HENDERSON'S GARDEN GUIDE AND RECORD. 35 



Suggestions Regarding 

 Preparing, Packing, and Staging Exhibition Sweet Peas 



To produce the finest Sweet Pea flowers for exhibition the plants selected for their 

 production should have liberal treatment. Everything should be done to have them in good 

 vigorous condition. In dry, hot weather do not allow them to flag for lack of moisture, 

 water so thoroughly that the roots way down two feet or more in depth may get their share, 

 then afterwards about once a week apply manure and soot water prepared as described 

 on page 23. 



All flowers should be removed before fully developed, so the plants may reserve their 

 whole strength for the exhibition flowers. It requires — under congenial conditions — about 

 two weeks for a flower stem one inch long, to attain maximum length and develop its 

 flowers perfectly, but it will be safer to allow three weeks' time. Flowers too far advanced 

 should be removed before the top flower is fully expanded. Varieties liable to burn or 

 scald in the hot sun, particularly the orange, salmon and scarlet sorts should be shaded with 

 coarse cheese cloth placed well above the plants. The stage of development at which 

 exhibition flowers are to be cut depends upon the time to elapse between cutting and 

 exhibiting. If they can be staged in a few hours, fairly matured flowers are best for they are 

 then in their prime of substance, length and strength of stem. The top flower nearly 

 expanded is a good indication to go by, but if the flowers are to be packed for a lengthy 

 journey they must be cut correspondingly younger. When exhibited near home the flowers 

 should be cut the morning of the exhibition but when they are to be shipped some distance 

 consideration must be given as to when to cut, prepare and pack the flowers; when these 

 factors are properly attended to Sweet Pea flowers will carry for twenty-four hours or more 

 and open up in good condition. The secret of success is in having the flowers dry on the 

 outside so they will not spot, sweat nor the petals cling together, but open out full when 

 vased, and in having the stems full of moisture to sustain the substance of the flowers. This 

 desideratum is best accomplished by cutting when the dew is off, then place the stems loosely 

 in vases or pots of water in a dry light shed or room with the windows open where the 

 circulating air will dissipate any moisture remaining on the flowers. Do not place them in 

 the sun nor in the dark, for in the latter event the flowers of some varities might partially 

 close and not fully expand afterwards. The flowers should remain under these conditions 

 for about two hours, and it is sometimes astonishing how much they will develop. In 

 cutting, the full length of the stem should be taken — but none of the vine — -for length of 

 stem counts 25 points when judged. 



PACKING SWEET PEA FLOWERS FOR SHIPMENT. After the flowers have 

 been prepared and treated as above explained, each variety is to be bunched carefully, with 

 name label attached, and tied lightly to avoid bruising or breaking the flowers or stems, 

 then if they are to travel some distance wrap the stem end of each bunch in damp, not wet, 

 cotton, moss or newspaper to exclude drying air, inclosing this damp material in oil paper 

 or other waterproof material to keep the moisture from flowers that in packing might come 

 in contact. Then if the weather is damp or sultry, wrap each bunch in tissue paper which 

 will absorb any moisture remaining on the flowers, but if the weather is dry and hot then 

 use waxed or oiled paper instead, which will prevent excessive evaporation. Lay the bunches 

 flat, in a box or hamper five or six inches in depth, and of suitable size, only one layer deep, 

 one bunch below and between two other bunches sufficiently close and tight to prevent 

 them from moving about and being-damaged in transit. A little Sweet Pea foliage with 

 tendrils should be enclosed in the box. It is advisable to send a few more flowers of each 

 variety than required so a selection may be made from those arriving in the best con- 

 dition — but be careful not to put a greater number of stems in a vase than the schedule 

 calls for. 



STAGING. When the exhibitor stages his own flowers, unless he be accustomed to 

 it we suggest that he experiment first at home by vasing flowers of a similar lot of the 

 varieties to be shown and arrange the color scheme, noting same on paper so there may be 

 no delay in properlj' placing the flowers as unpacked in the Exhibition Hall. The grouping 

 should be nicely balanced with light and dark colors distributed so the light colored vari- 

 eties will be brought out in contrast against the darker sorts. Do not jam the flowers in 

 the vases in a compact mass but arrange loose and spreading, so that each stem of flowers 

 can be individualized. A few sprays of Sweet Pea vine with foliage and tendrils arranged 

 among the flowers often improves the effect if not overdone. 



