You can get ahead of the game by sowing sweet peas now and over-wintering them to get an earlier crop next year. As a hardy annual, these seeds can cope with the cold weather and sowing them now gives the roots a chance to develop before the really cold weather arrives. Then, next Spring, they can romp away allowing you to plant out well established plants that will flower early.
I allowed this year's sweet peas to go to seed and collected them on a nice dry day. It's always fun to see what colours you get as they won't be true to the parent plant, especially if they were an F1 hybrid. But don't let that put you off - it's free seed! Of course you can chose to buy a packet of seeds too. Some people recommend soaking the seed in water for 24h prior to sowing, but I find they germinate fine without the need for this.
I immediately sowed them about 1cm deep into home-made compost (bought seed compost will also do). You can sow them into root trainer pots or toilet rolls to help nice long roots develop and to minimise disturbance when you plant them out. I chose to use a large pot instead this year as my roots trainers were starting to split. This means when it comes to planting them out, they'll be 'checked' a little as the roots will be disturbed more when teased apart from the pot.
Place your pots in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse to allow them to germinate (takes 7-10 days usually). I will leave them here all winter now the weather is cooler, so they don't get too weather beaten (and to keep them away from pests).
Once they grow 2-3 sets of leaves or about 10cm tall, I will pinch out the tips to encourage them to branch out and stop them getting too leggy.
Once the last frosts have passed (usually late April/early May here), I will plant them out into the garden with canes for support. Then I can look forward to early bunches of gorgeous sweet peas! There really is no better scent and such a joy in those early summer months. Give it a try!
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