Growers Guide for Sweet Pea – Lathyrus

Perfect for picking, fragrant sweet peas are easy to grow and come in a range of beautiful colours. You can grow them in pots or in the ground, training them up a frame for a beautiful display. Plant sweet peas near a seating area so you can smell them as you sit and relax in the garden. Or pick some for the vase – even a small amount can fill a room with fragrance.

Reports show that the population of bees has continued to fall, putting food security at risk as they play a crucial role in pollination. The fast population decline can be attributed to the continued use of agricultural chemicals, climate change, and other factors such as urban development.

Commemorating John Tradescant (died 1637), gardener to Charles I (Commelinaceae). A genus of 60 species of hardy perennial and greenhouse plants from North America and tropical South America. The hardy varieties are commonly called spiderwort, flower of a day,

A genus of hardy herbaceous perennials, some of which are useful border plants, the dwarf species are good rock garden plants. Several are natives of the British Isles but those valued for gardens are from Europe, South America, and the Near East.

Named after a sixteenth-century Spanish physician and botanist, Nicholas Monardes (Labiatae). A small genus of annual and perennial herbs from North America, with fragrant leaves and flowers, related to Salvia. The leaves are nettle-like, and the flowers have a spiky appearance and are clustered together in whorls: the color ranges from white through pink, mauve, and purple to red.

Mostly evergreen shrubs, chiefly from tropical America, belonging to the Pea family, Leguminosae. They grow from 6-50 ft. in height, have pinnate, dark green, glossy leaves, and bear golden-yellow flowers in terminal clusters in summer. Cassia is from the original Greek name Kasia.

A group of tender perennial plants, only one of which is commonly grown. This is Strelitzia Reginae, which has large ornamental leaves on long strong petioles (leafstalks), and bears brilliant orange and purple flowers, several together within a large bract, on stems 3 ft. or more high in spring. It is a native of South Africa and belongs to the Banana family, Musaceae. The name commemorates Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Origin doubtful, possibly named after St Veronica (Scrophulariaceae). Speedwell. A genus of some 300 species ‘ of hardy perennials, annuals and sub-shrubs, mainly from northern temperate regions. Those described are hardy perennials, their flowers often borne in spikes. Dwarf kinds are suitable for the rock garden.

From the Greek di, two, kentron, a spur, referring to the two spurs on the petals (Fumariaceae). Hardy herbaceous perennials formerly known as Dielytra. Fibrous and tuberous rooted, they generally transplant badly because the roots are as brittle as glass. The flowers are pendant from arching stems, like lanterns hung along a cord.

Bear’s breech is a Handsome, hardy perennial known to the Greeks and Romans, who used the leaf form of Acanthus mollis to decorate the Corinthian column.

Showy annual plants from southern Europe belonging to the Daisy family, Compositive. They have simple alternate leaves and branching stems 1 1/2-2 1/2 ft. high, bearing large heads of yellow, yellowish or orange-colored flowers which are in full beauty during the summer. Calendula is derived from calendae, the calends, the first day of the ancient Roman month-an allusion to the almost continuous flowering character of this plant. Calendulas do best in full sunshine and in rather dry soil. They are raised, from seeds sown out of doors in the spring or early autumn where the plants are to bloom the following year and are very easy to cultivate.

A genus of herbaceous perennial plants from tropical America, grown mainly for their ornamental foliage, though some also have showy flowers. They need warm greenhouse treatment in cooler areas. From the Greek dis, twice, chorizo, to part, aner, anther, referring to the 2-valved anthers (Commelinaceae).