broad-leaved everlasting pea
Thirty five years ago when we moved to our present house, it was our wish and our ambition to make and to grow a garden from scratch. We were lucky enough to inherit a blank canvas with very few existing features and even fewer garden-worthy plants, but the one that was there, and remains with us to this day, is the everlasting pea.
As I so often do, I decided to find out what my gardening guru Christopher Lloyd had to say about it and he starts off “The everlasting pea, Lathyrus latifolius, has no scent and should not as it often is, be called everlasting sweet pea.” He goes on to describe it as a “staunch perennial climber that dies down in winter and grows to 2m-3m in summer” and its colour as “a villainous mauvy- pink”. You have to laugh at that – he’s spot on as always!
Like so many plants, after our wet, wet winter, it has excelled itself this year, and the sight of it scrambling through the silver-leaved sea holly ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’, and weaving around the tall stems of the delightful lemon yellow Cephalaria gigantea exactly sums up the abundance and random beauty of the summer border.
It spreads by underground rhizomes and the neat and tidy gardener who likes to be in control might call it mildly invasive, but for me I’d hate to be without it.
NB Louise has published a beautifully produced book of her plant profiles – A Plant for Each Week of the Year. It costs £9.99 and is for sale in our online shop here.
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2 replies on “Lathyrus latifolius AGM”
My favourite plant for beautiful foliage is artemisia Powys castle – which looks particularly fabulous beside dark crimson or bronze flowers and shrubs. I have one next to a small cotinus and another by bronze flag irises – wonderful!
I think the ‘greens’ in the garden are often the stars! I completely agree about ferns and all your other suggestions ( lovely alchemilla mollis didn’t like my garden.. I must try again!) I love hydrangea quercifolia as much for the leaf as the flower and pittosporum ( great fill in plant for wreaths and flower arrangements ) Variegated Fatsia looks architectural and insects love the flowers..flowers are wonderful but gardens would be bereft without leaves in all their marvellous shapes and shades!
Thanks for always starting my Saturday mornings so joyfully!