Thursday, September 29, 2016

Lathyrus odoratus September 29 2016

Here are sweet peas, on tip-toe for a flight:
With wings of gentle flush o’er delicate white,
And taper fingers catching at all things,
To bind them all about with tiny rings. 
John Keats


Both Rosemary and I have green thumbs but not with all plants. We have our failures. In my case every Bourbon Rose I have tried to grow has left me after two years. In Rosemary's case it has been the Lathrus odoratus, Sweet Pea. Part of the problem has always been the lack of sun in our former big garden on Athlone Street. One of the few areas with sun was the back lane. She often forgot to water them. One year we did manage to get some which I scanned on September 6, 2014. In our new home in Kitsilano we have lots more sun so Rosemary has hit it big with sweet peas. They are all blue (Rosemary is a snob and plant snobs love blue). They have been in bloom much of the summer and I only got to them this afternoon.

Lathyrus odoratus September 6 2014

But no matter the colour the real strength of the sweet pea is a fragrance that has no parallel even when you compare it to that of a rose. The fragrance of rose is queenly. But that of the sweet pea of a cute and young girl (perhaps a readhead with many freckles).

I stood tip-toe upon a hill John Keats