90 FLORA HISTORICA. 



garden when planted so that they may climb to 

 some tree or shrub which has flowered in the 

 spring ; they convey the idea of their natural li- 

 berty, when so disposed that they 



catch the neighbouring shrub 



^Vith clasping tendrils, and invest his branch, 



Else unadorn'd, with many a gay festoon, 



And fragi-ant chaplet, recompensing well 



The strength they borrow with the grace they lend. 



COWPER. 



When thus disposed, the seeds should be planted 

 in a circle round the stem, but at some considerable 

 distance, as they may be guided to the trunk by 

 means of sticks placed in a sloping direction from 

 the plants to the tree ; for when planted too near 

 the tree they will seldom thrive, from want of suffi- 

 cient nourishment. Where this mode is objection- 

 able, they may be sown in circular trenches, and at 

 the proper season branching stakes may be placed 

 in the centre for them to fix their tendrils on ; and 

 thus trained, they will form a kind of Pea-tree, 

 and exhibit a far more beautiful appearance than 

 when planted in straight rows like pottage-peas in 

 a kitchen-garden. 



The time of sowing the Sweet Pea must, in some 

 measure, be regulated by the weather, as well as 

 by the nature of the soil, as where the earth is wet 

 and cold it must, of necessity, be deferred longer 

 than when growing in situations where it is light 

 and warm. 



