Sow Your Sweet Peas in the Fall — geo. w. 
METHODS OF HANDLING WEAK AND STRONG FORMS— SELECTIONS OF VARIETIES OF STARTLING MERIT-NEW 
TYPES THAT ENSURE SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH 
[Editor’s Note: Mr. Kerr speaks authoritatively about Sweet Peas, having had years of experience in testing new varieties and modern 
methods of cultivation. He has had under his direction for several years past some of the largest comparative tests of Sweet Peas {and other annuals) 
in the Eastern United 
be better covered. It must be borne in mind, 
however, that Sweet Peas are very hardy] 
and are impatient of any coddling; a 
degree or two of frost will not do 
any harm. All that we have to 
guard against is killing frosts, 
snows and heavy rains. Remove 
the glass entirely some time in 
March or early April ac- 
cording to locality; and in 
the course of a week or so, 
the frame also. 
(2) The alternative 
method of fall planting 
in the North is to 
sow so late in the 
season that the 
seed will just germinate, but 
not make sufficient growth 
to come through the soil. I 
have found that for this sec- 
tion [near Philadelphia] the 
most suitable time 
is from the middle 
to the end of No- 
vember. As 
soon as the 
ground 
freezes mulch the 
rows with rough 
litter or strawy 
manure, say to a 
depth of three 
inches, extending 
it well on both 
sides of the row. 
The reason for this 
heavy covering is 
to prevent, as far as possible, 
the ground thawing out quickly 
during the many changes in 
weather we experience in the course 
of an average winter. Our aim is 
to keep the seed in a state of “cold storage,” 
as it were, until the early spring. In making 
this sowing the seed should be covered with 
three inches of soil. Spring sowings should not 
have more than a two-inch cover. The mulch 
or protecting cover of litter or straw must be 
removed in the early spring, on the first sign of 
the breaking up of wintry weather. 
It must be admitted, however, that success 
does not always follow the latter method. 
Should the winter be mild the seedlings will 
continue to make top growth even under the 
mulch, and in such a case the entire sowing will 
be lost. But when we have a good “old- 
fashioned” winter, with plenty of frost and 
snow, the cold storage system works out well. 
Never attempt fall sowing in naturally damp 
positions; choose well drained and sheltered 
quarters if at all possible. 
Sweet Peas sown in late September and early 
October in our Southern states will flower from 
January until late spring and even well into 
summer if suitable varieties are used. 1 his 
necessitates using two types; namely, the early 
or winter-flowering and the summer-flovyering 
varieties. For instance, Yarrawa (the first of 
the winter-flowering Spencer or Orchid flow- 
ered type to be introduced in a thoroughly 
fixed state) will bloom from January until 
May, and by that time the regular summer- 
flowering varieties will in such sections (frost- 
T HERE are two royal roads to success 
in Sweet Pea growing — ist, starting 
seed in pots under glass very early 
in the year and setting the plants 
outdoors in the spring; 2nd, sowing the seed in 
the open during the fall. 
W here the desire is primarily for. flowers for 
cutting purposes and garden decor- 
ation, fall sowing will give even 
better results than starting the seed 
under cover in heat, and naturally 
there is much less trouble and 
care attached to outdoor sowing. 
Plants from fall sown seed begin 
to flower much earlier, and continue 
blooming over a more extended 
period, due to the 
fact that they are 
better able to with- 
stand heat and drought. 
How often we hear our 
friends exclaim against 
their hard luck (as they term it) in 
having their Sweet Peas turn yellow and 
die off almost before they have pro- 
duced any flowers! I often hear this 
called Sweet Pea blight and Sweet Pea 
disease; but it is neither. It is simply 
the result of 
weather condi- 
tions acting on 
plants w h i c h 
are not suffi- 
ciently deeply 
rooted and 
therefore not ro- 
bust enough to 
withstand u n - 
favorable conditions. The 
Sweet Pea is naturally a 
deep rooting subject, and 
the seed should, therefore, 
be sown at such a season as 
will allow the plant to fully 
develop its root growth be- 
fore it is called upon to per- 
form its flowering functions. 
In the South, and in fact all sections where 
killing frosts are the exception, Sweet Peas 
should be sown the last week in September and 
during October. The seed will germinate in 
the course of two weeks if soil conditions are 
right, and, with the advent of cool days and 
nights, top growth will be slow; but the roots 
will be working their hardest building the 
necessary foundations for what will ultimately 
make strong sturdy plants which will flower 
from late winter and throughout the spring 
months. 
In sections where severe frosts and snows 
accompany the winter months, choice may be 
made between two methods of fall sowing, 
(i) Sow during October and protect with an 
inexpensive wood and glass covering. Phis 
consists of nine inch boards placed lengthwise 
along either side of the row. Allow nine inches 
between the boards and fasten with stout strips 
at either end. Glass is laid along the top, this 
forming a continuous frame, according to the 
length of the row. The glass may be fastened 
with cord attaching it to nails partly driven 
into the boards, or better still have the boards 
specially slotted half an inch from the top into 
which the glass may be slipped. If made in 
King Edward is probably the best crimson Sweet Pea for 
general garden use 
vegetables in the spring, d'he Sweet Pea 
frame must be placed in position as soon as 
the seed is sown. If, after the seedlings come 
through the soil, the weather should be very 
mild, the glass should be removed, though 
during periods of heavy rains the seedlings will 
nine foot lengths it is easily handled and will 
be found most useful as a forcer for early 
sowing of salad, peas, beans or other 
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