Sweet pea perfection

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Turquoise Lagoon’

Isn’t this just the most gorgeous sweet pea? I bought them as seedlings and they came way too early and had to put up with pretty terrible conditions in the house before the greenhouse was ready, so consequently very few survived. But this is ‘Turquoise Lagoon’, and she’s a beauty. Still hasn’t been planted out because the raised beds aren’t ready, but she’s flowering in her pot – maybe not happily, exactly, but she’s hanging on. When the flower first appeared I was a bit disappointed because it opened a slightly wan lilac colour, but it turns out the flowers deepen into an amazing turquoise as they age. So Turquoise Lagoon – very apt as it turns out. No false advertising here.

Also enjoying the move to the greenhouse are my Cobaea scandens (Cup and Saucer Vine). I got about 5 each of the white and purple varieties, and they have mostly all survived. At the moment they’re up on the strawberry boards; their vines hanging down like a curtain that grows almost in front of your eyes. I’m not sure what my plan for them is – there isn’t an obvious place for them in the garden. So I might experiment with them here, as a lush, living backdrop to the greenhouse. I don’t know whether they’ll flower in these conditions but the vines are pretty enough.