The sweet peas have now all been planted out. Four packets of mixed were sown but all with good perfume. We've grown the varieties before so we know we can count on them to have good scent. I think the best feature of a sweet pea is it's perfume and couldn't consider growing any that didn't have a scent!
As for our edible pea plants we have constructed a climbing frame from the prunings that resulted after coppicing one of the hazel bushes. Maybe coppicing is too technical a term and I should really have said hacked down. The bush at the back must be trembling to its roots as it will suffer the same fate next year. We have cut back the bushes in this way before and they grew back quickly.
Once the sweet peas scramble up the framework they should create a scented wall. You will notice that we have covered the ground with weed control fabric here too. In the past we have found it quite difficult to weed in amongst the sweet peas and under the framework.
Cucumbers will be trained up the struts on the road side of the framework - they grew really well here last year. The cucumbers thrived in the wet conditions so the fabric should keep the ground from drying up too much around their roots.
We may also grow some squash plants to scramble under the archway. These will be planted in slits cut into the fabric which extends under the mulch to the edge of the road.
Even before the sweet peas start to flower we have wafts of perfume drifting across the plot. In one bed along the roadside edge of one plot we have a shrub and flower border in which are planted some shrub roses.
As when choosing sweet peas these roses were chosen for their perfume as much as the flowers. Some flowers are just beginning to open.
Others are covering the bush with blooms. The shrub roses start off looking really healthy but then unfortunately succumb to black spot so I have bought a fungicide with which to spray them. I avoided an all purpose pesticide as I don't want to kill the bugs. A couple are now looking rather weak so may need replacing.
At the moment they are under-planted with a carpet of poached egg plants - limnanthes. I say planted but these are self sown seedlings that come up every year and will die off completely once they have flowered and set even more seeds.
Then there is the perfume from unexpected sources such as the broad bean flowers. If you have ever caught a whiff of a lovely perfume in the vegetable plot and have wondered where it was coming from, then have a sniff at your broad bean flowers.
Even before the sweet peas start to flower we have wafts of perfume drifting across the plot. In one bed along the roadside edge of one plot we have a shrub and flower border in which are planted some shrub roses.
Finally not forgetting the garden mint that has strayed into a nearby grass path and releases its scent whenever the grass is cut or it is walked on.
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It's going to look, and smell, stunning when the sweet peas are in flower, it's a good sized patch you've got.
ReplyDeleteThe sweet peas do look good when in flower, JO but take some dead heading to keep them going
DeleteI wish I had a Hazel I would certainly be coppicing it.I think there are some lovely scents around at the moment I wish they could be bottled. We have Eleagnus Quicksilver and Philadelphus wafting at us as we walk out of the back door at the moment
ReplyDeleteIt's catching that subtle scent isn't it Flowerlady - not overpowering just 'there' and intriguing
DeleteGosh! I didn't realise that broad beans were heavily scented. I love sweet peas - we haven't grown any this year and I'm already regretting the decision to take a break from them. I agree with you about fragrance - although heavily scented plants give me a sore throat, I will always choose scented over unscented.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd say heavily scented, Crystal but it sort of seems to depend on time of day and weather conditions.
DeleteI think scent is as wonderful as sight in the garden. I love the poached egg plants, I didn't realise they were so prolific at self seeding, I may invest in some to brighten up the bee plot!! You sure have thought things out well regarding your pea and squash plants...I never do anything more than split the plot into four categories.
ReplyDeleteThey would be good to have on a bee plot, Tanya
DeleteIt's so nice to smell blooms when pottering around in the garden isn't it.
ReplyDeleteSweet Pea ar one of my favourite cut flowers and I grow them every year inside the polytunnel and outside too, I even have my first sewwtpea flowers open today which is the earliest ever for me.
I'm jealous of your roses lol. To have blooms already would be amazing and you have so many of them. none of my roses (and I have plenty) are showing any sign of wanting to break bud just yet though the climber 'compassion' is the closest to it.
It's only the shrub roses that are flowering Linda - the garden climbing floribundas are still in bud. I bet that polytunnel smells gorgeous.
DeleteGood to see you living off the land with those hazel branches, they look very sturdy- and attractive.
ReplyDeleteYour poached egg plant looks great. I like the bold use of plants.
I can't take credit for the bold use Roger, The poached egg plants decided themselves to be bold and I just leave them be!
DeleteI love the scent of broad bean flowers, it is one I would quite happily bottle.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising when you first noice it isn't it, Jo?
DeleteSweet pea... I have sowed the seeds directly into the ground all over our little garden. I can't wait for it to flower and spread the perfume, hmmm...
ReplyDeleteI love roses, but the one I bought for our garden somehow I managed to kill :( I am not giving up though, will try again to grow them:)
I hope your seeds all germinate successfully Aga and you manage to grow a rose.
DeleteTeh vegetable bed look so good!
ReplyDeleteAll the flowers are new to me! I like limnanthes!
We can show one another new flowers, Malar.
DeleteWhat beautiful images. I'm always amazed at how much you grow and the size of your plot. How lovely to have a wall of scented sweet peas! I too love their scent.Right! Off to have a sniff of my broad bean flowers!xxxx
ReplyDeleteSo what did you think of the broad beans, Snowbird?
DeleteThat bed looks wonderful and all the pollinators will thank you for it :}
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that it also has lots of weeds, Bilbo which will be dealt with in due course
DeleteI love sweet peas but haven't felt I had room for any until this year - I found some that only grows to about 30-35 cm and flowers repeatedly! I am eagerly awaiting buds, they are about 20 cm tall right now and I got 5 plants in a container.
ReplyDeleteYour roses look lovely, and I so agree that roses should have scent too, I didn’t think about that way back when I started so some of my roses are not scented.
I'm sure that your garden will be filled with scent once the sweet peas get going!
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