On the 18th of January I posted a picture of the first Sweet Pea bloom of the season. Six months and a few days later there are sweet peas almost everywhere. My next-door neighbor has been picking them and taking bouquets to the elderly neighbor upstairs. She has a small apartment and a single bouquet fills it with perfume. We think of them as Juanita Sweet Peas. Those in the picture are from across the patio growing up the staircase. The plant that gave us the first bloom of the season is now almost spent, but otherwise, everywhere the summer sun hits is a huge splash of sweet smelling color. They’re a messy plant. They grow how and where they want. But that’s part of their beauty. A seeming chaos that produces gems.