Peas Ideas, Tips & Guides

Having mentioned before that the rhododendrons seemed to be flowering better than any other year, I can also say that I don’t recollect ever seeing anything with blooms as dense as this before – R. yakushimanum ‘Vintage Rose’ is absolutely astounding! Mind you, I don’t think I remember seeing destruction quite as quick or efficient as that experienced by Fritillaria imperialis either!

May is historically the hungry gap in the vegetable garden, because it is the time when the winter crops run out and before the summer crops get going. If you have been well organised, you may have some early crops of salad leaves, broad beans, radishes and even strawberries to harvest towards the end of the month – as well as asparagus, which is at its prime now. But the main focus this month is the sowing, nurturing and tending of your crops, as growth accelerates. Potatoes should be earthed up so the tubers are not exposed to light, while peas and broad beans need supporting with pea sticks or canes and twine as they get bigger. Weeding must be done regularly (little and often is my motto) and, if the weather is dry, watering is essential. It is best done as a thorough soak every few days rather than a scant daily sprinkling. At the start of May, I sow tender crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes in seed trays and individual pots. I keep these in the greenhouse until later in the month, when it has warmed up and they can go outside. As the month goes on, the focus shifts to planting out. I find it very satisfying to be able to plant a neat row of seedlings along a garden line, rather than try the lottery of direct sowing into the ground, then thinning out. Using the no-dig method, I will have already prepared my beds with a layer of well-rotted compost. Just before planting out, I will rake the bed to break down any larger clods and give the seedlings a better chance of establishing.

There’s no need to wait months to enjoy the delicious flavor of homegrown peas as you can grow pea sprouts and shoots year-round inside your home. These nutrient dense foods are quick and easy to grow and you don’t need fancy equipment to produce a bumper crop of sweet, tender pea sprouts and shoots. In this article you’ll learn the difference between sprouts and shoots, discover how to plant each type, get growing tips, and find out when to harvest. Pea sprouts and pea shoots You may have noticed there are a lot of terms used for describing immature pea plants: sprouts, microg

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How to Grow and Harvest Pea Shoots

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There are no sleuths investigating a dastardly crime here, it’s just that all but one of my contributions for Jim’s meme at Garden Ruminations this week are inside and undercover! Snowdrops, both common and specials are all but over here, but Galanthus ‘Peardrop’ (above), my star performer, is still strutting her stuff, flaunting her HUGE blooms, a full 2″ (about 5 cms) from the top of her green ovary to the tip of the outer perianth segments – she’s gorgeous!

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Oscar Mayer

Perfect for picking, fragrant sweet peas are easy to grow and come in a range of beautiful colours. You can grow them in pots or in the ground, training them up a frame for a beautiful display. Plant sweet peas near a seating area so you can smell them as you sit and relax in the garden. Or pick some for the vase – even a small amount can fill a room with fragrance.

Growing peas in your home garden is an easy way to enjoy fresh produce earlier than most other vegetables.

Having a smaller outdoor space shouldn’t stop you from filling it with your favourite flowers and colours. And when you can’t build outwards… build up! That’s why climbing plants are perfect for smaller spaces, they help you utilise as much available space as possible.

This crop growing on John’s Island in Charleston are fava beans or broad beans. They are grown in small acreages in South Carolina.

Since entering horticulture professionally over a decade ago, I’ve noticed a correlation on the Colorado Front Range between wood mulch (also called arborist chips) and water-wise gardens. A beautifully designed garden goes in, with appropriate irrigation and plant palette, and the garden looks great—briefly—before languishing. Plants in these beds never quite take off, or they fail before their natural lifespans are over. I casually refer to this as plant/mulch mismatch, and it’s an issue I see too often, maybe because mulch is anything but exciting to the average homeowner.

Mostly evergreen shrubs, chiefly from tropical America, belonging to the Pea family, Leguminosae. They grow from 6-50 ft. in height, have pinnate, dark green, glossy leaves, and bear golden-yellow flowers in terminal clusters in summer. Cassia is from the original Greek name Kasia.

A genus of hardy annual and herbaceous perennial climbers from temperate zones and tropical mountains.

…well, not really, actually a vase of Helleborus ‘Double Aubergine’. With no real aubergines to hand, the flowers and an arum leaf are propped up by a few (shop-bought) sugar snap peas, and displayed in a slim-waisted dark green vase, possibly Caithness Glass.

Beans include many types of snap beans, pole beans, and Southern peas, such as black-eyed types. Plant these in spring after all danger of frost has passed. Because they grow so fast, start beans from seed directly in the garden. To speed their sprouting, soak seeds in water overnight before planting.

