Early Spring Bloomers

Tips for Growing Sweet Peas

• When possible, select seeds by individual color. Strong blocks of color make for the most beautiful gardens (and cut flower arrangements), so plant in rows for easy cutting.

• For every two packets of tall sweet pea varieties, plant one knee-high. (Try 'Cupid,' 'Patio,' and 'Little Sweetheart.')

• Don't relegate sweet peas to one area; mix them with your perennials. Plant taller varieties, like 'Spencers' and 'Grandifloras', on supports set into beds of spring-blooming bulbs. Also, combine sweet peas in front of spring-flowering shrub borders.

• Mix early-, midseason-, and late-flowering varieties for nearly three months of blooms.