Pea Mangetout Carouby de Maussane

Named for a village in Provence and one of the most beautiful vegetables you can grow. It climbs to nearly two metres and covers itself in two-toned flowers — deep maroon standards above soft pink-purple wings. If the pods never came you would still want it.

The pods do come, and they are the reward: large, flat, sweet and tender, eaten whole in the French manner rather than shelled. Steamed, stir-fried, dropped into a salad, or eaten raw off the vine while you are supposed to be weeding.

Give it proper support. This is not a twiggy pea-stick job — it wants a trellis, a wigwam of long canes or a fence to scramble up. Pick young, at six to eight centimetres, before the peas inside begin to swell.