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40 



The Florists' Rcvie\!ir 



' March 13, 1918. 



OUTDOOR SWEET PEAS. 



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Early Sowing Desirable^ 



The winter now passing has been an 

 uncommonly open one and no doubt 

 some growers in the more southerly 

 states have already made outdoor sow- 

 ings. It is a common fallacy to wait 

 until the ground is warm and dry be- 

 fore sowing the seeds. Sweet peas can 

 not be sown too early, once the frost 

 has left the ground and it has dried 

 so that it is not sticky when worked. 

 These early sown peaS make deep roots 

 before the growths appear, while the 

 ground is cool and moist, and that is 

 what we need if strong haulm and 

 stems are wanted. 



Thorough preparation of the ground 

 pays. Turn it over deeply and manure 

 liberally with rotted cow manure, fine 

 bone and potash in some form. Of 

 course, if the ground could have been 

 turned over and the barnyard manure 

 added last fall, all the better, adding 

 the bone and potash in spring, but only 

 a few growers thus prepare their 

 ground in advance. For the best re- 

 sults, dig out trenches twenty-four 

 inches deep, remove all gravel and 

 stones, and when filling in, add plenty 

 of manure. Cover the seed two to two 

 and one-half inches deep and do not 

 keep covering the little plants over as 

 they grow, as often advised in seed 

 lists, or you are sure to have stem-rot 

 and other troubles. Sow thinly, or 

 have courage to thin severely. Plants 

 should not stand closer than four inches 

 apart each way, and for exhibition 

 flowers they can go much wider apart 

 than this. 



Some Oood Varieties. 



A few colors only sell well in the 

 flower markets and it is useless to plant 

 too many varieties, or such as the buy- 

 ing public will not take kindly to. It 

 has always seemed to me, however, 

 that in variety our American markets 

 have a too small range in sweet peas, 

 and that, without admitting really un- 

 desirable shades, quite a few more 

 might be added. Growers handle what 

 retailers demand and their colors are 

 white, pink and lavender, with a few 

 scarlets, pink and whites and scarlets 

 thrown in. 



For early flowering a few of the 

 regular forcing sorts, such as Mont 

 Blanc, Christmas Pink, etc., can be 

 grown. These are not as satisfactory, 

 however, outdoors as under glass. A 

 boiled-down list of inexpensive but 

 fii%t-clas8 varieties is as follows: White, 

 Nora Unwin and Etta Dyke; deep pi'rik, 

 Countess Spencer; cream pink, Mrs. 

 Hugh Dickson and Constance Oliver; 

 orange pink, Helen Lewis; lavender, 

 Florence Nightingale, Frank Dolby and 



Asta Ohn Spencer; scarlet, King Ed- 

 ward Spencer; picotee-edged, Mrs. C. 

 W. Breadmore; blue. Captain of the 

 Blues Spencer; .rose, John Ingman; bi- 

 color, Mrs. Andrew Ireland; yellow. 

 Primrose Spencer. 



There are each year many fine novel- 

 ties coming out and some of these are 

 great advances over varieties now in 

 commerce. It is well to try a few of 

 these each year. A few of the newer 

 ones which should be given a good try 

 out are: Barbara, Dorothy, Mrs. Cuth- 

 bertson, Hercules, Scarlet Emperor, Du- 

 plex Spencer, Charles Foster, Helen 

 Peirce Spencer, Marie Corelli, Pearl 

 Gray Spencer, Mrs. Heslington, Mrs. 

 W. J. Unwin. 



Starting Under Glass. 



