Are those peas edible? Why do you remove the flowers?
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They are annual flowers. Heirloom. They are called sweet peas because the flower pods are shaped like pea pods and they are the sweetest smelling flowers ever. Not veggie type peas. Unless, you had farmers or gardeners as grandparents that grew them, most folks wouldnāt know what they are. Florists donāt sell them as the flowers only last about 3 days once they are cut. One of my absolute favorites and the only way you can get them is to grow them yourself.
Their are perennial versions of sweet peas, however they have no fragrance, so they just arenāt the same.
Sweet peas
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From the gardenā¦
Verbena, Crasapedia and bells of Ireland
More sweet peas, they are all over my house, lately Iāve sent them home with my man for him and his sister as Iām running out of room with 30 flowers a day. Not a bad problem to have
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Oh cool. I think something like that grows wild around here. They look just like pea plants with coloured flowers, they do develop fruit that looks like a skinny pea and has no flavor.
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I never saw them much until I moved here almost 4 years ago. I remember one town I lived in in the 80ās in Montana had an annual Sweet Pea Festival but I really donāt remember the flowers. I didnāt have them growing at any of the places I lived.
They seem to be plentiful in this town. I need to put up a trellis today for the ones I have on the north side of the house. They flop over when they get going.
How did you get so many colors? Did you buy yours somewhere? Seems like the first house I lived in had two colors, pink and white. There may have been a few lavender colored. I didnāt realize the flowers had stems long enough to use in a vase. I love that wine color.
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You get smaller and twisty stems if you donāt trellis for some reason. Oh yeah, they are in every color except yellow. There are a jillion different kinds. This was one mixed pack I put out.
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See, now I always thought they were just a āNon-peaā producing variety of the clan. Learn something new every day.
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Gee, I wonder which ones are the āBells of Irelandā 
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A couple of gems from my garden before I quickly gobbled them. Still warm from the sun
Gladiolas are winding down. Itās lily time!
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How are you growing the strawberries, in the ground or in pots? For some reason I have had all kinds of problems with them, whether in the ground, hanging baskets or long planters.
This is surprising as they used to grow like weeds around here.
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They are in a 7 gallon galvanized metal bucket. Organic soil. June bearers, so I cut off flowers first year, getting berries this year. My man is building me a pallet garden and I believe I will grow them in that next as even with mulch most of mine get mushy parts from laying on it. I think it would be better if they hang.
Birds will probably get them then though. The shiny metal they are in now keeps them fairly invisible except to the dogā¦who loves them. lol I tend to do well, organic soil and a 10-10-10 organic fert does just fine. Although, I have not gotten any runners, which is odd, so Iāll have to start new ones next year.
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@WMoon518 Since they are in the soil for a couple years, I could never put them directly in the ground. Weeds and bermuda grass would choke them out with lightning speed
My Gramps, who I considered a Master Gardener never had any luck with them either, so donāt feel bad.
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Am thinking about maybe doing something like thisā¦
I could start them on top and have the runners ārunā down to empty spots, with direction of course.
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Hydro is just too sciencey for me. I just like to be outside under the sun playing in the dirt, not inside with fake sun adding bottles of this concoction and checking ph levels etcā¦ Just doesnāt seem very relaxing or fun to me. To each his own though. Whatever floats your boat.
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I would actually just use the form and put dirt in the tubes. I tried the Hydro and I totally agree with you. Iāve got enough problems with planting in dirt.
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lol!..just too damn, Scienceyā¦ ha, I hear ya. Iām a sun on my back, hands in the dirt, kind of guy myself.
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Made some sugar water and hung up the hummingbird feeder @cannabissequoia gave me! I have one hummingbird buzzing around, but it is going for the real flowers first. Weāll see if it discovers the feeder. I keep going out back to check for signs of life. I have a new flock of 3 blue jays that have taken a fancy to my garden this year. Itās been quite awhile since Iāve seen them around.
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If you can, hang the Hummingbird feeder outside a big window. Theyāre not shy at all, once they get used to it. Mine hangs under my front porch and directly outside a picture window.
Theyāll come back year after year if you keep their feeders full all season. They suck that sugar down though! Best to make some sugar water and keep it in the fridge in an airtight jar. I put on half (2 cups) in the feeder and I take the stuff out of the fridge to reach room temps before refilling.
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Be very careful. They are nasty SOBās. I had one that would attack every time anyone would walk outside. Never did anything to him, never messed with him, he was just obnoxious. After about 3 month he finally went away, but since I have heard stories from other folks saying the same thing.
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Usually they are mean fuckers, I know. These are pretty small still. So far, so good. I saw a squirrel run from a huge blue jay when I was in Oregon. As a matter of fact, all of the critters ran for cover when he swooped in. lol
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