6 Garden Pea Varieties with Pretty Pods

If you only have a small space to grow vegetables, it can be worth investing in something that looks as good as it tastes! If you love having fresh peas on hand these pretty peas can be a perfect addition to a mini garden space. They’re ornamental and delicious!

Their unusual colors make them fun vegetables to grow with children, especially in containers on a porch or patio.

Pea varieties with pretty pods

Each of these pea varieties has a unique twist on the typical green pea pod. They can be used to add vibrancy and interest to endless recipes. Whether you use them as a colorful side dish or add them to a stir fry.

1. Spring Blush Pea

A mangetout pea variety with beautiful green pods tinted with pink. Through the spring you’ll enjoy its pink and purple flowers. Then as the pods begin to ripen, the swelling pod flushes pink. They look really lovely when running up a trellis.

As a snap pea, you can pick the pods before the peas fully develop and add them to stir-fries or have them as a vibrant side dish.

2. Golden Sweet Pea 

A beautiful snow pea variety with bright, golden pods. They keep their color well when cooked, so they can make a bright addition to a stir fry or as a steamed side dish.

3. Blauwschokker Pea

A Dutch pea variety with deep, purple-colored pods. Blauwschokker translates as ‘blue shocker’, which hints at the vibrant pod colors!

The purple pods are really eye-catching amongst the green vines in late summer. In a small garden space, it doubles up as an attractive ornamental but also produces tasty edible peas!

You can pick the pods when young to use them as snow peas. Or alternatively, wait for the peas to develop and then shell the delicious green peas inside!

4. Sugar Magnolia 

A sugar snap pea with lots of purple pigmentation in the pods. The longer you leave them ripening in the sun, the deeper purple they’ll become.

They can add a satisfying crunch to stir-fries, or you can simply enjoy them steamed or sautéed with a little butter.

5. King Tut Purple Pea 

Another pretty purple pea pod, but with an incredible back story… The King Tut pea is supposedly a variety that has descended from pea seeds found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

You can pick them when young as a tasty purple snow pea, or wait a little longer to shell the bright green peas inside!

6. Opal Creek Pea

This pea variety produces beautiful lemon-yellow pods. As a snap pea, you can harvest the slim pods and add them to a stir fry, or have them as a tasty side dish.

If your garden space is really limited, check out our list of dwarf pea varieties. It includes a pea variety that you could grow on your windowsill!

Featured image cropped photo of ‘Blauwschokker Pea flowers and pods’ by 305 Seahill (CC BY-ND 2.0)