Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Sweetpea

Description:

This old-fashioned ornamental vine produces long-lasting clusters of bi-color, pink and white flowers that are wonderfully scented; prune before seeds form to keep under control

Ornamental Features

Painted Lady Sweet Pea features showy racemes of fragrant pink pea-like flowers with white overtones along the stems from late spring to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its oval compound leaves remain bluish-green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Painted Lady Sweet Pea is an herbaceous annual with a trailing habit of growth, eventually spilling over the edges of hanging baskets and containers. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Painted Lady Sweet Pea is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Painted Lady Sweet Pea will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 3 feet apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. This fast-growing annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year. However, this species tends to self-seed and may thereby endure for years in the garden if allowed.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Painted Lady Sweet Pea is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. Because of its trailing habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.