Lathyrus odoratus Sweet Pea Heirloom Bicolour Mix Seeds

Sweet Pea 'Heirloom Bicolour Mix', also called Lathyrus odoratus grandiflora 'Heirloom Bicolour Mix', brings together particularly vigorous plants, with bicoloured flowers in one of the widest range of colours. These voluble annuals are as poetic as a butterfly's flight and colonize without restraint any frame left at their disposal, while giving off a lovely scent. They spill over hanging baskets in fantastic garlands and will happily invite themselves into any bouquet. Grow in fertile, moist soil in the sun.

Lathyrus odoratus is an annual herbaceous plant of the family Fabaceae native to south-eastern Italy and to Sicily. The plants in the 'Heirloom Bicolour Mix' selection are exceptionally vigorous and highly scented heirloom varieties that climb using tendrils. They can reach a height of 2 m and a width of 30 cm in a few months. The leaves are joined in pairs on quadrangular stems, with stipules at the base that extend into tendrils. Their colour is light green. Flowering takes place from June to August. The papilionaceous flowers are medium-sized, feature slightly undulating petals and are grouped in axillary clusters. They are made up of 5 petals, of which the upper petal which is also the largest, is shaped like a banner, while the others are shaped into something between a lip and a tube. The bicoloured flowers come in a wide range of soft or bright colours. They give off an intense and delicate perfume with a very feminine, soft floral aroma with sweet, honeyed and musky accents. The fruit is a flat pod that twists as it expels its seeds at a distance. It is essential to remove faded flowers, as the production of seeds immediately halts flowering. Sweet peas' roots go deep into the ground to draw sufficient water and nutrients.  

Sweet peas are irreplaceable. Their touching, old-fashioned blooms lend a lot of charm to bouquets, hanging baskets and any climbing frame that they valiantly colonize in one season. They are equally charming in summer beds and use neighbouring plants or shrubs to hoist themselves into our sights. They can also be used to make beautiful carpets that blend all the colours of the different varieties. They are as inseparable from cloister-type gardens as peonies, hollyhocks, foxgloves, peach-leaved bellflowers and columbines. Sweat peas can also grow in the fertile, well-watered soil of the vegetable garden, where they provide a good supply of cut flowers.