Which sweet pea?

Discussion in 'Identification Area' started by philomel, Feb 24, 2015.

  1. philomel

    philomel Pottering in SW France

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    This sweet pea was here when I moved in and has been self seeding into one of my borders each year. Sorry the photo isn't better, but the upper petals are maroon and the falls are more bluey purple, though there possibly isn't quite as much contrast as the phone pic shows. Hoping someone will know it cos it's gorgeous with a luscious perfume and I am growing more from saved seed this spring.

    image.jpg
     
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    • wiseowl

      wiseowl Admin 24/7 Staff Member

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      Good morning @philomel sorry I only have eyes for the beautiful yellow Rose behind the the Sweet pea:heehee:
       
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      • IceColdRum

        IceColdRum Cacti & Herb Mad

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        Looks like the heirloom variety 'Matucana'?
         
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        • philomel

          philomel Pottering in SW France

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          Ha ha ha would I expect anything else from you Woo? :lunapic 130165696578242 5:
          That's the lovely Lady Hillingdon Climbing :)
           
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          • philomel

            philomel Pottering in SW France

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            Thanks ICR, I've been wondering about that one. I'll go and check more photos online :dbgrtmb: :dbgrtmb: :dbgrtmb:
             
          • philomel

            philomel Pottering in SW France

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            In the photos of Matucana there is much more contrast between the two colours, and the falls are a paler lilacy blue. In fact they all show an overall paler, less rich colouring. It may be that mine has changed over the generations of self pollination....
            Mind you there was one photo with the colouring reversed that was still labelled as Matucana :biggrin:
             
          • longk

            longk Total Gardener

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            It looks rather like "Cupani" to me.
             
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            • philomel

              philomel Pottering in SW France

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              Thanks very much longk. I think that's probably the one. The photos in the main show more contrast and paler colours, but there are three or four that look just like mine. :thumbsup:
               
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              • philomel

                philomel Pottering in SW France

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                I've just come across this article on a very good website
                www.lathyrus.info/sweetpeas/cupani.html
                It describes the differences between the two. The most striking being that Cupani was the original species from Sicily, introduced to uk and Holland in 1699, and has only two flowers per stem, whereas Matucana, bred in the 1920s, has four.
                I'm not sure if mine has more than two flowers per stem, in fact there appear to be three buds on the out of focus shoot in the foreground of my photo. Anyway, more food for thought and I'll be paying much more attention when they flower this year ;)
                 
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