Lathyrus odoratus Heirloom Mixed Sweet Pea Seeds

Lathyrus odoratus 'Heirloom Mixed' is a wonderful selection of heirloom sweet pea varieties with a large array of colours on small but intensely fragrant flowers. These voluble annuals will soon cover up their support or create a spectacular ground cover whilst diffusing their sweet scent throughout the garden. In hanging baskets, they will romantically cascade down in colourful garlands. Perfect also for fragrant bouquets. Sow in the spring in a sunny location with plenty of fertile, moist soil.

Lathyrus odoratus is an annual herbaceous plant of the Fabaceae family originating from south-eastern Italy and Sicily. ‘Heirloom Mix’ is a selection of climbing varieties: the plants can reach up to 1.80 m in height and 30 cm in width in the space of a few months. Their quadrangular winged stems have stipules at their base, bear pairs of light-green leaflets and end in a terminal tendril. Flowering takes place from June to August. The unruffled, papilionaceous flowers are smaller than on other grandiflora varieties and are grouped in axillary clusters. The flowers are composed of 5 petals: a standard, 2 free wing petals, and 2 fused petals. Colours vary, either bright or pastel shades of white, pink, blue, purple and red. They give off an intense yet delicate fragrance, which has a sweet floral aroma with honeyed and musky notes. The fruit is a flat pod that splits at maturity, forcibly expelling its seeds away from the plant. It is essential to regularly remove wilted flowers, as seed production stunts flowering. Sweet peas root deeply in the ground to find water and nutrients.

Sweet peas are irreplaceable, their charming and old-fashioned flowers make quaint bouquets, look stunning in hanging baskets will soon cover up an old garden wall or fence. They are beautiful in summer flower beds, where they will use neighbouring plants or shrubs as a support. They can also form colourful carpets when grown as ground cover. Sweet peas are a must-have in cottage gardens alongside peonies, hollyhocks, fox gloves, peach leaved bellflowers, and columbines. They also do well in the fertile and well-watered soil of the vegetable garden, where they can be used as cut flowers.