I don't know what to tell you- it's a bit late for pinching out. Has your daughter been feeding them, and with a nitrogen rich feed? If she has, that would cause leaves at the expense of flowers.

Thanks anyway Bamboo - no I don't think she has been feeding. I suspect she may not realise there are some flowers coming - it seems to me that very often it's hard to spot them until they are almost ready to open! I'll get her to send me a close up photo so that I can have a look at them :-)

last summer i had sweet peas,looking very healthy but poorly flowering and in one place.this year i planted them out inacouple of the sunniest areas in our garden.I prepared the ground with a little compost and manure and a scatter of chicken pellets.I thought i had over done it but the flowering as been brilliant,but i cut flowers every other day.

I've passed on info to my daughter but am now concerned about mine which had been forming buds. We have had extraordinary temps here and I think that up against the cream wall, where they are standing, it might have been as hot as 40C. The leaves look fine but the buds are shrivelled; the very few flowers that have bloomed are tiny and miserable looking.

Could the buds have been burned or is something else responsible? They are well-watered.

Are you growing them in a pot, Cestina?

Yes, they are in big pots. Worked fine last year....

I guess I could move the pots actually, come to think of it :-) Heavy though....