There are dwarf and taller pea varieties. Although plants of the short, dwarf varieties may be grown without supports it is the custom to provide all garden peas with supports of some sort. Twiggy brushwood of the height the plants will attain is much liked by gardeners.

A long weekend and hardly anything planned. That doesn’t happen very often. Good Friday I worked, but that was because I really needed to finish off someones garden, and another I’d not been to for a month because last time I was due to go we had sleet, snow, hail, basically all that cold horrible weather. Saturday was spent doing shopping and house chores, but Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday were garden days. I had a list as long as my arm, and my arms are very long. I didn’t get through everything in the garden, but I made a huge dent in my list of things to do.

From the deep blossoms of eggplants to the surprising hue in the artichoke flowers, these vegetables with purple flowers are a must-have for a contrasting garden!

Ranging from versatile and vitamin-rich vegetables like vibrant ‘Velvet Bean’ to the unique Violet Artichoke, each of these Vegetables that Start With V adds a unique flavor to your plate and a color to your garden!

Meet Rachel Bull, our veg grower

A surprising number of annual crops benefit from the support of a trellis. Because we love trellised crops and because we’ve been trialing a ton of varieties, we started carrying a selection of Renee’s Garden seeds in our shop! Here is a short list of some of our favorite crops and varieties to grow vertically in the garden and links to our store where you can find our favorite types:

One of the best things about using the Freyr trellis and compostable strings to support your crops: end of season cleanup! All you do is cut the strings, bundle up your debris and toss it into the compost. If you’ve ever spent hours detangling vines from metal mesh or plastic netting, you may understand what a game changer this can be! Below you’ll find a few videos of us cleaning up tall, vining crops from the Freyr trellis at the end of the season.

The Pea Family, known scientifically as Fabaceae, is renowned for its stunning blooms and vital role in agriculture, but not many are aware of the poisonous plants in this genus. This family also harbors species with toxins capable of posing serious health risks to humans and animals.

Succulents That Look Like Peas offer a quirky visual appeal and are also quite easy to look after, making them perfect for newbies and experienced gardeners alike! Their compact size and dangling nature make them great for hanging baskets!

Kathy Schreurs in Sheldon, Iowa, is sharing her garden with us today. She wrote in right before the change from daylight savings time, and had this to say:

There’s no need to buy a pricey garden structure when it’s quick and easy to DIY a pea trellis like a garden arch or bamboo support. Peas, as well as sweet peas, can be bush or vining plants with both benefiting from being trellised. It keeps the plants upright and off the ground which promotes healthy growth and reduces the risk of insect and disease issues. Trellising pea plants also makes it easier to harvest the pods, or in the case of sweet peas, the fragrant blooms. Below you’ll find seven easy and effective ideas for DIY pea trellises.

Many gardeners grow sweet peas – aromatic annual vines with lovely varied colored blooms, but there is also a perennial sweet pea vine. Also referred to as everlasting sweet pea, this perennial pea vine is an old fashioned bloomer that will continue to reward you with color year after year. Interested in growing your own everlasting pea vine? Read on to learn all about a sweet pea vine perennial.

I’m not always the world’s most efficient or organised gardener, but there are certain things that I always try to do. One of these is to sow my saved sweet pea seed in Roottrainers and deep pots in October. They have germinated well and are now in the coldframe where they should develop a good root system over winter, ready for pinching out in the spring to encourage bushy growth. ..

If you’re an April soul or simply captivated by the charm of these blossoms, a daisy or sweet pea tattoo might be calling your name! Wondering what each means and how you can make them uniquely yours? Get ready to discover the best April Birth Flower Tattoo Meaning and Ideas!

Human beings have been adorning themselves with botanical jewelry made from seeds for thousands of years, and so can you. Dried bean beads for jewelry are inexpensive and come in an array of colors and patterns, and you can even grow your own. Jewelry made from seeds is a relatively simple project — the only difficulty being drilling a hole through the bean.

Obelisks give you the chance to grow climbing plants throughout your garden, rather than limit them to just your walls and fences, while plant supports are indispensable for helping prevent herbaceous perennials flopping over paths, lawns or their plant neighbours.

Autumn, next to spring, is one of the most popular seed-sowing seasons, especially for flowers. Plants that are native to colder climates are also perfect for autumn sowing.

Even though it may be autumn, it is not too late to sow and grow. With the right strategies, even in cooler climate zones, it is possible to grow your own throughout the whole of the year. The key is to choose the right strategies and the right crops and varieties for your specific situation.