74 



THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE, 



January 27, 1912 



SOWING SWEET PEAS* 



The be-st way to raise sweet peas is 



a 



matter of the greatest importance to sweet 

 pea enthusiasts. If the seeds are phimp 

 and sound there is no reason whv less than 



ft' 



96 percent, should ii;ernnnate. The grower 

 must remember that the method he adopts 

 raising his seeds will most probably 



in 



make all 



the difference between 



and failure. 



success 



What must be aimed at is a 



natural germination which 

 produce a sturdy, healtliv 



will ultimately 

 plant. Seeds 



by leaf-mould, quickly spreads over the 

 whole surface of the pot or box, and in 

 some cases kills the plants outright. If 

 the leafmould were sterilised it would be 

 then free from fungus, and be excellent 

 material. 



The seeds should be sown evenly over the 

 surface, placing five or six seeds in each 

 pot^ and covered with half an inch of the 

 compost. Place in a cold frame after sow- 

 ing^ and water them. They should not 

 require any more water until the plants 

 are up, which shoiiM be in about twelve 

 to fourteen days. If the seeds do not gei- 



soot. ^^'llen potted replace in the cold 

 franie^ and keep fairly close for a few days, 

 then gradually give more air, and even- 

 tually pull tlie lights off and harden pre- 

 paratory to planting out. 



Lewis Smith. 

 Shotesham Park Gardens. 



■ - 



r.M 6 ■ 



SWEET PEAS RAISED IX BOXES AND EEADY FOII FOTTIXG OFF. 



sown in excessive heat will be drawn and 



and one can never exuoct fiist- 



s 



pindly, 



c'asfi results 



from them. There mav be 



7 



But should 



different times for sowing the seeds to keep 

 up a succession of bloom, but whatever the 

 time the method of soAving should be the 

 sa me. 



Everyone who is an enthusiast will na- 

 turally obtain the newest and mo.-t up-to- 

 date varieties, and should ado[)t tlii^ incst 

 up-to-date methods of raising the seedlings. 

 I shall thei eiore confine these notes to what 

 I consider the most popular and e C'onomi- 

 cal way of working. Anyone who has a 

 cold frame at disposal wiU find it excellent 

 for the purpose. Fill it to within nine 

 inclies of the glass with cinder ashes to 

 prevent worms working up from the soil 



below. 



If the varieties to be sown are repre- 

 sented by only a few seeds of each^ 4in. 

 pots are best for our purpose, 

 there be several packets of each variety, 

 small trays, about I8in. long. Din. wide, 

 and 4in. deep, are the best rrc(^ptacles. 

 If pots are used they must be clean, other- 

 out the plants great 

 damage will be done to the root-. One 

 piece of crock only should pl-:;<e(l at th(' 

 bottom, and the pot .sliouhl thcji he filh fl 

 with the compost to witliin one int h of the 

 top. If boxes are used place a layer of 

 leaves over tlie bottom, and fill to withiji 

 one inch of the top and make level and 

 firm. 



It is necessary to have good loam, with 

 plenty of coarse silver sand, well mixed 

 with it, and the compast should be moist, 

 but not sticky. Many specialists advocate 

 leaf-mould, and. although it is a splendid 

 material fti r s\\ eet pea plants, 

 advocate it for s(twi!ig the ^e^uls in, 

 1 have found that it ihcrt^ ha|)pens to be 

 a decaying \s<^'ed a fuiMj;<)i(l j^rowtli wiH ap- 



minate re'gularly they should be examined, 

 and it may be found that tlie outer skin 

 of the seed has become verv hard ; if that 

 is the ease cut away a bit of the covering 

 or file it through, and the seed will then 

 develop all right. So soon as the seedlings 

 appear through the soil they must have 

 plenty of air^ and whenever it is fine pull 

 the lights off by day and give air at night. 

 Frost will not kill the young plants, but *t 

 is not advis:^ble to allow the soil to become 

 frozen, so protect with a mat if frost 

 threatens. 



SOLANUM JASMINOIDES. 



This summer-flowering climber is rarely 

 seen in a luxuriant state of growth in the 

 open air. I shall never forget one speci- 

 men which I once saw trained nearly all 

 over the gable end of a large dwx^Uing- 

 house, near the sea^ on the Hampshire 

 coast. Both the lower and bed-room win- 

 dows were embowered in a rich mass of 

 foliage and clustering flowers, and the gene- 

 ral effect was charming indeed. Although 

 there were other choice climbers on this 

 house, none attracted as the solanum did. 



The ordinary soil was a stiff loam on 

 gravel, and, with the addition of some leaf- 

 soil and old moi tar rubble to form a root- 

 ing medium, there was no difficulty experi. 

 enced in growing this solanum to perfec- 

 tion. As regards hardiness, the plant sur- 

 vived several rather severe Avintors without 

 any protection. 



For the benefit of intending cultivators 

 who have not had any experience with S. 

 jasminoides, I may say that it is easily pro- 

 pagated in spring by inserting cuttings in 

 small pots filled w'ith sandy soil, and placed 

 under a frame on a gentle hot-bed. They 

 are very effective as pillar plants in a green- 

 house or conservatory, and also when grown 

 in large pots and pla<?ed on the lawn in 

 summer, with the branches loosely sup- 

 ported by neat, tall stakes. G. B. 



Caesa.lpinia pulcherrima.— It is 



surprising how widespread the idea ig that 

 Certificates or Award© of Merit are given by 

 the Eoyal Horticultural Society only to new 

 or comparatively new, plants. It is questioji- 

 able if such an opinion has even been wider 

 of the mark than in the case of this caes- 

 alpinia, which was given an Award of Merit 



on Xoveniber 21. It is a native of the We=t 

 Indies, and, Recording to the Dictionary 

 of Gardening/' was introduced as long ago 

 as 1690, that is to say, over two centuries 

 have elapsed since it was first brought to 



wise when turning 



SWEET PEAS PUT SINGLY IN PAPER POTS. 



When the young plants are about 4in. 



high 



I do 



not 

 for 



pear 

 u«ed. 



on it in a few <lavs if 

 K ■( ) s < * ' 1 i n a h * x' a t r i x or 



leaf-soil is 

 wliite root 



rot, thrives on the organic matter provideil 



they should be turned out of the 

 pots or boxes, and potted off singly into 

 3in. pots. The cost of .so many pots may 

 be a consideration wbere a large number of 

 plants have to l)e dea't with, but there are 

 now several kinds of paper pots oflereil 

 from Is. ik\. piM' 100, which are very suit- 

 able. The potting compost should <onsist 

 of two parts loam, one part leaf-mould, 

 and one part coarse sand^ witb a dash of 



this country. From its beauty as a flower- 

 ing shrub it is now widely distributed 

 throughout the tropics, but more generabT 

 under the name of Poinciana pulcherrima 

 than that at the head of tliLs note. Ihe 

 large bipinnate rich green leaves are vt^'^ 

 ornamental, while the flowerL-^ are P^^^^^*^*^^; 

 larly showy. They are borne 



in r 



ath-er 



loosclv disposed terminal clusters, and are a- 

 counl^ of inches or thereabout in duuncter, 



thc^ petals heinsf orange-scarlet, 

 vellow border. — W. T. 



ritk 



