The Sweet Pea - A Little History and Some Growing Instructions In 1696, a Franciscan monk, Father Cupani was wandering the hillsides of Sicily when he came upon a flower so vividly colored and so potently fragrant that he was captivated. He collected the plant and planted its seed in his monastery garden. The fragrance of this sweet pea was extraordinary like the perfume of honey, propolis and wax that comes from a newly opened beehive. The original plant had deep blue lower petals, known as standards, and purple upper petals, known as wings. Father Cupani sent the seed to a friend in Britain in 1699 and by 1724, the seed was commercially available as Cupani's Original or Matucana. In the early 19th century, the color range of
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