Lathyrus odoratus Winter Sunshine Formula Mix - seeds

The Sweet Pea or Lathyrus odoratus Winter Sunshine™ 'Formula Mix' offers a blend of cultivars from the Winter Sunshine™ series that bring early flowering, starting in March. It includes shades of cream, mauve, scarlet, navy blue, lavender, and pink, for example. Well adapted to our climates and the length of daylight in late winter (tested in England and the Netherlands), this series is cold-resistant and also heat-tolerant (also tested in California). The flowers are fragrant, the plants are vigorous and floriferous, with long stems. Growing quickly, the stems develop tendrils that will cling to the support you provide.

Lathyrus odoratus is an annual herbaceous plant in the fabaceae family, native to southeastern Italy and Sicily. The 'Winter Sunshine' series stands out with high-performance plants that offer the earliest flowering. Each plant can reach 2m in height and 40cm in width in just a few months. Its light green leaves are paired on quadrangular stems, with stipules at the base and extended into tendrils. Flowering takes place in March and April. The butterfly flowers are large, grouped in axillary clusters, with slightly wavy petals. They consist of 5 petals, with the upper one, also the largest, taking the form of a banner, while the others have an intermediate shape between the lip and the tube. They emit a delicate fragrance, with a sweet floral aroma and hints of honey and musk, very feminine. The fruit is a flat pod that twists and expels its seeds to a distance. It is essential to remove faded flowers, as seed production immediately stops flowering. Sweet peas root deeply in the soil to draw water and nutrients.

Sweet peas thrive in sunny locations, in well-drained, fairly rich soils. Their flowering brings charm to bouquets, hanging baskets, and any support they cover in a season. They are just as charming rambling in flower beds, using neighbouring plants or shrubs as support. Combine them with coreopsis, echinaceas, gauras, and annuals like poppies or cosmos. They can also create beautiful carpets by mixing the colours of several varieties. They are essential in a cottage garden and also thrive in the fertile, well-watered soil of a vegetable garden or a cutting garden, where they provide a good supply of cut flowers.