July 



horticulture: 



109 



Echoes from England 



A SWEET PEA SHOW 



The National Sweet Pea Society is only five years 

 old, yet on July the 4th it held an exhibition that 

 filled the magnificent new hall of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society in London. It was quite a record 

 show; there were more than 1,000 bunches of sweet 

 peas shown and the exhibitors numbered 100. In 

 one class alone there were thirty-six competitors. 



The improvements which have been effected in the 

 sweet pea during recent years are remarkable, and 

 the latter day varieties are most beautiful flowers. 

 One of the finest displays for competition was that 

 exhibited by Henry Eckford, the doyen of sweet pea 

 specialists. Undoubtedly the finest flower in his 

 group was Henry Eckford, a flower worthy to be 

 given the honor of a name that is a household word 

 among sweet pea growers. This variety, unique in 

 its rich orange-salmon coloring, I described in a 

 recent letter. Other very fine sorts in Mr. Eckford's 

 group were Romolo Piazzani, rich violet blue; Horace 

 Wright, the standard dark purple, the wings brighter 

 purple; Miss Eckford, buff pink, a very dainty sort; 

 Scarlet Gem, rich crimson scarlet; Little Dorrit, 

 standard rose, wings blush colored; Miss Philbrick, 

 true light blue. All these are really good sorts and 

 well worth mentioning in addition to those mentioned 

 below which were given certificates of merit by the 

 National Sweet Pea Society. 



NEW SWEET PEAS 



A silver medal as the best new sweet pea of the 

 year and a first class certificate were awarded to the 

 variety Helen Lewis, a large and beautiful flower of 

 rich coloring, best described perhaps as orange-red. 

 It is a sport from the pink Countess Spencer. This 

 orange-red color is a very popular one among sweet 

 peas at present, and many of the newest varieties 

 are of that shade. The exhibitor of Helen Lewis 

 was Mr. J. Watson, Orford House Gardens, Ham, 

 Surrey. 



Evelyn Byatt is another new variety shown by the 

 well known seed growers, Messrs. Watkins and 

 Simpson, Tavistock street, Covent Garden. It is not 

 a large flower but the color is very striking, the stan- 



dard a deep shade of orange-red, the wings having 

 more red in thorn. Helen Pierce is another good 

 new sort shown liy Messrs. Watkins and Simpson. 

 Seen from the front the color is pale blue, veined 

 on a blue white ground; seen from behind the shade 

 is a much deeper one, although the veining is quite 

 distinct. 



Mr. W. Bolton, Camforth, gained an award 

 of merit for the varieties Tom Bolton and Mrs. 

 Hardcastle-Sykes. The former is a beautiful deep 

 lavender-colored flower, ~ the standard being, • as is 

 usual, a deeper tint than the ..wings. .The latter is 

 a charming deep pink variety, rather a deeper shade 

 of the same color at the edges. 



Queen Alexandra, exhibited by Henry Eckford, is 

 a good deal like his famous Scarlet Gem, but it is 

 rather deeper, a really good crimson, in fact, and it 

 is said not to burn in the sun, a fault that some 

 varieties have. A sweet pea, no matter how delicate 

 and beautiful its coloring, loses a good deal of its 

 value if it fades in hot, bright weather. This the 

 new Queen Alexandra is said not to do. 



THE BEST STANDARD VARIETIES 



It may be interesting and of some value also just 

 to mention those varieties which obtained the first 

 prizes in the class for sweet peas of a certain color 

 at the National Sweet Pea Show. 



The classes were for two varieties of each color, 

 so I give the two first prize sorts in each case. White, 

 Dorothy Eckford and Blanche Burpee; crimson. 

 Scarlet Gem and King Edward; blush, Sensation and 

 Duchess of Sutherland; rose and carmine, Mrs. Dug- 

 dale and Prince of Wales; pink, Mrs. R. Smith and 

 Countess Spencer; orange shades, Gorgeous and Miss 

 Willmott; yellow or buff. Lady Ormesby Gore and 

 Hon. Mrs. Kenyon; lavender. Countess of Radnor 

 and Lady Grizel Hamilton; blue, Navy Blue and 

 Captain of the Blues; mauve, Dorothy Tennant and 

 Mrs. W. Wright; violet and purple, Mrs. Wright and 

 Duke of Westminster; marone or bronze, Othello and 

 Black Knight ; magenta. Calypso and George Gordon ; 

 picotee edged, Lottie Eckford and Dainty; striped 

 and flaked (red or rose) America and Aurora. Here 

 you may be said to have a selection of the very best 

 sweet peas as grown in English gardens to-day 



//Cm^o^ rr- /fL<r^^A. s 



London. 



