Growing Everlasting Sweetpea

Growing Everlasting Sweetpea

everlasting-sweetpea

The Everlasting Sweetpea  is a herbaceaous perennials unlike it’s annual cousins. Lathyrus latifolia is the latin name of everlasting sweet peas and there are several varieties including this ‘Pink Pearl’,  ‘Red Pearl’ and I also have an unnamed  variety that is a blueish white. I have grown mine from seed but you can also take cuttings in early summer.

If you can forget comparisons with annual sweet peas you will find these rapidly growing climbers a great asset in your garden. They will scramble over an untidy compost heap, grow up a tall shrub or twine over a specific frame. Ever popular, this plant is smothered in showy sprays of legume like flowers from June to September among grey-green leaves. A vigorous, perennial climber, it looks lovely scrambling over a sunny wall or through a hedge or evergreen shrub, although initially it needs to be tied into supports.

Growing Healthy Everlasting Sweetpeas

  • Unlike the annual sweet pea, it has no fragrance.
  • The flower stems are long and graceful and are good for cutting.
  • Pinching out growing tips would encourage bushy growth but I find they get on fine if left alone.
  • They like organic matter in the soil and will grow in light shade.
  • In one season they will grow to 7 or 8 feet and then I cut them down to ground level in winter.
  • They seem to be very accommodating plants with a good show of blossom in late summer until the first frosts

Seeds from Thompson & Morgan

12 thoughts on “Growing Everlasting Sweetpea

  1. I just love the idea of having everlasting sweet pea in my cottage garden, can I ask how hardy they are, and can I grow them behing shrubs on a wall, with wire, or do I need some kind of structure?

  2. They are very hardy in the North of England. They disappear over winter but have resurfaced every summer for the last 30+ Years

  3. Can you lift these plants and transfer to a different location, if so when is the best time to do this?

  4. I have just tried this autumn for the first time.
    The length of root astounded me and I broke some off! I put my chances at 50:50 but if you take more care you should be OK moving it in the next 8 weeks.

  5. The biggest problem my everlasting sweet peas have is my wife and her father both have no idea about these plants and just dig them up willy nilly.

  6. Hi. This is my first year with my Everlasting Sweet Pea. Do I really cut it right back to ground level in the winter ? Yikes !! Would also like to know how to shorten its growing height if that is possible. My trellis is 5ft. Thank you 🙂

  7. planted seeds last year in pots grew them on and planted on an arch this spring lots of foliage but only two flowers ?

  8. Can I plant it in troughs. I bought one last year and put it straight into the ground but if I’ve put a trellis up.either side of my shed and put two.in a trough about a metre apart. Will they still grow?

  9. I have recently bought some everlasting sweet pea
    plants which seem to be in a clump rather than individual plants. Should I plant the clump or divide them up please?

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