Lathyrus odoratus Here come the Girls - Sweet Pea Seeds

'Here come The Girls' is a selection of recently obtained grandiflora sweet pea varieties. The plants produce large, fragrant flowers in harmonious shades of pink, white, purple and even soft blue, each bearing a lady's name.  "Valerie Harold", "Catherine", "Julie Ann", "Katie Alice", "Mumsie", "Charlies Angel" and "Jilly" bloom all summer long, on pretty little vines that quickly cover up any support creating colourful and fragrant scenes in flowerbeds and containers. 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. ‘Here Come the Girls’ 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 white, blue, lilac, purple or pink axillary clusters. The flowers are composed of 5 petals: a standard, 2 free wing petals, and 2 fused petals. They give off a 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.