The Sweet Flower You Should Grow To Attract Pollinators To Your Yard Sooner

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are sweet-smelling annuals with delicate, wing-shaped flowers and a slender stem. They are beautiful in cut-flower bouquets, gardens, or whimsically winding their way up a trellis. Discovered in the 17th century in Sicily, they've come to symbolize lovely sentiments like friendship and gratitude. Most importantly, though, sweet peas will bring bees to your yard.

Sweet peas come in almost every color of the rainbow, and all those bright hues make them an inviting food source and one of the best plants in your pollinator garden. They are early bloomers, exploding with color and fragrance from late spring to early summer. This timing makes them especially important for pollinators, since many other plants in their food supply are still dormant. If bees can't find food when they are emerging from hibernation each spring, they won't survive. And since, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like bees," it's crucial that pollinators are always able to find food. To this end, sweet peas offer another perk. Unlike other spring flowers like tulips and hosta, deer don't eat sweet peas, leaving them alone for the pollinators to enjoy.

Sweet peas can be temperamental and are prone to bud drop when conditions aren't just right, so successfully cultivating them depends on mastering some basics. For starters, sweet peas don't love the heat. In fact, if they aren't well-established and flowering by the time daily temperatures are nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit in your area, it's probably a lost cause. If there is an unseasonable temperature spike predicted in your area, you should water your sweet peas in advance or try to provide them with some shade. While they don't like warm temperatures, sweet peas do need about six to eight hours of full, direct sunlight each day. 

Plant sweet peas in moist, but well-drained soil. They're finicky, and like about 1 inch of water per week. If they get more than this, the roots could become saturated and rot. If they get less, emerging flower buds may turn brown, or leaves may start to drop. Using a moisture meter is one way to be sure water levels are correct. Sweet peas also like soil with a neutral pH; you can measure your soil pH with a DIY test. Planting them in a way that meets these needs will encourage more blossoms and stronger stems. 

Sweat peas can be great climbers, with some varieties reaching up to 10 feet tall. They have little tendrils that love to wind their way up and around a fence or trellis. One tip: avoid using any metal, which can heat up in the sun and burn your delicate sweet pea. For this cool-loving flower, it's better to attach the sweet pea to a trellis using string or twine, which stays cooler and helps protect the tendrils.

If you want to plant sweet peas in a container, instead of directly into the soil, look for dwarf varieties, which are bushier and won't grow as tall. Even so, you'll need to select the right planter for your sweet pea plant. Ideally, this is a big pot that is at least 16 inches deep. Not only do sweet peas need this space for their deep root systems, but a pot this size also offers your sweet pea plant some protection from the heat and helps keep the soil at the right moisture level. 

Finally, it might seem counterintuitive, but the key to encouraging your sweet pea to continue blooming is to cut its flowers every few days, before seed pods start to appear. This frequency encourages your sweet pea to spend its energy making new blossoms, instead of just seeds. As a final, but important note, be aware that while sweet peas are beautiful, fragrant, and loved by pollinators, their seeds can be toxic to other animals like dogs, cats, and horses.