The sweet pea is the only flower we sell where the smell is the product and the look is the bonus.
Sweet peas are spring-flowering climbers with ruffled, paper-thin petals and one of the strongest scents in the cut-flower trade. They are also one of the shortest-lived, which is the trade you make. Buy them for a week when you want the house to smell like something, not for an arrangement that has to last a fortnight.
What is a sweet pea?
Lathyrus odoratus is a climbing annual in the Fabaceae, the pea and bean family, which is exactly what the flower looks like if you stare at it for a second: the same hooded shape as a pea blossom, scaled up and frilled.
It came out of Sicily. A Franciscan monk named Francisco Cupani sent seed to England at the end of the seventeenth century, and the wild version was small, dark purple and ferociously scented. Almost everything since has been a trade between that scent and a bigger, prettier flower. The Victorian breeder Henry Eckford produced the large ruffled types most florists now stock, and some of the showiest modern varieties have very little smell left in them.
That history is worth knowing when you buy. A pale, enormous, unscented sweet pea is a triumph of breeding and a waste of the flower.
What does the sweet pea mean?
Sweet pea carries a specific and slightly unusual meaning: departure, and thanks for a good time. In Victorian flower language it was the flower you sent after a visit, saying goodbye and thank you in one gesture.
It also reads as delicate pleasure and blissful enjoyment, which fits a flower that is intensely lovely and gone within the week. If you want a flower that says something warm without committing to forever, this is the one.
Sweet pea colour meanings
- Pale pink and blush: tenderness and thanks. The most-sent shade and the one that photographs best.
- White: sincerity and a clean farewell. Sits easily with white flowers.
- Deep purple: closest to the original wild form, and usually the most scented of the lot.
- Red and magenta: warmth and strong affection, though it loses the flower's characteristic softness.
When are sweet peas in season in Australia?
Sweet peas are a spring flower here, generally running from around September through to late November depending on the state and the season. They want cool nights, so warm weather closes them down quickly.
Supply is short and it moves fast. If you see them and you want them, buy them, because they are rarely there three weeks running. Our guide to flowers that bloom in spring in Australia covers what arrives alongside them.
A pale, enormous, unscented sweet pea is a triumph of breeding and a waste of the flower.
How long do sweet peas last?
Three to five days is normal. A week is a good result. Nothing you do will turn a sweet pea into a chrysanthemum, so the goal is to get the most out of a short window rather than to stretch it.
How to care for cut sweet peas
- Buy them barely open. A sweet pea already in full bloom on the shelf has spent most of its life.
- Use a small vase with shallow water. The stems are fine and wiry and do not need depth.
- Change the water daily. This one genuinely matters for sweet peas.
- Keep them cool and out of sun. Heat costs you a day at a time.
- Remove spent flowers as they go. On the plant, picking makes more flowers, and in the vase, tidying keeps the rest looking deliberate.
The broader principles are in our guide to keeping flowers alive longer.
Are sweet peas toxic?
The seeds and pods should not be eaten. The Royal Horticultural Society lists Lathyrus odoratus as harmful if eaten, and the seeds are the part of concern. They look like garden peas, which is exactly the problem in a house with children.
Keep the vase and any seed pods out of reach, and contact a doctor or vet if you suspect any have been swallowed. If you have animals, our note on plants that are toxic to pets is worth a look.
How to use sweet peas well
They do not want to be in a large mixed arrangement. The stems are too fine to hold their own against a rose or a protea, and the scent gets lost in company.
A bunch of sweet peas on their own in a small vessel, somewhere you walk past often, is the correct use of this flower. In a bouquet, they work as a scent layer and a softener rather than a structural element, which is why the spring guide lists them for wedding flowers alongside stock rather than as a feature bloom. If you are planning for this season, see our Australian spring wedding flowers guide.
Short seasons are the argument for a subscription.
The Flower Club follows the market week by week, so you get sweet peas when they are actually good. See The Flower Club →
Sources: Royal Horticultural Society, potentially harmful garden plants. Photographs by Natalie Kinnear and micheile henderson via Unsplash.
