FOR GARDENERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 461, 20 March 1909, Page 3

FOR GARDENERS.

THE SWEET PEA. . Are you interested in sweet peas?' Peas are one of the flowers of the day. Within the last few years quite a phenomenal rise has worked the pea into great favour. And from the way the ■ novelties are owning forward there is every evidence of 'the boom lasting-for quite a long time yet. . Several factors have helped to place the flower in her present position. First comes her undoubted beauty.. When the sweet pea is at her best there is nothing in the garden half so sweet or so attractive. In her composition art has gathered together all the graces which go to make up true loveliness. Some of the 'latter-day sweet peas . often make the roses frantically jealous. Then, following closely, on her beauty, comes her hardiness. Sweet peas,'under good treatmeht,'are as.easily grown as docks, summer crass, or dandelion. They are no trouble. Hence their popularity. Now for her third grace, which wo write down.as liberality. There is no getting, away from this fact. The sweet pea is a great giver. She literally flowers 1 her head off in her attempt: to shower her beauty on the world in which she lives. Those who know how to handle, her get great rewards for their pains. . And they get them easily. To gain the rewards there are certain cultural conditions which you must follow. Here they . are. . Tho; ground should, be doeply dug, and should not be raw. Select a plot which has been cropped'and manured frequently. Welltilled soil suits peas much better than raw, sour .oountry. Liberal dressings of old cow or horee manure should be dug into the soil, if easily obtainable.- .Use superphosphate'of lime at the rate of nine or ten pounds to the square rod as an extra. Keep all manure out of the reach of the young, plants. Let them get a foothold before they touch it. Prepare the land this month. To® seed sowing can be done towards the end -of the'.month. 'If you are able, and have the .room,' grow: the peas in long rows, giving each colour a few yards of space..'On this -plan you get big broad effects and see flower masses as they should -be' seen. Let the seeds go in-Bin. apart. Anything closer will be crowding. Air and'sunlight are very necessary, in- sill flower growing. The best results; are only to bo had when ample room is provided. Both coddling and'overcrowding are; th'e wrong condition for peas. Place the seed about' an inch below the surface, in a sandy or light soil, somewhere out of the /reach of the 'manure. The peas will come through much' more than' an • inch of overburden; But. an inch of oover will do. Let the rows stand far enough apart to mit you: to work your way through. Four feet should do. Provide stakes for support. These, are necessary'.whether you grow the •plants 'in rows or .in clumps about , the . ordinary beds or borders. When the sfted is sown against ■ a fence, mesh ' wire should be stretched to about five or six feet high. Bring .this down close to the ground to provide an easy foothold. Once the peas straggle ,on the ground, they are hara to start climbing.'' ■ • Now. a word or two about the varieties to buy: Among the latest' and beat peas stand the Spenoer types. They are a much enlarged flower, carrying broader' ■ standards and wingsl They, are an improvement in every way on "the old order'of blooms. Countess Spencer, herself, one of tho daintiest pink flowers grown, is a charming thing, either in the daytime or at nighttime under the electrict ■ light or gas.. King Edward Spencer'is a rich and glowing'scarlet; apple Blossom, also a Spencer; is crimson-pink on the standard, with white wings'* that are tinged and shaded pink; Queen Victoria, Spencer, a deep primrose, flushed wji,h rose'; Mrs. Rouzahn, Spencor, abufTorapricot, nicely 'flushed with' a • soft,• delicate rose; Astor Oho,, also a Spencer,. a true ioft lavender, .suffused with mauve. All the Spencer; types are'nicely flushed and crinkled. Rainoria,. another of._the same fariiily,''a nice white, , carrying an overlay of pink. Among last-year's promising new flowers are White Spencer; Primrose, of the-same family ; "Florence Morse, a delicate blush-pink, picoteed with a darker shade; Evelyn Heriius, spoken of as the best picoteed flower known in sweet pea land, a cream, shading to yellow, with a nicely defined edging of bright terra-cotta pink. Paradise Ivory, a w.aved flower, of the colour of old ivory.