SWEET PEAS 147 



CHAPTER XVI 



SWEET PEAS— FOR SPRING BLOSSOMING 



NO plants in our garden catalogues give more of beauty, more 

 of sweetness, more of pleasure in the growing than the 

 dainty Sweet Peas. They are impracticable for the small garden, 

 however. To be successfully grown they must have a deep rich 

 soil, preferably rather heavy, as clay loam, good drainage and 

 a sunny situation. They should be planted in November. 



In planting, always have a trench dug about a foot wide and 

 nearly that deep. In this put well-decomposed manure, wood 

 ashes and soil, thoroughly mixed. Plant the seeds in the bottom 

 of a trench which is left, about seven inches deep. Pack the 

 earth firmly about them and as soon as they grow to about three 

 inches draw the earth up around them; do this two inches at a 

 time thereafter, not only until the trench is filled, but until the 

 Peas are hilled for several inches. This gives them a very deep 

 root system and enables them to stand the southern heat. By 

 Christmas the trenches will be nearly full and nearly always at 

 Easter the first Sweet Peas are in bloom. 



Those who grow the finest Sweet Peas in this section advise 

 Fall planting, but good results may be obtained from sowings 

 made as late as January. The latter practice is a little risky, 

 however. The newly planted seeds are very much more apt to 

 be injured by the cold that usually comes in January and Feb- 

 ruary than when the plants are securely rooted as a result of their 

 Autumn start. 



For support for Sweet Peas use four-foot chicken wire, with 

 two-inch mesh, fastened to stout stakes. I use thirty-foot lengths 

 and three stakes are all that are necessary. These stakes are 



