No so fast sweetpea

I haven't sown any sweet peas yet. And I have a lot to sow, so why I'm so reluctant is down to thinking about colour combinations too much. Trying to decide who goes with who on which particular wigwam, all the more complicated now that I have a new area to add more sweet peas to out the back.

sweet pea seeds laid out according to colour partners

A few years ago I got a gift of a very nice book(a very fat big book) about choosing the best companion for plants. This is not done in a horticulture "companion planting" type way, its not about who can benefit whom, or repelling bad insects. This is all about colour, texture and form, in other words; its all about appearances. According to this book sweet peas belong with a particular clematis called Kermesina. I was a bit disappointed not to find more suggestions of other climbers I could grow with them but instead I am attempting to colour co-ordinate sweet peas with each other, and maybe one of these Kermesina, or an odd rose, to get a big sunny splash of colour especially out the back in the new tropical beds.

clematis Kermesina-plant it high to appreciate the flowers

 

 

I know you shouldnt be a slave to the "rules" the RHS or others lay down. Fashions are constantly changing in gardening, plants in one year are out the next and no matter what you plant, or how fabulous you think it looks someone else will think its awful! So please yourselves people, and dont let anyone dissuade you from your crazy gardening combinations if they make you happy. Free from the rigours of my RHS book,I can just look forward to crazy experimentation and see how it works!

Not a book you can slip into your back pocket but a great winter read

Havent got round to sowing your seeds either?

I'm sowing mine on sunday the 4th of March (sticking with the biodynamic calendar).
Remember big seeds=big seedlings with long gangly roots so sow them in a deep tray, or better yet a pot and not too close together. They are hardy annuals so once they pop up get them out into the coldframe. Hopefully within a month they will be hardened off and growing well outside.

Would you trust this man with his bunch of sweetpeas? Jack! who else?