I purchased this plant from the late, great Seneca Hill Perennials in 2006. Since then it has thrived in dry shade under a Japanese mapl...Read Moree, which is under a massive white oak on the eastern side of my house. It's right next to my front walk, and is one of my favorites. The spring show is very eye-catching and the glossy, dark green foliage persists throughout the summer here, in Zone 7a. I've just collected some seed and hope to grow more. This tough customer would be a unique and welcome addition to any dry, wooded landscape.
This is an easy, tough, long-lived, shade-tolerant perennial that puts on a good show of flowers in early spring. It blooms for about a m...Read Moreonth, beginning with the early daffodils. This "cultivar" (actually a seed strain) flowers soft pink and white, without the blue tones of the species.
In the south, it goes dormant when the hot summer weather arrives. Here, it usually holds its foliage in good shape through the summer.
This is a plant of deciduous woodlands that will tolerate full sun here (Boston Z6a). It is deep-rooted and is one of the better plants for dry shade. I like to plant it where it will disappear under the emerging foliage of large hostas or ferns after it flowers.
It grows only about a foot tall. It has no tendrils and does not cling or climb. The perennial/everlasting sweet pea is a different species, Lathyrus latifolius.
L. vernus and the cultivar 'Albo-roseus' have received the Royal Horticultural Society's coveted Award of Garden Merit.
This plant is hardy, and in this region, growing in partial shade, requires no watering other than the rain. It needs a support -- in my...Read More yard a weathered split-rail fence with stick pins stuck in places where the sweet pea's tendrils could curl around them. Other shoots of the plant can be attached to the tendrils of the first shoots after the first are firmly gripping the support. The prettiest display of blossoms was in early summer, but with deadheading, it continues to bloom nicely this August. This plant was eaten off to ground level (by rabbits?) the first year or two; now I have a low barrier to protect the shoots as they come out of the ground. Perennial sweet peas have no scent, but the flowers are lovely, and the shoots and leaves are attractive.
L. vernus ‘Alboroseus’ has pink and white flowers and grows to 35cm in height. It is a clump-forming, herbaceous perennial that love...Read Mores to grow in fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade.
Deadhead regularly then cut stems down to the ground in autumn. If you like to propagate it by dividing in early spring mind that they sometimes resent disturbance.
The plant may cause mild stomach upset if ingested.
I purchased this plant from the late, great Seneca Hill Perennials in 2006. Since then it has thrived in dry shade under a Japanese mapl...Read More
This is an easy, tough, long-lived, shade-tolerant perennial that puts on a good show of flowers in early spring. It blooms for about a m...Read More
This plant is hardy, and in this region, growing in partial shade, requires no watering other than the rain. It needs a support -- in my...Read More
L. vernus ‘Alboroseus’ has pink and white flowers and grows to 35cm in height. It is a clump-forming, herbaceous perennial that love...Read More