The April birth flower is the sweet pea. Sweet peas come in over 250 varieties and have a sweet fragrance. They are typically grown in gardens as climbing plants. A Scottish nurseryman, Henry Eckford, is credited with developing sweet peas into the popular flower of the Victorian era through extensive cross breeding and introducing new varieties like 'Countess Spencer'. Before his death, Eckford received an award from the Royal Horticultural Society for his work developing sweet peas.

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2. The April flower is Sweet Pea.
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The Latin „lathyrus odoratus,‟ which means „pea‟
and „fragrant‟ is how the sweet pea was named.
Sweet peas are available in over 250 different
varieties and there is a wide range of pastel and bicolour choices available.
Sweet peas are typically grown in gardens and are
a great addition to one as they are easy to grow
and look beautiful. As the plant likes to climb, and
will grow to a height of about six feet,
consideration will be needed as to where to place it
in your garden.
Otherwise, it blooms annually and has a sweet
fragrance.
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3. About Sweet Pea
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The fragrant pastel coloured flowers of this
climbing garden plant make it popular.
The sweet pea appears in a wide range of
pastel colours and also blooms in two-tone
varieties.
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4. Sweet Pea Symbolizes
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Blissful pleasure
Delicate pleasure
Departure or good-bye, which explains the
message “Thank You For A Lovely Time”
attached to the flower.
Keats, the poet, apparently first used the
name sweet pea and they became so popular
in the 1800s that they were the designated
floral symbol for Edwardian England.
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5. Story of a Sweet Pea
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The sweet pea, also known as the “Queen of
Annuals,” was first recorded in 1695. At the time,
Francisco Cupani, a member of the order of St.
Francis, made note of the flower in Sicily. Cupani
sent seeds in 1699 to Dr. Casper Commelin who
was a botanist at the medical school in Amsterdam.
Two years later, Commelin published an article on
sweet peas.
Another part of the story is that Cupani is believed
to have also sent seeds to English teacher Dr.
Robert Uvedale who was also an aficionado of new
and unusual plants. A herbarium specimen made in
1700 by Dr. Leonard Plukenet notes the plant‟s
origin as Dr. Uvedale‟s garden, which gives validity
to the claim of more than one seed mailing.
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6. Henry Eckford
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A Scottish nurseryman, is credited with cross
breeding and developing the sweet pea into the
floral sensation of the Victorian era. Prior to that it
was considered mostly a rather insignificant flower.
Eckford received a First Class Certificate in 1882 for
introducing the „Bronze Prince‟ sweet pea, which is
when his association with the flower is said to have
started.
In 1888 he had sweet pea development and trial
fields in place in Shropshire and in 1901 he had
introduced a total of 115 out of 264 plants
available at the time.
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7. Henry Eckford
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In 1901 another new form of sweet pea was
discovered in the Earl of Spencer gardens. They
were soon identified as the „Spencer‟ and were
different from other varieties in that they had much
larger ruffled upper petals, longer lower petals and
blossoms that were much more brighter.
These were developed into what eventually became
Eckford‟s most famous variety of sweet pea, the
Countess Spencer.
Before his death in 1906, Eckford was presented
with the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour for his work
with the sweet pea.
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8. Henry Eckford‟s best-known varieties include
the:
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Dorothy Eckford (pink)
Lady Grisel Hamilton (lavender)
King Edward VII (scarlet)
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