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CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENINa. 



proved by means of seeds. ' The ordinary form of 

 L. latifolius is one of the most ornamental of hardy 

 plants, flowering- nearly all the summer and most 

 valuable to cut from. The flowers are of a bright 

 deep rose or rosy-crimson. We have seen two or 

 three very fine varieties, larger in the flower and 

 richer in the colour, but we think locality and soils 

 have a good deal to do with producing these dif- 

 ferences. There is a white variety also, known as L. 

 latifolius albus ; it is not so common as the purple- 

 flowered form, and though it produces seed it is not 

 to be relied upon as coming 

 true when sown, as many 

 will revert to the old type. 

 There is a beautiful new 

 variet}'-, produced during 

 1884, named delicata ; in this 

 case the flowers are of a 

 beautiful soft pink, pencilled 

 with rose — really a lovely 

 form. The foregoing are all 

 climbing plants, and should 

 be planted against something 

 that they can attach them= 

 selves to by means of theii' 

 tendrils; and they do well 

 for covering stumps of old 

 trees, rooteries, &c. Z. 

 grandiflorus (the Large= 

 flowered LathjTus) is a fine 

 form; it is very handsome, 

 the flowers much larger than 

 those of the common Ever- 

 lasting Pea. It is sometimes 

 known as L: hvflorus. Wo 

 may say of this that it is the 

 finest of all the Everlasting 

 Peas. The flowers are very 



bright crimson- scarlet, produced with great freedom, 

 and earlier in point of time than the preceding. 

 It does well on banks and hedges, in which it will 

 run freely through low bushes; also in borders on 

 low trellises, or root-work, rock- work, &c. While the 

 common Everlasting Pea will flourish in almost any 

 garden soil, L. grandxflorus does best in a deep sandy 

 loam or on. a gravel subsoil. i. californicus is the 

 Californian Evei-lasting Pea, dwarfer-growing than 

 the others, having lilac, purple, and white flowers, 

 and does well in ordinary flower borders. L. rotimdi- 

 folius is the Round-leaved Vetchling, from the Cau- 

 casus and Southern Russia. It is a small but 

 handsome Everlasting Pea; it is a little delicate, 

 however, and should be planted against the foot of 

 walls or houses, where it can trail over low shrubs, 

 i. Drummondii is a very distinct and showy species, 

 most probably from California ; it is a very strong 



Lathtkus latifolius. 



grower, and probably the earliest of all the Ever- 

 lasting Peas to bloom. The flowers are of a rich 

 cerise, deepening to carmine, and produced with 

 wonderful freedom. Unfortunately, it is not so 

 well known as it deserves to be, and consequenth- 

 not nearly so much gTOwn. A strong plant makes a 

 very free growth indeed, and co vers a great space. 

 No garden may be said to be complete without L. 

 latifolius, L. grandijlorns, and L. Drummondii. 



Of the annual Sweet Peas there is now a large 

 group. These are varieties of Lathy r us odoratus, 

 which came to us from Sicily 

 about the year 1700. There 

 are now a large nimiber of 

 very beautiful varieties ; and 

 during the last two or three 

 years such pretty new forms 

 as Princess Beatrice, the 

 Queen, Blue Beard, Bronze 

 Prince, Fairy Queen, Violet 

 Queen, have been produced. 

 All the varieties are so pretty 

 diu-ing the summer months, 

 and so useful for cutting 

 from, that no garden may be 

 said to be complete without 

 them. One very pleasing 

 way to grow them is to sow a 

 line of seeds of mixed colours, 

 just as one would of ordinary 

 garden Peas, and stake them 

 with sticks or supports in the 

 same way. The seeds should 

 be sown in March, in deeph'- 

 dug, rich groomd, and then 

 the plants will flower pro- 

 fusely all through the sum- 

 mer. Some ]3ersons sow the 

 seed in August, under a warm wall or hedge, where 

 thej^ will come up in autunm and stand through the 

 winter, ha^dng a little protection if necessary ; and 

 these plants will flower in May, some days before 

 those plants raised from seeds sown in March ; the 

 flowers will be finer and more freely produced, be- 

 cause the plants have a longer time to thoroughly 

 establish themselves. 



Some gardeners sow in pots at the end of August 

 or early in September, placing a half-dozen seeds in 

 each ; these are put into a cold frame and kept there 

 until the beginning of February, when they should 

 have stakes placed against them, and be t^ken into a 

 warm green-house, where they flower abundantly in 

 early spring, and are very useful. But gardeners 

 of all grades generally sow their Sweet Peas too 

 thickly, and make no allowance for their natural 

 free - branching habit. There is one beautiful 



