Height: 30cm
Lathyrus vernus is a dense, clump-forming little plant for sunny positions. The heads of small purple pea flowers are held above the divided leaves and turn to blue on fading. There are charming variants in pink-and-white and blue-and-white which are more compact and slow of increase.
Graham Stuart Thomas
Loose clump-forming perennial producing a small hummock of narrow vetch foliage. Sprays of small, dainty pale pink and white, pea flowers over a long season. Reliable and long-lived in a wide range of moist, well-drained soils in dappled to semi-shade.
The Spring Vetch, Lathyrus vernus, widely distributed in Europe and into eastern Siberia, is one of the toughest and most accomodating herbaceous plants available for spring display. it produces sprays of small pea-flowers, purple, blue, pink or white, in April or early May as the pinnate feathery leaves unfurl to form dense clumps about 12 in (30 cm) high. My preference is for ‘Alboroseus’, with bi-coloured bright pink and white blooms, It thrives in any reasonably well-drained soil, even flowering regularly in semi-shade. It comes true from seed. (Division of the rootstock in early spring requires considerable muscle)
Christopher Brickell
What about a sweet pea in challenging sites? I am not teasing. In dry shade a lovely spreading pink sort of pea will flourish, Lathyrus vernus roseus, which extends about a foot wide and high. It has no scent but the flowers are enchanting from late March until May. Unlike its sweet-scented cousins it is hardy and persists for years.
Robin Lane Fox
A few years ago I stopped to stretch my legs in a beech wood on limestone on a long drive to Olomouc in the eastern Czech Republic. Very little was growing under the trees except Lathyrus vernus and some moss. Lathyrus vernus is a bushy, spring flowering pea that comes in bright purple, blue and purple, and pink. It associates well with Helleborus hybridus , and although it flowers earlier it clings to similar colours in spring. If planting in dry shade under trees, use an unflowered one-year plant, give it a mulch, and water it occasionally. In the second and subsequent years it will need no attention.
Bob Brown
Newgrown Plants 