<p>This is the perennial sweet pea that grows wild along southern BC roadsides. Delicate, creamy white to dark pink and almost lavender, these flowers bloom all summer and into fall. A rambling plant without tendrils that will cover a short fence or bank. Best planted in full sun and direct-sown. Approx. 20 seeds/g.</p><p>CULTURE: Easy to grow if only a few details are attended to. You may want to soak the seeds in water for 12 hours, or rub with sandpaper to speed germination, which should occur in 10-15 days. The bed for your sweet peas should (ideally) be prepared in the fall for the early spring planting. Double-dig the spot where they will grow and add coarse manure or compost in the bottom of the trench. Sweet peas prefer a deep, cool, well-drained root run with slightly alkaline soil, so add some dolomite lime to the trench. Start seeds indoors in Feb./March, each seed in 8cm pots, to be hardened off and set into the garden in May; or direct-seed in March or Sept. over the prepared site. Pinch out the growing tips of seedlings when they are 10cm high to encourage branching. Tall sweet peas must have support, with their tops in full sun; pea netting is the most common method. Keep the flowers picked and all seed pods removed to encourage continuous flowering all summer. Mulching the roots to keep them cool can also help to prolong the life of the plants. Enjoy! Approx. 12 seeds/g. <br.DISEASE: Flowers are prone to some of the same pests and diseases that occur in the vegetable garden. Good sanitation (removing diseased or dead plants promptly) and not growing the same flower in the same space for a couple of years will go a long way toward prevention. Take care to compost plant debris properly, or throw out diseased plants. Keep weeds under control. Provide adequate spacing so the plants will have healthy roots and good air circulation. On the Coast, cool, wet soil conditions in spring and fall can cause some problems, but as the spring weather warms, most flowers respond vigorously and go on to grow and bloom.</p><p>Lathyrus comes from the ancient Greek name for the pea, and 'odorata' refers, of course, to the lovely scent of the original plant, as well as some of the newer hybrids (many hybrids sacrificed the fragrance for larger flowers in new colours, but happily breeders are working to reverse this trend). The original vining plant of Lathyrus odorata came from Italy, and reached the English shore in 1699.</p>
