iiR 



Iinsil (JAFIDKNING 



Sweet Pea Notes for August 



By W. Hakkktt. Hallx lu-i-zn.- (';i>tl.' Cai.lcii 



('(». Kl'ITN . 



.\k)ST Swt'C't I 

 ainateiir. will 



I trrowiTs. Iintli i)ntf('ssi()nal and 

 i(»\v !)(' cMittiiiji pli'iity (»f j^'iKxl 

 IHMs. csiH'fiaiiy s(i t»(M-aus<« most of mir licsi 

 shows tako placi- in .lul\ and August. |)urini: 

 the pri'siMit very mixed weather we are lia\iiiL' 

 and have had for some time now. of lain. wind. 

 and snnshine. the lilooms. of course, will lia\e 

 snlTered rather in colour, and also tliey could 

 not have that nice hrilliant linisli tlie.\ 

 liave in l)ri<,dit sunii\ 



One of the 

 most inipor 

 taut things at 

 present to be 

 attended to is 

 the tying and 

 staki'ng of the 

 plants : we 

 weather 

 ways niak( 

 t he ])lant 

 grow latlu 

 soft, and for 

 that reas( 

 they are ver\ 

 easily thrown 

 over in 

 tops: these 

 should be at- 

 tended to at 

 once, or, if left 

 so, the grower, 

 instead of 

 having good, 

 long straight 

 s t ems. will 

 have very crooked stems. 

 to arrange on the exhibit i- 

 much against the exhibit, 

 though it entails a little 

 tvin<i the growtks with 



almost impossible 

 n board, and very 

 1 approve most, 

 more labour, of 

 pieces of rafifia. it 

 pays in the long run ; also try and have your 

 peas so placed when growing that they will not 

 l)e rubbing with their neighbours or with 

 the twiggy parts of the stakes — of course 

 where bamboos are used the scratching 

 and rubbing of the blooms does not occur so 

 much. Above all, when exhibiting you must 

 have freshness of bloom, that is, nice clean 

 blooms, free from spots and marks, and also 

 bright in colour, not dull and faded, as one often 

 sees at shows, with ])erha})s in many cases where 

 there are mostly four blooms on a stem three 

 of these are open and fresh, and one very often 



s t h 



o I- e 



very dr\- 

 "atherthanit 

 1 natur- 

 ally do if not 

 earthed -up: 

 it also i)i'oves 

 to give your 

 hints greater 

 s t r e n g t h of 

 stem and leaf. 

 In cutting 

 your peas for 

 show. the 

 grower must 

 I A ii.K ii'oi.iA use his own dis- 



liii^e 1 1 •*)• cretion. Much 



dei)ends on 

 what help he can secure at time of picking, what 

 distance he has to go to a show, &c. But I hold 

 that no matter how short the distance to the 

 show, always cut not later than the evening 

 ])revious to a show. Never cut in wet weather 

 if possible, but this is not always possible, as 

 most growers know to their grief. Whatever 

 happens, always get your blooms dry as possible 

 before packing. Blooms packed wet or damj) 

 must suffer and get discoloured and destroyed. 

 Last, but not least, it is very important indeed 

 to arrange the vases with best possible taste, 

 never have two colours together that clash. 

 This often spoils a superb collection of peas. 

 I forgot to mention about the salmon and orange 

 scarlet shades. Shading with tiffany or other 

 material is very necessary, all salmon shades 

 need it. But not all orange scarlet shades, and 



