Lathyrus odoratus Seeds | Sweet Pea
LATIN NAME: Lathyrus odoratus
COMMON NAME: Sweet Pea
Plant Profile
Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus) grows as a vigorous, climbing, annual in the pea family. Sweet pea twines its slender stems and winged leaf stalks, with scented, winged flowers in loose clusters, and the whole plant climbs the supports with the ease. It is a plant of open, sunny, deep, rich, moist, well-drained ground. Its open flowers are a reliable stop for bees and other pollinating visitors. It is hard to name another plant that gives this much for this little trouble.
Science & Biotechnology
Lathyrus odoratus sits in the pea family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. The upshot for anyone sowing it is reassurance — cultivated stock of this plant has a long, well-documented track record.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Sweet Pea earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. Sweet pea is a fine, sweet-scented plant of cottage garden and cut-flower patch. Give young plants trellis and deep, rich, moist bed, and scented flowers will open through the summer. It takes hold quickly and asks for no special treatment from then on.
Sweet peas are fragrant cutting flowers with inedible, toxic seeds, unlike their edible cousin the garden pea; keep the two firmly apart in the garden plan.
Growing from Seed
Sweet Pea grows readily from seed. Sow on the surface of a gritty, well-drained mix, cover lightly with fine compost, and maintain gentle, even moisture in a sunny position. A spell of cool, moist conditions ahead of sowing brings the seed along nicely and supports even germination. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
Given the right start, Sweet Pea is a long-term garden companion. Moisture matters most while plants are young; established plants cope with far more.
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