LATE SHOWERS & EARLY FLOWERS 



only three or four feet) of each sort ; if the latter plan is April 

 adopted, it is well to blend colours. Red, white, and I~I5 

 blue are harmonious neighbours. Blue looks well beside 

 cream. But separate clumps may be made instead of 

 straight rows if desired. Clumps look well in mixed 

 borders, and in special positions on lawns. If the soil is 

 rich and moist, neither rows nor clumps ought to be 

 nearer than six feet to each other. A circle made for a 

 clump (and the circle system is the best, as it keeps the 

 plants from crowding at the centre) ought not to be less 

 than a yard across. The drills for both rows and clumps 

 should be made about three inches deep in fine, friable 

 soil. Some Sweet Peas have white and some black seeds ; 

 it is a good plan to chip the latter with a sharp knife, as 

 this facilitates germination. Those who have raised 

 plants under glass may plant them out not less than six 

 inches apart in April ; they will probably give flowers 

 earlier than those sown out of doors, and the plants are 

 likely to be stronger. Lime should be dusted along the 

 rows to keep off slugs. It is a good plan to get the sticks 

 which are to support the plants at once, and to cut out 

 some of the twiggy shoots on the upper part to place 

 among the plants as protection. The principal sticks 

 can be put in later if they are regarded as an eyesore 

 while bare, but assthetic considerations must not be 

 carried far. The sticks ought to be put in when the 

 plants throw out tendrils, and it is inevitable that the 

 sticks are bare for a few weeks. 



Some good varieties of Sweet Peas were named in 

 Chapter I. 



Sowing Lawn Grass Seed. — April is nominally the 



best month in the year for sowing Grass seed, but it 



sometimes happens that it is the worst. If cold winds 



prevail the ground is chilled, and the seed lies dormant. 



175 



