Elegance Watermelon is an early and prolific sweet pea that brings vibrant color and fragrance to gardens in just 75 to 85 days. This open-pollinated cultivar grows with a compact habit, making it surprisingly manageable despite its need for trellis support. The variety thrives in moderate moisture and neutral to slightly acidic soil (pH 6.5 to 7.5), and its frost tolerance means you can plant it earlier in spring than many tender ornamentals. Gardeners prize it for cut flowers, cottage garden borders, and as a living screen along fences and arbors.
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Early blooms arrive prolifically throughout the season, especially when you harvest regularly to encourage more flowers. The compact growth habit keeps the plant tidy on trellises, and its frost tolerance extends your planting window in cool climates. Sown 4 to 5 weeks before your last frost, transplants reach flowering size in less than three months, making Elegance Watermelon rewarding even for impatient gardeners.
Elegance Watermelon sweet pea excels as a cut flower; half the blooms on a stem typically open at harvest time, providing a succession of fresh flowers over several days in the vase. The fragrant flowers enhance cottage gardens and add vertical interest along trellises, fences, and arbors. While technically edible as a member of the Fabaceae family, sweet peas are grown primarily for their ornamental flowers rather than culinary purposes.
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Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep in darkness into 72-cell flats or deep-cell seedling containers 4 to 5 weeks before your intended transplant date. Keep soil temperature between 50 and 70°F. Seedlings tolerate light frost and can be hardened off for earlier planting.
Transplant seedlings outdoors after hardening off, spacing them 4 inches apart. Seedlings can tolerate light frost, so planting can occur shortly before your average last frost date.
Direct seed by sowing 2 to 3 seeds every 6 inches, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep into prepared soil. Keep seed in darkness during germination at soil temperatures between 50 and 70°F.
Harvest flowers when approximately half the blooms on a stem are open. Cut regularly to encourage the plant to produce more flowers in succession. The more you harvest, the more flowers the plant will produce.
Pinch plants when they reach 6 to 8 inches tall to encourage denser branching and increase flower production. Regular harvesting of flowers serves as a form of pruning and further stimulates blooming throughout the season.
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