Sweet peas

With their profusion of colourful, fragrant blooms, sweet peas are an absolute delight in the garden and the home, writes SOPHIE THOMSON

Ihave a passion for scented flowers, and love picking flowers for indoors. Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are winners on both fronts. These delightful annuals are easy to grow, and reward you for many weeks with a gorgeous show of heavenly scented blooms.

There’s a strong link between scents, memories and emotional responses, and each time I catch a waft of sweet peas,

I get a warm, happy feeling that reminds me of my childhood. I know I am not alone, as many people say these precious blooms are their favourite flowers. I love the fact I can pick bunches for myself and still have enough left to share with friends.

I grow climbing varieties 2–3m high over arches, garden sculptures, mesh panels and tripods. The dwarf varieties, 25–60cm high, are more suited to pots or borders.

It is generally recommended to sow sweet peas directly in position in moist soil, however they can be transplanted successfully from punnets (see 0verpage). They grow best in full sun, in well-drained soil that has been enriched with compost or aged animal manure and a handful of pelletised chicken manure-based fertiliser.

Sweet peas shoot 7–14 days after planting, then usually bloom within about 10 weeks, through late winter and into spring. In my garden in South Australia, hot weather in mid to late spring finishes the plants off, and I then save seed of my favourites for the following year.

The traditional time for planting sweet peas is St Patrick’s Day in March, although I am often running late, and have been known to sow them a month or more later. I’m not going to admit how late they were sown this year! However, they seem to be coming along beautifully.

My favourite variety is the heirloom ‘Matucana’. I keep a vase of these near my front door to give me a hit as I enter the house. ‘Matucana’ is said to have the strongest scent of any of the sweet peas. Plants are smothered in small, dainty, bicolour purple and cerise flowers, with short stems. They can be picked daily for weeks, and their flowering season is extended if you remove spent blooms and don’t let them go to seed.