Sweet Peas

 The origin of sweet peas (Lathyrus odorus) in the wild is disputed, but since Victorian times, the climbing annual vines of highly fragrant flowers in shades of pink, purple, white, and blue have been widely popular garden plants. 



Lathyrus odoratus L.

Commelin, Johannes Horti medici amstelodamensis rariorum tam Orientalis vol. 2: t. 80 (1701)

Lathyrus odoratus L.

Commelin, Johannes

Horti medici amstelodamensis rariorum tam Orientalis

vol. 2: t. 80 (1701)

The first written record of sweet peas was in 1695 by Francisco Cupani, a monk from Sicily who was the caretaker of the botanical garden in the village of Misilmeri.  In 1699, Cupani sent seeds from his sweet peas to Dr. Casper Commelin of the Amsterdam school of medicine.  In 1701, Commelin published an article on the plant, known then as 'Lathyrus distoplatyphylos, hirsutus, mollis, magno et peramoeno, flare odoro.'  This translates literally from Latin as 'a type of pea with different broad leaves, hairy, soft, large and delightful, with a "blown up" scent.'  A lengthy, but appropriate description!


Historians presume that at the same time, Cupani also sent his sweet pea seeds to Dr. Robert Uvedale in Middlesex, England, based on a herbarium specimen that Dr. Leonard Plukenet made in 1700, sighting the plant’s origin as Dr. Uvedale’s garden.



Through the mid-1800's, only six colors of sweet peas were available in Europe.  But near the turn of the century, hybridizing began by Henry Eckford (1823–1905), a Scottish nurseryman, and the humble sweet pea of Cupani's Sicilian garden was transformed into the romantic Victorian garden sensation we so adore.  Eckford's varieties of sweet peas are those known today as heirloom and old-fashioned sweet peas.