Sweet pea

Family Fabaceae. Sweet pea is one of the most beautiful and most beloved climbing plants in the world, commonly used for vertical planting on balconies and windows, terraces, gazebos and other small architectural forms.

The popularity of the sweet pea is due to its unique fragrance, the exquisite structure of its flowers, abundant and long-lasting flowering, and an extremely rich color spectrum: from pure white through all shades of pink and red to dark burgundy, and from delicate blue and lilac to deep violet and even cherry-brown. In addition, being an annual plant, it is ideal for amateur gardeners who prefer frequent changes in the garden. The world collection of sweet peas today includes more than 1,000 cultivars grouped into 16 garden classes (see Sweet pea).

Name and History: the sweet pea in Latin is given as "латирус одоратус" (Lathyrus odomtus). The word "lathyrus" was first used by Theophrastus and comes from an ancient Greek name composed of "la" - very and "thoures" - attractive. The plant was noticed more than 300 years ago by the Sicilian monk Francesco Cupani, who, walking in the evening along the walls of his monastery on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, caught the unusually strong scent of this flower. Hence the second half of the name - fragrant ("odorat us"). The monk collected seeds and sent them in 1699 to England to his friend Robert Uvedal, a schoolteacher in Middlesex. This is the main version of the origin story of this garden plant.

Other meticulous researchers claim that the native home of the sweet pea is Peru and Ecuador, located, as is known, in the opposite hemisphere, about 6,500 miles from Sicily. Considering the historical fact that from 1300 to 1700 Sicily was largely under the influence of Spanish conquistadors, who sailed extensively along the northern coast of South America, it can be assumed that the sweet pea was first found in the wild in Peru and then arrived in Sicily, Malta and even Ceylon.

In any case, the sweet pea arrived in England and, thanks to the work of breeders, became the "king" of climbing plants. The first five cultivars appeared in 1800. Their flowers had only two color combinations - purple with blue and pink with white.

In our country scientific work with the sweet pea began in 1938, when the Gribovskaya experimental station near Moscow received seeds of several cultivars from the English firm "Unwins" — the world leader in breeding and seed production of this crop. For a long time the "foreign newcomers" were studied by researchers of the All-Russian Research Institute of Vegetable Breeding and Seed Production — L. A. Kitaeva, V. A. Loginova, L. A. Yukhimuk, V. M. Turushina, V. N. Solopova, E. V. Shandrova, D. B. Kudryavets, I. V. Dryagina and the author of this article. The work of this team has culminated in success — 20 domestic cultivars have been created, the first of which appeared only in 1990.

In 1991 creative contacts were established with the English National Sweet Pea Society, which celebrated its centenary in 2000. The society's president John Bishop pays great attention to the work of Russian breeders.

Description: the sweet pea, or fragrant lathyrus, belongs to the genus Лathyrus (Lathyrus), family Fabaceae (Fabaceae). The botanical description of this species was first given by the famous Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The root system of the sweet pea is taproot, heavily branched, penetrating the soil to a depth of up to one and a half meters. Therefore, it tolerates transplanting very poorly, and it is better to grow it in peat-compost pots. Like most legumes, the sweet pea enters into symbiosis with root-nodule bacteria of the genus Rhizobium (Rhizobium), which fix atmospheric nitrogen, so the plants largely "feed" themselves.

Stems of the fragrant lathyrus are climbing, winged, sparsely branched, clinging to supports with branched tendrils — modified leaves. The unusual structure of the flower is related to another name for this family — the Papilionaceae (butterfly family). The flowers do resemble colorful butterflies scattered on the bright green foliage. However, in English the sweet pea flower evokes quite unexpected associations: the corolla consists of the largest petal — the broadly oval "standard", two lateral "wings" and two lower petals fused together forming the "boat".

The sweet pea blooms abundantly and continuously starting in July. If spent inflorescences on which small green pods begin to form are removed in time, the plants will flower until the first frosts. If, on the contrary, you want to collect seeds from a desirable cultivar, then, first, it is preferable to grow it from seedlings, and second, leave 5–10 flowering stalks with pods on the "seed" plants while removing the other flowers. Each pod usually ripens 5–8 seeds. There are 8–15 seeds per gram. Seed viability is maintained for 6–8 years if, of course, they are stored on the lower shelf of the refrigerator.

Growing requirements: the sweet pea can be cultivated almost anywhere; it is only important to choose the right cultivars and methods for raising seedlings. Also keep in mind that the sweet pea grows best in open sunny, wind-sheltered sites with deeply worked fertile, neutral soils. Plants tolerate light shading but react strongly to abrupt fluctuations between night and day temperatures (flowers and buds may drop). The sweet pea should be fed two to three times per season with liquid organic fertilizers and regularly watered in hot dry weather.

In the central part of Russia the sweet pea is grown from seedlings: seeds are soaked overnight in hot water (60–80 °C) in mid-March. Then the swollen seeds are sown 2–3 per peat-compost pot filled with a soil mix of turf soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 2:1:0.5. Seedlings appear in 4–7 days. At the two-to-three true-leaf stage, seedlings are pinched, removing the growing tip, which promotes the formation of many lateral shoots and results in more abundant flowering. In the direct-sowing method (southern regions of Russia) seeds are sown outdoors in late March to early April, since seedlings tolerate frosts down to -5 °C.

Seedlings are planted in their permanent location in mid-May at a spacing of 20–25 cm. For tall cultivars supports must be provided. Remember that the sweet pea can be grown in the same place for only one year and should not be returned to the same spot until 4–5 years later. When planting seedlings do not apply fresh organic fertilizers (manure), as the plants may succumb to fungal diseases.

Please note that:

1. When grown in a greenhouse the sweet pea can reach a height of 4 m.

2. Dwarf cultivars do very well without supports.

3. When grown on large areas the spacing between rows should be 70 cm.

4. Sometimes the sweet pea does not set seeds. The reason is a sharp fluctuation between day and night temperatures.

based on material from the site www.flower.onego.ru