Lathyrus odoratus Floral Tribute - Sweet Pea Seeds

Lathyrus odoratus 'Floral Tribute' is a wonderful selection of sweet pea varieties with beautiful colours, intense fragrance and large, very ruffled blooms. These voluble annuals are remarkably vigorous, covering up their support in no time or creating a spectacular ground cover. They will look beautiful clambering up fences, or romantically cascading down from hanging baskets. Their flowers are gorgeous in bouquets. Grow in a sunny location in fertile, moist soil.

Lathyrus odoratus is an annual herbaceous plant of the Fabaceae family originating from south-eastern Italy and Sicily. ‘Floral Tribute’ is a selection of climbing varieties: the plants can reach up to 1.80 m in height and 30 cm in width in the space of a few months. Their quadrangular winged stems have stipules at their base, bear pairs of light-green leaflets and end in a terminal tendril. Flowering takes place from June to August. The ruffled, papilionaceous flowers very large and are grouped in axillary clusters of up to 4 blooms. The flowers are composed of 5 petals: a standard, 2 free wing petals, and 2 fused petals. The colours of this selection are simply stunning, with solid, stripy, or bicolour flowers in bright or pastel tones. They give off an intense yet delicate fragrance, which has a sweet floral aroma with honeyed and musky notes. The fruit is a flat pod that splits at maturity, forcibly expelling its seeds away from the plant. It is essential to regularly remove wilted flowers, as seed production stunts flowering. Sweet peas root deeply in the ground to find water and nutrients.

Sweet peas are irreplaceable, their charming and old-fashioned flowers make quaint bouquets, look stunning in hanging baskets will soon cover up an old garden wall or fence. They are beautiful in summer flower beds, where they will use neighbouring plants or shrubs as a support. They can also form colourful carpets when grown as ground cover. Sweet peas are a must-have in cottage gardens alongside peonies, hollyhocks, fox gloves, peach leaved bellflowers, and columbines. They also do well in the fertile and well-watered soil of the vegetable garden, where they can be used as cut flowers.