EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS RELEASE AND OTHERS LIKE IT ARE ON 
THE WEB AT WWW.CLEMSON.EDU/PSAMEDIA, under 2000 releases.

DATE:     11/23/00            
WRITER:   Dr. David Bradshaw, Extension horticulturist,
          (864) 656-4949 
EDITOR:   Giles Singleton, (864) 656-3876

Grandma's Thanksgiving Sweet Peas

     CLEMSON -- Thanksgiving is just around the corner; the 
air is fresh and brisk; the sky is blue. We wake up in the 
morning to see a light coat of frost on the grass. This is the 
time of year when my thoughts turn to Grandma's sweet peas. 
     Grandma was avid about her sweet peas, and when they were 
blooming she kept little bouquets of them in almost every room 
in the house. The pervasive fragrances of sweet peas and of the 
bundles of lavender she kept in her linen closet linger in my 
mind. Grandma loved her flowers and shared that love with
me.
     Fifty years ago sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) were the 
most popular cut flowers in America and were used frequently 
for Memorial Day arrangements.  
     The keys to growing these flowers well are cool weather, 
full sun, fertile soil and plenty of moisture.
     Each Thanksgiving weekend after the turkey had settled and 
most of the family gathering had begun to disperse, Grandma would 
call me to the flower yard to help her plant her sweet peas. We
collected several bushel baskets full of old composted stable 
manure and a generous amount of field lime to work into the 
trench where she planted the sweet peas. The finished row was 
a v-shaped wedge with the bottom several inches below grade.
     We planted the sweet pea seeds about two inches deep and 
about four to six inches apart, in the bottom of the trench. 
In very dry years we soaked the seeds overnight to aid 
germination. Each time I returned to visit, I always
ran out to the flower yard to see if our sweet peas were 
growing.
     Sweet peas take several weeks to emerge. Grandma cautioned 
me to cover any tender young shoots with a thin layer of soil 
to protect them from the freezing weather. I know now that 
these frequent coverings of soil also smothered any winter 
annual weeds that tried to compete with the flowers.
     By springtime, the trench had been filled with soft thin 
layers of soil as the young sweet peas grew toward the light. 
Their roots were deep in the cool moist soil below.
     Then we fertilized with a complete 10-10-10 fertilizer at 
a rate of three tablespoons per 10 feet of row and mulched with 
a thick layer of pine needles to insulate the root zone. 
     Soon our garden was redolent with the fragrance of sweet 
peas. I ran to the flower yard frequently to bring Grandma 
another handful of brilliant flowers to place in a vase on 
the mantle.  
     The stems of sweet pea flowers, usually around six to 
eight inches long, do not fit well in large flower arrangements, 
but they are excellent for smaller vases and centerpiece 
arrangements. One nice character of sweet peas is that the 
more you pick the flowers, the more they will bloom. 
     While they tend to be cool season flowers, planting in the 
fall around Thanksgiving time and mulching to keep the soil cool 
can extend the blooming season.
     I'm ready to have some Thanksgiving turkey. I think I'll 
plant some sweet peas for fragrance and color next spring.
                      ***********************
     If you have gardening questions or comments, write to PSA 
Media Relations, A-101 Poole Agricultural Center, Clemson 
University, Clemson, S.C. 29634-0129. 
                             END