What Is the Real Name of a Sweet Pea Flower?
The sweet pea is a colorful, fragrant, sometimes-climbing plant. Its "real name" or genus is Lathyrus odoratus. According to Webster's Online Dictionary, lathyrus refers to "climbing herbs of Old World and temperate North and South America: vetchling; wild pea." Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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The first written record of a sweet pea sighting dates from 1695, when Francisco Cupani, a member of the order of St. Francis, noted seeing sweet peas in Sicily. There is no record of whether the sighting was in the wild or in a botanical garden. In 1699, Cupani passed on seeds to Casper Commelin, a botanist at the medical school in Amsterdam, who published an article on sweet peas, and included the first botanical illustration. Poet John Keats is usually given credit for first using the name "sweet pea" in the early 1800s.
Features
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Modern varieties of sweet pea flowers have petals that are frilly and have a tremendous color range, from white to near black, with only true yellows missing. The flowers grow in clusters on a vine or stalk.
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Growing
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Sweet peas are easy to grow. Plants can be climbing and reach several feet, or compact, reaching only 8 to 24 inches. Gardeners should select a site first, and then determine the best variety for that site or container. Seeds should be soaked overnight, then sowed in pots or open ground where they are to grow. Pinching the tips off when the stems are about 4 inches high will produce a larger plant. Provide support for plants with climbing tendrils--such as a fence or post. Water plants thoroughly in dry weather.
Considerations
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Newer varieties of sweet pea tend to lack the scent of the old-fashioned varieties. Therefore, gardeners often plant the older, small-flowered plants for their gardens, which have more scent.
Fun Fact
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In 1901, at Althorp, the family estate of the late Princess Diana, Silas Cole, head gardener to the Earl of Spencer, found a natural mutation of a sweet pea in the garden under his care, which he named Spencer. The Spencer sweet pea became very popular due to its large, flamboyant blooms.
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References
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Christian Guthier
