Along the edge of Piney Woods Church Road at the junction with Rico Road, I glimpsed some of the earliest blooms of everlasting pea (Lathyrus latifolius) today. This photograph makes this small flower look almost glamorous. An immigrant from southern Europe that commonly frequents waste places (such as roadsides), everlasting pea arrived in the New World around 1720. Despite the flower’s unassuming, pea-like appearance, Thomas Jefferson judged it worthy of a place in his Monticello garden, so it certainly merits inclusion here.
