sweet peas success

It worked!

In my new home here in Bulgaria summers are pretty hot. One of my favorite flowers, the lovely sweet pea, does not like it hot at all! I have tried for a few years now to grow them here, but after an enthusiastic start they just give up once the sun starts to shine in earnest by mid May. I found some kindred souls discussing the problem, who live in parts of America where they also have hot summers and a real fondness for sweet peas. The thing to do seemed to be to sow them in autumn and protect them from frosts, so that they can create a mass of roots all autumn and winter, and are ready to bloom once spring arrives. And it worked! They flowered like crazy in May and June! They suffered from a severe attack by the aphids in early spring, but I managed to control that by spraying them with soapy water (sorry aphids…). There were lovely colours, pink, light violet, almost black purple, and even a few striped flowers. I will gather the seeds and sow them again this autumn, probably late September. Hoorah!! At last, sweet peas in Bulgaria!