Lathyrus odoratus grandiflora Villa Roma Scarlet - Sweet pea

The 'Villa Roma Scarlet' sweet pea, also known as Lathyrus odoratus 'Villa Roma Scarlet', offers bright red flowers carried by sturdy, short stems. This dwarf variety shows particular heat resistance. It grows in small, spreading cushions, making it an ideal plant for flower pots, hanging baskets, or ground cover. Its fragrant flowers will happily find their way into bouquets. It is a compact and generous plant to be grown in fertile, moist soil, in full sun.

Lathyrus odoratus is an annual herbaceous plant in the fabaceae family native to southeastern Italy and Sicily. Weakly climbing, the Villa Roma Scarlet variety has a compact and stout tufted habit, not exceeding 20 cm (8in) in height and 25 cm (10in) in diameter. Its leaves are paired on quadrangular stems, with stipules at the base and extended into tendrils. The foliage is light green and dense. Flowering occurs from June to August. The papilionaceous flowers are very large, grouped in axillary clusters, bright pink-red, with well-undulate petals. They consist of 5 petals, with the upper one, also the largest, taking the form of a standard, while the others have an intermediate form between the lip and the tube. They emit a delicate fragrance, which has a sweet floral aroma with hints of honey and musk, very feminine. The fruit is a flat pod that twists and expels its seeds at a distance. It is essential to remove faded flowers, as seed production immediately stops flowering. Sweet peas root quite deeply in the soil to draw water and nutrients.

Sweet peas are irreplaceable, their touching and old-fashioned flowering brings a lot of charm to bouquets, hanging baskets, and any support they valiantly colonize in one season. They are just as charming in summer borders, using neighboring plants or bushes as support. They can also create beautiful carpets by mixing colors. They are inseparable from cottage gardens, like peonies, hollyhocks, foxgloves, peach-leaved bellflowers, and columbines. They also thrive in fertile, watered vegetable garden soil, providing a good supply of cut flowers.