THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



141 



\arietie.s, still where high grade flowers are required of 

 Sweet Peas and as long a season as possible, this system 

 and the following one outside will gi\e the highest grade 

 of flowers for five months in the year, and where climatic 

 conditions are more favorable to the growth of the Sweet 

 I'ea than here I have no dnubt could be extended to six 

 months. 



l'"or flowering outdoors seed should be sown the first 

 to middle of February, potted into four-inch pots and 

 kept in house till middle of March, then placed in cold 

 frames till middle of April when they can be planted out- 

 side. For those having no greenhouses a good method 

 is to sow two or three seeds in a four-inch pot abotit the 

 middle of February and place in frost-proof cold frame. 

 Kceji all heat in possible till germination, keeping the 

 strongest seedling and pulling out the others. Trenches 

 for planting these in should be dry, preferably in the fall. 

 at least two feet deep with a dressing of lime given and 

 left open all winter. In s|)ring a dressing of w'ell rotted 

 manure should be placed along bottom of trench and 

 well tamped, one harrowful of manure to every twenty 

 feet of trench filling will lie plenty. When trenches are 

 filled up give a good tamping, leaving them slightlv de- 

 pressed. -V row fifty feet long will need five stakes; 

 three-quarter or half-inch pipe is good for this purpose, 

 and they should be six to seven feet high above ground 

 level. Along these stakes run four rows of wire ; up 

 against and tied to these wires place cane stakes pressed 

 into ground a few inches, four inches apart the length 

 of the row. The very cheapest thin Japanese can stakes 

 are good. The trench is now ready for planting and will 

 require fifty plants each, one grown to three shoots. 

 Iv'ich shoot has its cane stake which it should be kept 

 tied to and treated the same as indoors, lluds will prob- 

 ably appear on these plants when they are a foot high, 

 but should be pinched oflf. The orange and reds will 

 need shading ; cheese cloth is good for this purpose ; light 

 frames should be made twelve feet long and on this the 

 cheese cloth can be tacked. \\'lien picking for exhibi- 

 tion try to pick day before show and place in cool, dry 

 place ; do not crowd blooms in vases, as thev will develop 

 wonderfully if given room to do so. In staging give pref- 

 erence, if possible, to bright colors, and in the small 

 classes have them all bright colors. The varieties before 

 mentioned are all good fur outdoors with the addition of: 



Edna Unz^in, oraiii^c scarlet: Edroiii Bcautx. onin_s;e 

 pink, a beauty, but bloom I'ery soft: Heixules, pink: 

 Doris Usher, cream and deep pink: Inspector, orani^e; 

 Mrs. Cuthberfson. rose-pink, -t'cry large: Mrs. C. 11'. 

 Breadmore, cream, edged pink; Nubian, chocolate ; Rosa- 

 belle, light rose, very large: Thos. Stevenson, orange- 

 scarlet; Lady Evelyn P.yrie. blush-pink, the largest of 

 all: Paradise Carmine, stumls ant b\i itself in this color, 

 but seed very difficult to obtain. 



Fxtra fine blooms can be obtained by selecting buds 

 eight to ten days before show by pinching out the entire 

 head of shoot above the flowering stem in which the buds 

 can just be countefl. Care should be taken though to let 

 a break come alongside the flowering stem, which will 

 take the place of the pinched to]). Watering should he 

 done at the rate of fi\c L^allons to a ])lanl unce a week. 



progress of variation of a garden plant, growers are apt 

 to overlook the best purpose or intention. The lures of 

 size, novelty antl variety are often illusive ; they attract 

 and lead into blind paths. The thing to look for is the 

 purest beauty of which the plant is capable. In the mat- 

 ter of coloring' in the .\ubrietia the very finest quality 

 may often be picked out in a batch of seedlings of the 

 tyi)e .\. graeca. It is a clear, pure lavender jnu-ple rather 

 light than deep in tone. We are grateful, writes C. jekyll 

 in the Garden, for the fine deep-colored variety Dr. 

 Mules, but to the artist-gardener it is not a plant to use 

 by itself in large quantity. Its value is best shown when 

 a few plants are grouped with a larger number of a good 

 form of the more typical cdlnriiig. Of the heavy reddish 

 colorings, and even the deej) purples inclining to reddish, 

 as far as my own feeling and experience are concerned, 

 they are better avoided altogether. The only colorings 

 with anything approaching a reddish tint that seem to 

 me desirable are the very beautiful palest pink Moer- 

 heiniii. of Dutch origin, and a slightly darker one, 

 called I'.riclesmaid. P.oth are extremely pretty plants and 



AUBRIETIAS IN THE SPRING GARDEN. 



Those who make careful use uf the iiest spring flowers 

 have been rejoicing in some recent improvements in the 

 Aubrictia. Among these the most valuable f)f those now 

 well known is the beautiful variety Lax'cnder, of good 

 size, full\- IjIoouk'iI and of true .\u1)i-ictia color. In the 



.\ Sl'I'XlMEN PLANT OF .\Ui;Kn-:TI.\S I.\' .\ ROCK G.\KL)E.N. 



go well l(JL;cther. h'or the |ireseiit the jMU'e, rather li,L;lit^ 

 cc)lore(l kinds reseml)hng the fine Lavender would sjem 

 to be the best. 



The absence of the white eye makes the flower nuich 

 more eft'ective in the mass. I am of opinion that the size 

 of Aubrietia bloom should not be further increased. It 

 is not in the nature of the plant, a true alpine, tn have 

 large flowers. The mass of small blooms of good form 

 and ])ure coloring is the true character of the plant and 

 the source of its charm and attractiveness. These charm- 

 ing spring flowers deserve to lie more widely grown, 

 both in the rock garden and the border, than they are 

 at i>rescnt. Their cultivation is not difficult. 



