Love and Peas

It is a funny year for gardens. Things just don't seem to be behaving as expected. With the cold and the wet, I guess you can't expect them too. Plants are living things that may not do what it says on the back of the seed packet in with the most perfect conditions.

One of my favourite things in the world is growing sweet peas, watching them climb up my bamboo canes and eventually cut all the stems off at once, then dot the house with little bunches here and there and get high on that delicious scent. This year, my sweet sweet peas have simply not happened. I understand from listening to an expert on Gardener's World that it is not just me - sweet peas really  have suffered this year. Oh well. Let's not dwell on it. I am already thinking about next year when I am going to have buckets full!

At first it seemed that my real peas (the ones you eat) were going to have the same destiny. I sowed them months ago and seedlings did appear, but just as quickly they were gone, devoured by snails or perhaps put off enough by the rain to simply give up. One side effect of the bad weather is that I just haven't been outside as much and my usual daily snail patrol has been reduced to an occasional check. But I decided to have another go with the peas, and now there are plenty of strong, healthy plants making their way up a wigwam.

So the point of this is I am having to repeat my gardening motto of less stress, more fun and focusing on the good things. And I do love peas!