Harvesting & Vase Life

To keep the flowers coming, pick frequently!  Allowing the plant to go to seed will send a signal that new flowers do not need to be produced. For the longest vase life, pick your sweet peas when there are still at least two unopened flowers at the top.  Flowers do not continue to open after picking. For a more frilly and full look, pick when fully open, but expect a shorter vase life.  Sweet peas are a short lived cut flower, but you can extend their life by adding a cut flower preservative to the water and keeping them in a cool place and away from any ethylene sources such as ripening fruit.  Ethylene will shorten the vase life.  Cutting the flowers along with some of the vine will also extend the vase time and give a more interesting vase display.