the base of the tree and tying a knife on the other end of the string, I drew out the outline of a circle around the tree. Once I had the outline, I edged up the circle with an edging iron. My wife bought several packets of seeds especially for encouraging bees. I think she got hers from the RSPB shop, but most seed merchants and garden centres sell them. I scattered them evenly within the circle and the picture here shows the results.

It has to be a good thing to get as many bees as you can to visit your garden and with very little effort you can create yourself a pretty bee garden.

Good Luck.

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