Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, but I have one for you.........

Just how tall are they in two weeks? I have some seeds put out that I was just about to soak and plant.

I have Picotee Red and Picotee Blue. What are yours?

Don't forget to scarify the seed. You'll get much better germination rates.

You may be too late for sweet peas, but yes they do best direct sown, as with sunflower. Sweet peas need soaked/nicked as well.

Really? Too late to plant outside even?? How long do they take to mature?? :(

Kim

Oh not too long, it's just that they like cool weather; they want to germinate, sprout, grow and blossom before the heat of summer comes on. I sowed mine outside about...mmm, 3 or so weeks ago maybe. They're about 4 inches high and starting to put out some tendrils. Just go ahead and sow them ASAP; worst case, they won't bloom before the heat makes them go dormant. They only bloom until it gets hot, anyway, maybe a couple of weeks if you're lucky.

Really Sleepy:
Is that the way they react for you? Mine bloom most of the summer, but then we are a bit cooler than you and the weather usually cools at night. We only have a few nights all summer that it is too hot for sleeping without air conditioning. Bad for spring frosts but maybe good for other things.

I wonder if planting sweet peas would be better for you if they were shaded during the heat of the day or if other plants planted in front would shade the roots--like clematis--just a conjecture.

Did you know that all Nasturtiums climb. I didn't until last year. I bought some yellow climbing Nastys and planted them along my ugly chain link fence, I put a red one in between each group of yellow ones. Well the red ones kept up with the yellow ones and it made for a very effective display. Something I'm going to repeat this year.

I started mine MG way too early last year and they were a tangled mess by the time I could plant them outside. As long as you protect them from frost they should be fine. Mine at home are in an unheated little tent like greenhouse, and they have been fine so far, but they just germinated a couple of days ago. Another thing I learned about MG is that they actually bloom better when they are not fertilized at all. Last year mine grew beautiful green leaves/vines, but the flowers were few and far between, I am guessing because i fertilized. I read in one of my books that they don't bloom as well if they are fertilized, it just makes them put out more leaves.
Sarah

Yeah, I've heard that they actually prefer terrible soil. No compost, no fertilizer, nothing. Wierd. I will probably get the MGs out tomorrow then, and what the heck, I'll give sweet peas a chance as well. It's the sunflowers I'm really excited about anyway. I have never seen one, and can't imagine anything that tall!

Kim

Oilpainter, yes it is; both sweet peas that I've planted for the blooms, as well as those I've grown to eat. In fact, if you don't start them early enough here, you won't get many peas to eat, and they just plain stop producing peas at all in the hot months. The thing with peas, in my experience, is that it's the actual heat that they don't seem to like, versus the amount of sun. So there's really no way around it, as our average temps here in the summer are high of 90/low of 70. That has always been my experience, anyway, maybe someone else has found a way to have them bloom longer. I've had them in the garden bed where their roots were shaded by other veggies, and I've had them where they only receive partial sun, and still have very short bloom time.

Kim, the idea of someone never having seen a sunflower just tickles me; after all, I live in the Sunflower State! :) Oh, and the best ones I ever grew, btw, were in some terrible old fill dirt in the hottest sun. They were at least 12' tall. What varieties are you growing?

Well Sleepy:
Live and learn!! Our garden peas produce in abundance in July. I know they are cool season plants but I assumed that was just for germinating. I didn't know that they stopped producing in the heat. Hmmm thanks for the info.

FYI, I'm talking about the sweet pea flower here (Captain of the Blues). I did throw in regular shelling peas a week or two ago. The are all up now and doing well. Should have put them in earlier too, but oh well.

Sleepy - I know, right? I don't know how I've managed to go this long without seeing one. Maybe from a distance, but never close up. This year I am growing Mammoth. They average about 12', but I swear I saw a Burpee ad for ones that grew double that. I kept looking at my 9' ceilings and going "No way! Has to be a missprint!" lol.

Kim

Oh, I know you are; but they behave in pretty much the same way. Just the garden peas don't have as pretty of a flower. :) How fun for you with the sunflowers. I wish I had enough sun and space for some at this house. I can't wait to see pics!

oilpainter, in zone 3 you are probably ok even if you grow sweet peas now.

I once started sweet peas (the fragrant lathyforus odorata, not the ones for eating) late, like in May, and they were sort of ok. They produced flowers, but out of 8 plants, I got only ONE pea pod. Well, maybe there were a few more hidden, but without special search, I saw only one.