CyberSalad: Garden Pursuits: Annuals: Sweet Peas

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Lathyrus odoratus

     All flower lovers know sweet peas and cherish their multiflowered stems of delicate, airy 1- to 2-inch blossoms, which come in almost all colors and have a delightful fragrance. Looking like miniature sunbonnets, the flowers may be bicolored, striped, or mottled, and most have riffled, wavy petals. Though most sweet peas climb 5 to 10 feet high, attaching themselves to supports by means of tendrils, there are nonclimbing varieties which produce colorful mounds of flowers about 8 to 12 inches tall. Still another type of sweet pea does not climb but bears quantities of large colorful flowers on bushy plants 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall. An intermediate strain grows about 18 inches tall and bears 5 to 7 large flowers per stem. Sweet peas originated as Italian wild flowers.
     The many different varieties of sweet peas can be used as climbers for screens, as border or bedding plants, and as cut flowers. The plants do best in rich, deep soil and cool temperatures; the roots particularly must be protected against heat and dryness. Southern gardeners grow excellent sweet peas during the winter months when temperatures are cool, and a gardener in a cool mountain area can have lovely summer plants without special effort, but those who live in mid-America, or other areas where summers are hot and dry, need every possible aid to attain satisfactory growth.
     In Zones 8-10, plant the seeds in late summer or early fall. Elsewhere, prepare the soil in the fall while it is easily workable and plant the seeds in the spring as soon as the frost has left the ground. The real secret of successful growth is proper preparation. A deep trench must be dug and refilled with fertilizer-enriched soil. The seeds, like those of other legumes, should be treated, or inoculated, with a specially purchased culture of nitrogen-fixing bacteria; to do this, shake the seeds around in a container with a bit of the culture until the seeds are coated. Soak the seeds in tepid water an hour or two before planting, to soften their coats. When the seedlings are about 4 inches high, pinch them back so the plant will develop strong side branches. Provide a support of string or wire for the climbing varieties. Mulch the soil around the plants to help keep the ground cool, water regularly, and remove flowers as they die. Plants so treated will blossom all summer where night temperatures generally drop below 65 degrees F.

	'Old Spice', heirloom mix of 8 fine colors, some dating back to 1699 from England via Sicily. 3/4-inch blooms are intensely fragrant. Grows to 6 feet.
	'Pink Cupid', grows just 6 inches tall while spreading 18 inches. Perfect for the front of the border or dramatic when cascading over the sides of a container or basket. Fragrant racemes of pink and white flowers appear from spring till fall. Heat tolerant.
	'Painted Lady', an ancient variety dating back to 1737, with lovely bicolor pink and white flowers, whose scent can be recognised a mile off! Climber.

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Site launched January 1, 2000.
Site updated September 1, 2007.