In order to secure a crop outdoors 

 ahead of the regular sowing, it always 

 pays to start a batch in flats or pots 

 in a coldframe and later to transplant 

 them. This will ensure flowers fully a 

 fortnight ahead of those sown outdoors 

 and of grand quality. Do not make the 

 mistake common to nearly all growers 

 of planting too thickly. Individual 

 plants should not be closer than six 

 inches apart and a foot is better. Re- 

 member that these outdoor sweet peas 

 have a naturally branching habit from 

 close to the ground when given sufli- 

 cient space, and the wider apart they 



are planted, the longer ^nd strongt 

 will the stems come. Three-inch pot 

 with two seeds each, sown now, shoul i 

 be planted out sometime in April, ac 

 cording to latitude. They should neve 

 have any fire , heat nor be coddled i i 

 any way, nor should they be allowe 

 to become potbound before bein r 

 planted out., "VV. N. Craig. 



WINTEB-BIX)OMINa VABIETIES. 



We are' growing sweet peas and thev 

 have been blooming well, but now the.v 

 are throwing short stems and makini; 

 a second growth. This is our first year 

 with indoor sweet peas and we do not 

 know enough about them to know what 

 we should do. The second growth is 

 about four feet high. The shoots start 

 right above . the ground and are strong. 

 We would like to know if this second 

 growth will bloom and when? We in- 

 tend planting tomatoes where the peas 

 are, but if the second growth will bloom, 

 we think it might pay better to leave 

 the peas and not plant the tomatoes. 

 We have been feeding them with 

 manure water and gave them a top- 

 dressing of bone meal. We shall be 

 thankful for any information you might 

 give us. J. E. & S. 



The winter flowering sweet peas will 

 naturally send out strong shoots from 

 the base; and these will give you a flne 

 crop of flowers on much better stems 

 than those you now are cutting. If 

 they are already four feet high they 

 will soon be throwing buds. Feed the 

 peas well, now that the days are longer 

 and they dry out more. A top-dress- 

 ing of cow manure or pulverized 

 sheep manure, lightly forked into the 

 surface soil before watering, will be of 

 great benefit and will work much 

 quicker than the bone. 



I doubt if you can profitably grow 

 peas for a long season, and it would be 

 well to have tomato plants in reserve 

 to plant your house with when the peas 

 show, signs of running out. C. W. 



MUMS FOB OUTDOOR CULTURE. 



Are there any chrysanthemums, used 

 for greenhouse planting, that can also 

 be planted outside for blooms before 

 frost, in this Pennsylvania climate T 

 What are the names of some in pink, 

 white and yellow, and how are they 

 Iiandledf G. B. S. 



at C. H. Totty's, Madison, N. J., until 

 well into November. C. W. 



There is an early flowering section of 

 chrysanthemums, not much grown under 

 glass, which you would do well to try. 

 A few good varieties are: White — Her- 

 mine. Queen of the Earlies, Holmes' 

 White, Yellow^Horace Martin, Car- 

 melite, Carrie, Golden Queen of the 

 Earlies. Pink — Dolly Reeves, Charles 

 Jolly, Normandie, Mabel Roberts. 



Secure plants in pots, harden off and 

 plajlt outdoors from the middle to the 

 end of Apifil, accbrding tb the season. 

 Plant out in an olpen, sunny spot in 

 any good ground. Last season these 

 and other varieties were in flne bloom 



MUMS FOR A BEGINNER. 



Please give me the names of some va- 

 rieties of chrysanthemums that a be- 

 ginner can handle in a greenhouse. 

 State how they should be handled, and 

 when propagated and planted. 



G. R. S. 



A few good commercial varieties for 

 a beginner to handle are: Early — Glory 

 of the Pacific and Pacific Supreme, 

 pink; Chrysolora, yellow; Polly Rose 

 and Ivory, white. Midseason — Major 

 Bonnaffon, yellow, the best all-round 

 sort in cultivation today, although an 

 old variety; Dr. Enguehard, rose-pink; 

 White Bonnaffon and Timothy Eaton, 

 white. Late — Jeaniie ' Nonin, white; 

 Nagoya, yellow; Chadwick Supreme and 

 Maud Dean, pink. Cuttings may be 

 put in until the middle of May or even 



