There are mass who voluntarily drop most of their lives indoors , shut away from sunlight , reinvigorated melodic line and anything greener than the occasional potted industrial plant . Those people probably do not sense the calendar method of birth control of the seasons , but I do . In the fall , as the mean solar day cut , I discover myself turn inward . By the wintertime solstice , it is hard to get out of bottom in the morning . The whole world , at least from my perspective , engender logy and a bit cranky .
Now the seasonal sign has been reversed , and I feel myself being draw out from the relative gloom of my house out into the sun . One of the neighbour , who is an infrangible seasonal bellwether , has begun localize out multiple pots of daffodils , tulip and Cyclamen purpurascens . My eye is drawn to her front garden , hungry for the mass of something colorful .
This seasonal pull has leave me to think about sweet peas ( Lathyrus odoratus ) . Now is the perfect clip to contemplate these wonderfully fragrant plants , because they thrive under coolheaded spring conditions . Many of the catalogue and reference playscript take down that they should be sown directly into the ground . I am formal in many ways , but I have flouted this conventional wisdom for several years now with good results . I take off my sweet peas indoors in case-by-case stool around April Fool ’s twenty-four hour period , and jell the seedling out as soon as the filth becomes workable . That way of life I can be assured of getting my mellifluous peas , even in years when spring only hold out a few twenty-four hours .
As a child the only fresh peas I bed of were the garden refugees that grow semi - wild on the edges of fields near our summertime cottage . They were pink and about unscented , but they added great interest to my bouquets of Queen Anne ’s Lace and risky chicory . I sleep together now that those sprawling odorous peas were probably Lathyrus latifolius . I have see lots of it in the country , but never in anyone ’s garden .
Every thirty or forty old age there is a reclamation of stake in “ old fashioned ” gardens or “ cottage gardens . ” When this happens , annual sweet peas also enjoy renewed popularity . If the catalogs are any reading , gardeners have fallen under their piece of sweet-smelling peas once again .
The ancestors of modern sweet peas flourish in southern Italy . They arrived in England about 1699 , courtesy of Brother Franciscus Cupani , a Sicilian monk who send semen of a fragrant majestic / maroon bi - colored mixture to Dr. Robert Uvedale , an English master of his acquaintance . At a time when sweet smells were in short supply , scented pea plant caught on , despite their relatively faint stems and small flush .
The Lathyrus saga train a big bold bend in the nineteenth century when Henry Eckford , a Scot hold out in England cover a large - flowered or grandiflora strain . These Eckford hybrids had it all – color , fragrance and a inclination to produce interesting “ sports ” or spontaneous genetic mutation . One of those sports , with attractive wavy petals , occurred in 1899 at Althorp , transmitted demesne of the Earls of Spencer and childhood habitation of the late Princess Diana . The Althorp mutation , ‘ Countess Spencer ’ , was , like the Princess , beautiful and celebrate . Eventually the Countess was crossed with other grandifloras to produce the ‘ Spencer ’ var. of odoriferous peas , which remains popular one hundred age later .
One of my favorite seed supplier , Select Seeds ( 860 - 684 - 9310 orwww.selectseeds.com ) carries a Spencer intermixture that includes red , pink , purple , mauve and dark blossoms . The flowers are large ( 2 - inches across ) , with the characteristic wavy - border flower petal . If the Spencer sweet pea have any downside , it is that they blossom somewhat after than other potpourri . Those who survive in sphere with abbreviated springs and tenacious awkward summers may not be successful with the Spencers .
I like the auditory sensation of the ‘ Winter Elegance ’ loan-blend . They are not as cock-a-hoop and showy as the Spencers , but they bloom to begin with , which may work better in my suburban microclimate . I plan to hazard them , or train them on a small treillage , or on teepees of bamboo cane , and relish them in the week before high humidness get to both sweet-scented pea and humans lethargic and unproductive .
Henry Eckford ’s business firm produced many fine hybrids around the act of the nineteenth century , and some are still in commerce . This yr I am essay Eckford ’s ‘ Black Knight ’ . Its flowers , like most “ blackened ” blossoms , are actually darkest maroon , and its scent has been intoxicating people since 1898 . For drama I am going to place ‘ Black Knight ’ cheek - by - jowl with ‘ Mrs. Collier ’ , a blank non - Eckford variety that pass back to the first decade of the twentieth century .
If you have special space and want to grow sweet peas in crapper , try one of the bush - type loan-blend , such as ‘ Cupid ’ ( sometimes sell as ‘ Heirloom Cupid ’ ) , that has pinkish and white flowers . These might make endearing , fragrant windowpane box seat subjects as well .
If you recover yourself developing a fondness for sweet peas , get in soupcon with The Fragrant Garden , a mail order nursery that specialise in them . connect with the glasshouse at www.fragrantgarden.com or by fax at 503/266 - 2804 .
Modern flower hybridizers constantly strain for plants that will “ flower from April until freeze ” . Sweet pea plant will never do that , and that is part of their magical spell . They are as ephemeral as bound and just as romantic .
by E. Ginsburg
