Peas And Beans - Not For Food, But For Beauty

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Peas and beans can decorate the garden no worse than roses and clematis! You just need to know which varieties to choose for this. In the legume family, there are representatives of a very decorative type. In particular, these include sweet peas and decorative beans. Let's take a closer look at these rare guests in the flower beds of our personal plots

Variegated Sweet Pea Carpet

Sweet pea is a perennial plant, but is grown in the garden as an annual crop. Delicate brightly colored petals and thin tendrils give it a special charm, which help the stem to cling to the support and trail it high upwards, forming a motley picturesque carpet.

The flowers of sweet peas are rather large, reaching 5 cm in diameter. They are collected in loose racemose inflorescences and exude a pleasant aroma. The color of the petals is very diverse - from pure white to the most incredible shades of pink, lilac, blue, blue, purple. On one plant, buds of several shades can bloom.

The varied shape of the flowers and the timing of flowering have divided the varieties of sweet peas into several groups:

• Rufled - Also called the Giant Noble for its large flowers. It has wavy petals and early flowering;

• Cutberson's - also has large buds and a beautiful wavy sail. Another important advantage is its high resistance to various whims of the weather and other unfavorable conditions, which is a very valuable, but rare quality in the family of decorative peas. Flowering occurs early;

• Spencer - famous for its long peduncles and large flowers, flowering occurs later than other varieties;

• Cupido - a feature of this plant is the pubescent stem. It is a low branching variety;

• Duplex - will interest those who like flowers with a double sail.

Polka dots are very light-requiring. It also belongs to heat-loving plants. It can be grown through seedlings, but it does not always tolerate transplanting well. When sowing in a permanent place at once, it should be borne in mind that the soil rich in humus will "like" the flower. The optimal type of soil is loam and sandy loam. The reaction of the earth should be neutral or slightly acidic. It does not tolerate drought well, therefore, dry soils are required for planting sweet peas. And in the heat, regular watering should be carried out, otherwise the plant will drop not only flowers, but also buds.

Sweet peas will serve as a wonderful decoration not only for the garden, but also on the balcony, veranda. They decorate walls and windows. Also used for cutting - peas stand well in a vase, without losing their freshness for a whole week. Decorative polka dots in bouquets look very gentle. It can be a good idea for decorating holiday tables, miniature bridal bouquet.

Ornamental bean waterfalls

Those who decide to place decorative beans next to sweet peas should pay attention to multi-flowered or fiery red beans. Such an annual climbing plant can climb with its long shoots to a height of 4 m.

The flowers are very interesting in shape, while some varieties have snow-white oars under a red sail. But this is not the only decoration of plants, because the stem is densely leafy and such shoots on the support seem to flow like a dark green waterfall.

The flowering period of ornamental beans, like sweet peas, falls in July-August, and can last until September. You can increase the flowering period by such a technique as regularly cutting off the emerging beans.

For beans to please the eye, they need to find a sunny spot. The plant is thermophilic, does not tolerate frosts. In the middle lane, it is recommended to grow through seedlings. Sowing can be carried out in peat-humus cubes. In a permanent place, there should be loose and nutritious soil. Care consists in abundant watering.