Plant Edible And Flowering Peas In March
DESIGN | by DEBRA PRINZING
DECADES AGO I LEARNED that St. Patrick’s Day is the best time to plant peas.
Culinary peas and their cousins, ephemeral sweet peas, are happiest when sown in cool conditions, with soil around 40 degrees F. If snow still covers your garden on St. Patrick’s Day, start seeds indoors, in peat pots arranged on a windowsill tray. Transplant seedlings (degradable pot and all) after temperatures rise or snow melts.
Peas You Eat
In their book “The Bountiful Container”, Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey point out that peas begin to lose flavor the moment they are picked. That’s good enough reason to grow your own.
Planting sugar, shelling or snap peas is easy because the seed is basically a dried-up pea. They are large enough for little hands to grasp, making planting a fun kids’ project. Follow seed-packet directions (seeds are usually planted 1 inch deep, spaced at 1-inch intervals). Climbing varieties will need trellis or lattice support.
In a couple of months, you’ll eat them fresh off the vine. Recommended varieties include ‘Mr. Big’, ‘Oregon Giant Sugar Pod’ and ‘Sugar Sprint’.
Peas You Cut for Bouquets
Romance is summed up in a bouquet of fresh-cut sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), one of the garden’s most profusely fragrant annual flowers. I love the heirloom and antique forms, including ‘Cupani Original’, with beautiful bi-colored maroon and violet flowers. You can also find dwarf and bunching sweet peas — perfect for containers or small-space gardens.
Sweet-pea seeds need to be soaked in fresh water for 24 to 48 hours before planting to encourage germination. Like the edible peas, most sweet-pea vines climb 5 to 8 feet high, so give them support. As you cut and gather bouquets, the plant continues to produce even more blooms. Isn’t that sweet?












