How to deadhead sweet peas

Sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is an annual vine grown in gardens for its sweet smelling flowers. Sweet pea flowers bloom in shades of red, pink, white and blue. Grow sweet peas in moist, fertile soil, in full sun. Generally they like cool soil and tolerate light frosts. Deadhead, or cut off, sweet pea flowers, as soon as they die. This keeps the vines growing and producing more flowers.

Cut sweet pea flowers where the stem meets the vine. Bring them inside and place them in vases to enjoy their colourful blooms and fragrance. Do this throughout the season.

Sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is an annual vine grown in gardens for its sweet smelling flowers.
Cut sweet pea flowers where the stem meets the vine.

Cut off dead sweet pea flowers, called deadheading, at the base of the stem as soon as they wither. Toss the dead flower on the compost heap.

Do not let sweet pea flowers form seed heads. Cut them off as soon as you see them. As soon as the sweet pea vines start going to seed, they will start to die.

1 "The Harrowsmith Annual Garden"; Jennifer Bennett, Turid Forsyth; 1990

Melanie Watts has been freelance writing since 1995. Her writing credits include work for garden magazines such as "Gardens West," "Canadian Gardening" and "British Columbia Gardening." She holds a Master Gardener certificate from the University of Northern British Columbia.