The remaining Lathyrus niger in the garden is the progeny of my original plant that was purchased more than two decades ago and planted near the front porch. I’m a big fan of this plant family, with sweet peas as the most famous member, but lots of interesting species. And unlike some of them, L. niger doesn’t seem particularly invasive here. It seeds around a bit, but I’ve only ever found a few around the garden. The plant grows as an herbaceous perennial getting close to three feet tall. It blooms in May with mauvy pink pea flowers in clusters. More interest arrives in the late summer/fall when black pea pods form all over the plant.
My 2020 plans for this plant are to enjoy the flowers and the seed pods and relocate any seedlings I find to better places in the garden. This plant takes no special care at all and doesn’t even get watered in dry spells.