SWEET PEAS IN POTS. 



SUPPOSE there is no more popu- 

 lar or useful annual than this ; its 

 fragrance and beauty, combined 

 with the diversity of color to be 

 obtained, renders it useful for all kinds 

 of decorative work. Yet how seldom 

 one sees blooms out of season ! Many 

 other subjects less beautiful and useful 

 are forced. Yet none are more amen- 

 able to forcing or yield a better return. 

 As they are much appreciated here for 

 dinner table and other room decoration I 

 grow a batch in pots, and generally get 

 them in bloom a month before those 

 outside. I have now been picking flow- 

 ers for a week from plants grown in 

 unheated houses. My method is to 

 sow five seeds in a 6o-sized pot about 

 the first or second week in February. 

 These placed in a peach house will 

 germinate and grow steadily and strong, 

 and in due course are shifted into 32's, 

 keeping them as near the light as pos- 

 sible, and supporting the plants with 

 twigs. This year I gave some more pot 

 room, using 16's but so far I have 

 observed no better results than from 

 small pots. Growth is stronger, but 

 they are not so fioriferous. When about 

 to bloom I remove them outside and 

 stand them in front of a greenhouse or 

 fence. They produce plenty of bloom 

 till outside ones are ready. If I had 

 much conservatory work to do I should 

 use these, for I think a group of Sweet 

 Peas pretty, graceful, and light, and 

 always command admiration. 



The dwarf Cupid, both pink and 

 white varieties, have been much abused 

 since their introduction a few years 

 since; but I like them very much as 

 pot plants notwithstanding their little 

 eccentricities such as dropping their 

 blooms when on the point of expanding, 



and the very short peduncle. Three 

 plants in a 32-sized pot make a nice 

 bushy little specimen, and for edging of 

 stages and walks and if allowed to grow 

 naturally, without any stakes, they are 

 very effective, and remain in bloom 

 several weeks. Careful watering and a 

 shady and airy situation, when in bloom, 

 will prevent many of the flowers falling. 



I have tried most of the best varieties 

 and find them all very amenable to pot 

 culture. I have, this year, in addition 

 to the dwarfs just mentioned, Mars, a 

 brilliant red ; Venus, very delicate straw 

 color, a charming flower ; Black Knight, 

 one of the best darks I have yet grown ; 

 Duke of Sutherland, a dark claret stan- 

 dard with bluish wings ; Duchess of 

 Sutherland, pinky-white, blooming pure 

 white when fully expanded ; Lady Mary 

 Currie, a delicately shaded bronze-pink, 

 a lovely color ; Prince of Wales, bright 

 rose-self, richly colored ; Chancellor, 

 orange-pink ; Lady Nina Balfour, a 

 beautiful mauve, very effective where 

 this shade is favored ; Colonist, a rosy- 

 lilac, very good. These are all pro- 

 duced on long stems and are of a good 

 form. 



Copious supplies of water are needed ; 

 and weak manure and soot water aid the 

 production of fine blooms. 



A very pretty and light arrangement 

 of cut blooms for dinner table decora- 

 tions may be made by using small, 

 developed growth of Asparagus — now 

 in plenty on outside beds as foliage — 

 associated with the tendrils of the pea 

 itself, interspersing small sprays of Gyp- 

 sopbila elegans. The prettiest possible 

 effect may be produced by the judicious 

 use of these very simple materials. — 

 Gardening Illustrated. 



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