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Fabaceae
Sweet Pea
Lathyrus odoratus
Blissful pleasure, departure, goodbye, thank you.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Lathyrus
- Native to
- Sicily, Cyprus, Southern Italy
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- annual climbing vine
- Height
- 1.5–2.5 m climbing
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained, alkaline
- Water
- Regular
- Hardiness
- 2–11 (annual)
- Lifespan
- Annual
Did you know
- The sweet pea was first cultivated by a Sicilian monk, Father Franciscus Cupani, who sent seeds to England in 1699.
- Sweet peas are renowned for their fragrance — Edwardian gardeners dedicated entire greenhouses to perfuming the air.
- Despite the name, sweet pea seeds are toxic and should never be eaten.
- Henry Eckford, a Scottish nurseryman, developed hundreds of cultivars in the late 1800s, ushering in the 'Grandiflora' era of sweet peas.
- Sweet peas were Princess Alexandra's favorite flower, and she popularized them in late-Victorian England.