THE SUMMER GARDEN 119 



first exhibited in 1904 by Messrs. Sander of 

 St. Albans ; and the sensation it created at 

 the Holland House show will not soon be 

 forgotten. Then came the various coloured 

 Hybrids of N. Affinis, raised by MM. Vilmorin- 

 Andrieux and others, which, besides possess- 

 ing strange and beautiful colouring, have 

 the merit of being as sweet-scented as their 

 white parent. I am curious to see whether 

 they will reproduce themselves by root shoots 

 as N. Affinis does. Certainly they contrive 

 to stand a fair amount of frost ; for a plant 

 of N. Sander* stuck into a dry south-east 

 corner by my back door, was in full flower 

 this Winter till the heavy frost of Christ- 

 mas week, the earlier frosts having left it 

 untouched. 



But the climax of annuals is reached in 

 Sweet Peas ; and how can I praise them 

 adequately ? 



As the first splendours of Roses wane, Sweet 

 Peas are a sufficient consolation in the few 

 weeks that must elapse before the Rose beds are 

 once more full of bloom. Never have they been 



