I was determined to grow sweet peas this year despite the challenges of growing them on a hot and sometimes stormy balcony in Portugal. I had a bit of a seed splurge this winter and the thought of these sweet peas helped to get me through the dark winter. I ordered heirloom varieties from Seedaholic . These are some of the varieties I’ve been growing:

‘Matucana’

‘America’

‘Nimbus’

Though I won’t have the yield or large blossoms of a flower farmer, these little fragrant jewels in the garden are precious to me nonetheless. Such a treat! It’s important to keep cutting the sweet peas and who can resist bringing these fragrant vines inside anyways! I like to keep them on the vine and include as much green as possible, as these sweet pea vines create such interesting shapes for flower arrangements. You only need a few stems in a small vase to make an impact. I used the recipe below and you can watch the video to see how I put it all together in this gorgeous vase from Tasco Tableware, which is sadly. now discontinued. If you are in Portugal, you may be able to still find some of their pieces at Depozito.

5 stems of sweet peas (3 long vines)

8 stems of fresh mint

8 stems of parsley flowers

2 begonia leaves

1 stem of Queen Anne’s Lace