298 Landscape Gardening 



faded flowers should be removed and none of the seed-pods 

 be allowed to mature if the largest flowers are desired, as 

 the development of a single seed-vessel will exhaust the 

 plants more than the production of a dozen flowers. 



Hardy Annual Climbing Plants 



Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus). This plant is extremely 

 popular, and deservedly so, for if we consider its great 

 range of color, fragrance, suitability as a cut-flower for 

 decoration, range of adaptation, etc., it is unrivaled. The 

 plant is easily grown, and the seed is so cheap that there is 

 no excuse for any one being without this delightful flower. 

 The best results are secured on a rich cool soil, and from early 

 planting. The soil should be prepared in the fall, but may 

 be fitted in early spring if unavoidable. The soil should be 

 spaded 18 to 24 inches deep, working in 6 to 8 inches of 

 manure and one to two pounds of bone meal per lineal yard 

 of row. If the soil is left slightly ridged where the row or 

 rows are to be made, the soil will dry more rapidly in the 

 spring. The ridges should then be raked level, a good dress- 

 ing of acid phosphate applied, and the rows marked out 

 3 inches deep. The seeds should be sown 2 inches apart 

 and the soil made level. The seeds must be sown just as 

 early as the ground is dry enough to work. 



The best support is good twiggy brush, if obtainable; 

 otherwise a 3-foot strip of common poultry netting should 

 be stretched along the row and supported by strong stakes 

 or small posts. If the supports are allowed to extend above 

 the top of the netting, the sweet peas that grow taller than 

 the height of the netting, may be supported by strings 

 stretched along each side of the row and tied to the stakes. 

 Constant picking of the flowers and the removal of the seed 

 pods will prolong the flowering period. Nothing exhausts 

 the plants so rapidly as the production of seed. 



