76 THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL 



of protection from the heat later on and deep soil to 

 draw upon, for they are gross feeders. Plant the 

 seed at least two inches deep. 



As soon as the plants show the slightest tendency 

 to vine they should be provided with a support to 

 which the tendrils may attach themselves. Nothing 

 is better or more convenient for this purpose than 

 wire netting which may be purchased by the yard. 

 It should be six feet high for the winter flowering 

 varieties and eight feet for the Spencer sorts. 



The sweet pea is one of the thirstiest of plants, 

 and when the earth and atmosphere give forth little 

 moisture should daily receive a generous allowance 

 of water, not a mere sprinkling but a drenching. 

 This neglect to water regularly and thoroughly ac- 

 counts for many failures in sweet pea culture. An- 

 other essential to satisfactory sweet pea growing is 

 a sunny exposure. Those grown in the shade are 

 neither so thrifty nor is the bloom so rich in color 

 or so abundant as when grown in the sun. The sweet 

 pea grower should remember that to be prodigal in 

 the cutting of the bloom is the surest way to secure 

 an increase. The seed may be planted early in the 

 fall of the year with excellent results. 



HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS 



Nothing adds more of quiet charm and homelike- 

 ness to a garden than the herbaceous perennial bor- 

 der. It is adapted to gardens of any style or any 

 amount of care, but in gardens where only a limited 

 care can be given, those that are occasionally neg- 

 lected for a time, the use of perennials will give 

 much more satisfaction than annuals. 



Perennials root deeply in the soil and most of them 

 make a fine fibrous system, often running into thou- 

 sands of hair-like roots on a single clump of plants. 



