Oldies but Goodies : An Age of Innocence Blooms Anew With Fragrant Sweet Peas

In the language of flowers, a sweet pea stands for tenderness rather than passion, a feeling inspired by the crawl of pink blooms up your grandmother’s fence and the remembered comforts of childhood’s summer nights. Of all the cottage flowers that have lately flooded back into our lives, sweet peas might be the most beloved--for their bright abundance and perfume reminiscent of home.

But if sweet peas seem old-fashioned now, they were already considered quaint back in the 1800s, when Emily Dickinson penned poems about them and Harriet Beecher Stowe strung them up among the asters and gillyflowers in her Connecticut garden. Back then, they came in simple colors: red, white, pink and blue. Now there’s a slew of shades to choose from, including salmon, maroon, royal purple and chocolate.

Native to southern Italy, these annuals belong to the family Leguminosae, and if they’re happy--with plenty of water and regular feedings--they’ll grow as tall as six feet. Vining types need string or a trellis to clamber on (as shown here in a garden by designer Sarah Munster); bush varieties spread in mounds and masses. Some bloom exclusively in spring, and others can take the heat and flower throughout summer. Cut fragrant armloads for the house, be sure to pinch off the seed pods and the sweet peas will keep coming.