64 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



Mahch, 1907 



*3£rf 



Class VI. Cupid and Bush. Compare with the tall 

 or normal Kind at the right 



thick of straw and lawn clippings on the soil. 

 The mulch will keep the soil cool and moist 

 and do away with the necessity for continued 

 cultivation. 



SWEET PEA ENEMIES 



Only two insects infect sweet peas, the 

 small green plant lice (aphides) and the 

 red spider. The aphides appear on the young 

 shoots, and suck the juices from the plant. 

 They can be kept in check by spraying the 

 vines with soap-suds, or any of the special 

 insecticides offered for this purpose, but as 

 satisfactory a way as any for home use is to 

 brush them from the vines with a small ever- 

 green branch and rake them into the fine, 

 dry surface soil with the garden rake. 



The red spider is a very minute insect 

 which works on the undersides of the leaves 

 during hot, dry weather, sucking the juices 

 from the leaves, and causing them to take on 

 a grayish or dead color. These insects cover 

 themselves with a fine web and are quite 

 difficult to exterminate, but can be held in 

 check by frequent spraying with a suds, or 

 solution, made from some neutral soap, which 

 must be applied in a fine mist-like spray and 

 with considerable force to the under sides of 

 the leaves. 



To keep the vines in bloom as long as 

 possible, remove all flowers as soon as they 

 fade; do not allow them to make seed. If 

 the flowers are desired for decorative pur- 

 poses, they should be cut early in the morning, 

 when freshly opened, and if they are to be 

 sent away, the stems should be placed in 

 fresh, cold water for ten or twelve hours, or 

 overnight, before shipping them, as they 

 wilt very quickly if shipped when freshly cut 

 from the vines. 



Always use a sharp knife, or a pair of sharp 

 scissors in gathering the flowers, as pulling 

 the stems from the vines bruises or injures 

 the vine and will frequently cause them to 

 die out and leave vacant places in the row. 



CLASSES AND VARIETIES 



Class I. Grandiflora. — In this class we 

 have the best of Henry Eckford's novelties, 

 as well as varieties originating with other 

 sweet pea specialists. The vines are of 

 strong, vigorous growth, very free flowering, 

 but rather later in flowering than the early- 



flowering class. The flowers are of large 

 size, good form and substance, coming three 

 and four on a long stem and all facing one 

 way. While the flowers of this section are 

 uniformly large and good, there is a slight 

 variation in form with different varieties. In 

 some, the large standard is slightly folded 

 (like the leaves of a book) in the centre, and 

 as the flowers remain open, the upper edges 

 curl over slightly, giving the flower a pointed 

 effect; in others, the wings are very widely 

 spread, and as the broad, rounded standard 

 becomes older, it curls down to meet the 

 wings, producing what is known as the 

 hooded flower. In this class, the most 

 satisfactory varieties in the different colors 

 are: Dorothy Eckford, purest white; Mrs. 

 Joseph Chamberlain, white with rosy pink 

 stripes; Pink Friar, silvery white with 



Class VII. Notched. In the older varieties there 

 was a nicK in the standard 



watered veinings of soft rose; Aurora, salmon 

 pink stripes on silver white; Dainty, silvery 

 white with pink edges; Hon. Mrs. E. Ken- 

 yon, deep cream; Janet Scott, soft clear pink; 

 Lovely, soft pink with white edge; Senator, 

 dark purplish maroon stripes on white ; Gray 

 Friar, watered purple veinings on silvery 

 white; Apple Blossom, blended pink and 

 white; Hon. F. Bouverie, salmon pink; 

 Royal Rose, deep pink; Sybil Eckford, rich 

 apricot; Miss Wilmott, rich orange pink; 

 Majestic, deep rose; Mrs. Dugdale, rosy 

 carmine distinctly shaded; Queen Alexandra, 

 intense scarlet; Henry Eckford, orange 

 scarlet, but fades badly under hot sun; King 

 Edward VII., rich, deep red; Duke of West- 

 minster, dark claret ; Othello, deep brownish 

 maroon; Mrs. George Higginson, pale laven- 

 der or "sky-blue;" Lady Nina Balfour, soft 

 lavender, or "mouse" tint; Captain of the 

 Blues, bright bluish purple. 



This list comprises an almost complete 

 assortment of the most distinct and desirable 

 shades of coloring, but where a varied color- 

 ing is desired, without any special regard as 

 to the names of the varieties, the seed of this 

 class may be purchased more cheaply in the 



better mixtures offered by leading seedsmen, 

 and no matter how the coloring varies, 

 it always blends harmoniously where the 

 varieties are sown together in long rows. 



Class II. Orchid-flowered. — This is the 

 most recently introduced and the best, as welL 

 as largest-flowered, of all the sweet peas. 

 The flowers are very large, much larger even 

 than those of the grandiflora type, and are 

 produced in threes and fours on a long, stiff 

 stem, are of distinctly crystalline finish, like 

 frosted silver, and where they develop slowly 

 in a cool location, the edges of the standards 

 and wings have a beautiful wavy, or fluted 

 effect. This type is of English origin and has 

 shown a strong tendency to produce new and 

 distinct colorings from the original or parent 

 variety, the Countess Spencer; but while the 

 vines are of vigorous growth and free-flower- 

 ing, they produce very little seed and are still 

 expensive. In this type are: Countess Spen- 

 cer, a soft rosy pink; Gladys Unwin, a 

 lighter pink than Countess Spencer ; Florence 

 Spencer, a deeper, richer pink than Countess 

 Spencer ; Helen Lewis, bright salmon orange ; 

 John Ingman, deep rose. 



Class III. Dwarf Early- flowering. — This 

 class has been developed by continual selec- 

 tion for earliness in flowering. The entire 

 plant is only fifteen inches in height when in 

 full bloom, and it will come into flower in 

 sixty to seventy days from the time the seed 

 is planted. Such plants make a very pretty 

 effect when seen in long rows, and in cutting 

 for house decoration, the entire stem of the 

 plant is cut off just above the ground, giving 

 a very pretty spray with the green leaves and 

 two or three stems of bright, fragrant flowers. 

 The flowers of this class are rather small in 

 size and have a slight notch at the top of the 

 standard, but their very early flowering habit, 

 and the ease with which they may be grown in 

 any section, make them most desirable. In 

 this class there are as yet but three distinct 

 varieties, namely : Earliest of All, with bright 

 pink standards and creamy white wings; 

 Earliest White, a pure paper white; Sun- 



The side notch occasional. y appears tn the new 

 large-flowered EcKford varieties 



