Sweet Peas

Bloom time: Early spring to autumn.

When Sweet Peas were introduced in England from Sicily over 300 years ago, the first blooms were small, highly fragrant and grew well in the warm summer sun. Since then, flower growers have selected and bred their favorites for different characteristics. They got larger flowers on longer stems for cut flowers and exhibition. Today we find that sometimes scent has been lost in the quest for larger flowers. Fragrance seems to be related to colour with the lavender and light pink flowers the most fragrant and the scarlet shades the least fragrant. Here on the West Coast, our usual cool summer weather allows us to grow all the types and enjoy more fragrance than in hot summer areas.

Flowering is triggered by day length. Mammoth Series flowers when the days are 10 hours long, (from sunrise to sunset) whereas Late Spencer varieties start flowering when the days are 12-15 hours long. All sweet peas perform best in cool summer areas, but the Old Spice Series and Perfume Delight have more tolerance for heat. (Family: Pea, Fabaceae)