Rainbow of sweet peas

WE love sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) for their fragrance, colour and elegance. The fact that they are so easy to grow is also an enormous drive in their popularity. And sowing seed in the autumn or winter is the way to grow the most prolific and the most resilient plants.

But why do we sow sweet pea seeds in autumn? Well, in the Mediterranean, where the wild sweet pea grows – southern Italy, and especially Sicily – autumn rains spark the germination of the seeds, and in the cool winter days that follow the roots grow deeper