Lathyrus - The Beautiful Sweetpea

Lathyrus odoratus, the common Sweet pea was first introduced from Sicily into the gardening fraternity of England in 1700. There it languished for nearly 150 years until Henry Eckford created 200 new varieties that soon made common Lathyrus the most sought after climbing annual in Europe. Since then over 3000 varieties have been produced, some even in New Zealand.

The 300 varieties currently in cultivation, have brought pleasure to millions and made millions for commercial growers especially around Los Angeles where 2/3 of all the world's sweet pea seed is grown. Today they are among the most highly developed annuals being prized by gardeners, commercial growers and florists as the "Queen of Annuals". These cool weather plants quickly collapse in drying heat.