Sweet Peas: A Field Guide

Sweet peas are most at home in a cutting or kitchen garden where their vines can grow up trellises or against a wire fence, where they will reward you with frilly or fragrant flowers from early summer until autumn.

Most sweet peas are either scented or showy; for flowers that display both charming characteristics, plant Modern Grandiflora varieties reminiscent of old-fashioned cultivars (but with larger flowers). Grow these re-seeding annuals as cut flowers for posies and bouquets. Growing tip: In colder climates; it’s best to sow sweet peas at the end of the winter when the soil is still cool but in milder regions (including USDA growing zones 7 to 9) you can plant  Lathyrus odoratus in autumn to encourage stronger, larger flowers.