Sweet-Pea Shrub
Polygala X dalmaisiana hybrids (POLYGALACEAE)
Planting and Growing Sweet-Pea Shrub
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow sweet-pea shrub in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, pods, and seeds of sweet-pea shrub
- Growing conditions for sweet-pea shrub
- When and where to plant sweet-pea shrub
- How to plant sweet-pea shrub
- How to shape, prune and control growth of sweet-pea shrub
- Watering, fertilizing, and care of sweet-pea shrub
- Landscape uses of sweet-pea shrub
- Pest and disease control for sweet-pea shrub
Growing Sweet-Pea Shrub
Several hybrid cultivars of medium-growing, mounding becoming erect and round-crowned, evergreen shrubs, 4–8 ft. (1.2–2.4 m) tall and wide, with alternate or opposite, smooth, gray green, oval or lance-shaped, pointed leaves, 3/4–1‑in. (19–25‑mm) long.
Shrubby milkwort, Polygala chamaebuxus; gaywings; Polygala paucifolia; racmed milkwort, Polygala polygama; low pinebarren milkwort Polygala ramosa; and blood milkwort Polygala viridescens are closely related species with similar care needs.
Sweet-Pea Shrub Planting and Care Guide
Flowers and Fruit
Very showy, pealike, pink, purple, rose flowers, to 1 in. (25 mm) long, in dangling clusters, in spring–autumn, form capsulelike pods containing seed in autumn.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 9–11. Tender. Best in mild-winter, hot-summer climates.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–8.0 pH. Salt tolerant.
Where and How to Plant
Full to filtered sun. Space 3–4 ft. (90–120 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Fertilize quarterly. Shear in winter. Propagate by seed.
About This Species
Good choice for accents, backgrounds, fillers in arid, meadow, rock, seaside, tropical gardens. Pest and disease resistant.