346 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



few square rods of ground, and none too much of either 

 money or leisure. 



If Sweet Pea lovers want to compare the modern 

 with the original Sweet Pea, they can do it best by 

 placing a photograph of a good spray of to-day beside 

 one of the original Sweet Pea which they will find in 

 the National Sweet Pea Society's Annual for 1908. The 

 latter was taken from a specimen in Plukenet's Herba- 

 rium in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, 

 London, and portrays a weed-like plant with insignifi- 

 cant flowers. But many people living at the present 

 time can remember the old-fashioned Sweet Pea, with 

 its small, irregular flowers borne in pairs, either white, 

 purple, striped, white, carmine, or pink and white. The 

 flowers of the present time, two inches across, the petals 

 overlapping so that no gaps are shown, and exquisitely 

 frilled, borne in fours and fives on the stem, with a 

 range of colours that comprises almost everything 

 except yellow, are a remarkable advance. They are 

 not sweeter than the older ones, but in every other 

 respect they are immensely superior. 



Flower-lovers who grow Sweet Peas have good 

 grounds for their action. Well-grown plants yield a 

 constant succession of bloom from June to November 

 inclusive if the flowers are gathered regularly, and no 

 blossoms are more delightful for house decoration. 

 Moreover, the cultivation is inexpensive, so that all this 

 floral charm can be gained without any great outlay. 

 One may, it is true, spend a good deal of money on 

 Sweet Peas by growing a large collection of the newest 

 varieties and exhibiting them; but that is not in the 

 least essential to garden beauty. The great fact is that 

 a splendid display of charming flowers can be had 

 both in garden and house with very little outlay. 



