Sweet Pea "Gwendoline"
Renee and her Sweet Pea garden. Check out her web site. I've never bought from this site but she certainly knows how to present sweet peas to make a show!
Bouquets of sweet peas from Renee's Garden Sweet Peas. The name “Sweet Pea” might conjure up thoughts of an endearing nickname, a restaurant in Geneseo or visions of an old Victorian garden.
The annual sweet pea “Lathyrus odoratus” is a native to the eastern Mediterranean region from Sicily east to Crete. First mentioned in 1696 and was hybridized from the early 17th century to today.
Most sweet peas needs support to climb and have a strong sweet fragrance. The flowers are purple in the wild plant. Through hybridization, it is available in white, pinks, reds, purples, peaches and shades in-between. To date there is no yellow sweet pea.
Henry Eckford’s hybridization program in England was the start of the Victorian obsession with sweet peas. Prior to 1908, the Burpee Seed Company illustrated the sweet pea on its cover thirteen times. There were several hundred different choices during this period.
Although the fragrance of the sweet pea during the Victorian era was wonderful, it fell out of favor and was seldom seen outside of an old garden where the perennial “Lathyrus latifolius” continues to self seed.
The perennial L latifolius, or everlasting pea, can grow up to twelve feet, is pink, white or mauve and seldom has any scent. It is hardy to zone 3, likes full sun and does not like wet feet. Due to self seeding, it has naturalized in much of North America.
Sweet peas were popular in bouquets and in nosegays (called tussie-mussies) especially by Victorian and Edwardian ladies prior to deodorant products. Held to the nose, sweet peas produced relief from personal and environmental smells of the time.
Sweet peas are not without their pests, including being attractive to slugs, mildew and other common garden problems. Supplying a clean non crowded area will help these situations. Perennials that self seed may be considered a pest when they sprout where you don’t want them.
Eckford’s breeds were called the L. grandiflora sweet peas. Although quite small by modern standards, they were larger and more impressive than the old antiques. They are unscented and do not seed which means you must buy plants.
There are varieties over 200 years old and listed as heirlooms, antiques or old fashioned. They are famous for their strong spicy fragrance and huge range of colors and patterns.
Aside from the beauty and fragrance, sweet peas make excellent erosion devices on slopes and hide unsightly fences or walls. They have been extremely helpful in genetic plant engineering. Another scientific use is the sweet pea’s toxic qualities. In large quantities, the seed produces a toxin that is referred to as “sagging skin”. It is being tested to see if it can be used to stop the hardening effect in scars.
Sweet peas are drought tolerant and deer resistant. Do not plant perennial sweet pea on trees and bushes as they can shade and kill them.
Sweet peas are making a comeback and with sweet results. As American botanist, horticulturist and agricultural science pioneer, Luther Burbank (1849-1926), said, “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul.” For a man who developed over 800 varieties of plants, he must have known the sweet pea.
The annual sweet pea “Lathyrus odoratus” is a native to the eastern Mediterranean region from Sicily east to Crete. First mentioned in 1696 and was hybridized from the early 17th century to today.
Most sweet peas needs support to climb and have a strong sweet fragrance. The flowers are purple in the wild plant. Through hybridization, it is available in white, pinks, reds, purples, peaches and shades in-between. To date there is no yellow sweet pea.
Henry Eckford’s hybridization program in England was the start of the Victorian obsession with sweet peas. Prior to 1908, the Burpee Seed Company illustrated the sweet pea on its cover thirteen times. There were several hundred different choices during this period.
Although the fragrance of the sweet pea during the Victorian era was wonderful, it fell out of favor and was seldom seen outside of an old garden where the perennial “Lathyrus latifolius” continues to self seed.
The perennial L latifolius, or everlasting pea, can grow up to twelve feet, is pink, white or mauve and seldom has any scent. It is hardy to zone 3, likes full sun and does not like wet feet. Due to self seeding, it has naturalized in much of North America.
Sweet peas were popular in bouquets and in nosegays (called tussie-mussies) especially by Victorian and Edwardian ladies prior to deodorant products. Held to the nose, sweet peas produced relief from personal and environmental smells of the time.
Sweet peas are not without their pests, including being attractive to slugs, mildew and other common garden problems. Supplying a clean non crowded area will help these situations. Perennials that self seed may be considered a pest when they sprout where you don’t want them.
Eckford’s breeds were called the L. grandiflora sweet peas. Although quite small by modern standards, they were larger and more impressive than the old antiques. They are unscented and do not seed which means you must buy plants.
There are varieties over 200 years old and listed as heirlooms, antiques or old fashioned. They are famous for their strong spicy fragrance and huge range of colors and patterns.
Aside from the beauty and fragrance, sweet peas make excellent erosion devices on slopes and hide unsightly fences or walls. They have been extremely helpful in genetic plant engineering. Another scientific use is the sweet pea’s toxic qualities. In large quantities, the seed produces a toxin that is referred to as “sagging skin”. It is being tested to see if it can be used to stop the hardening effect in scars.
Sweet peas are drought tolerant and deer resistant. Do not plant perennial sweet pea on trees and bushes as they can shade and kill them.
Sweet peas are making a comeback and with sweet results. As American botanist, horticulturist and agricultural science pioneer, Luther Burbank (1849-1926), said, “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul.” For a man who developed over 800 varieties of plants, he must have known the sweet pea.
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