FOURTH NATIONAL FLOWER SHOW 145 
THE SWEET PEA— EVERYBODY'S FLOWER 
BY EDWIN JENKINS. 
"The Sweet Pea has a keel that was meant to seek all shores; it has wings 
that were meant to fly to all Continents; it has a standard which is friendly to all 
nations; and it has a fragrance like the universal Gospel, yea, a sweet prophecy 
of welcome everywhere that has been abundantly fulfilled." 
Rkv. W. T. Hutchins. 
Surely the Sweet Pea has a better claim to the title of "Everybody's 
Flower" than any other flower that is grown! What other plant will give us 
such a profusion of flowers, such returns for our love and labor, such airy grace- 
ful blooms of exquisite shades and lovely fragrance? It is a flower of such 
tremendous possibilities in artistic decorative work that it meets the most 
exacting demands liable to be made upon it. It is so inexpensive that the 
poorest may well enjoy its beauties. It is easy to grow. It may be grown in 
a tub or a box in a city yard, or it may be planted alongside a wall, or to hide an 
unsightly fence; and while it loves the full sunshine, it is so accommodating 
that it will tolerate a considerable amount of shade and still do well. Many 
another fine flower, like the Rose and the Carnation, have lost some, or all, of 
their sweet fragrance under the plant breeders' hands, but not so with our 
Sweet Pea, the finest kinds are still Sweet (scented) Peas. 
Many who have seen the wonderful Sweet Peas exhibited in Great Britain 
— stems a foot and a half long, surmounted by four, and often five large flowers 
— have marveled, and wished that such Sweet Peas could be grown here in 
America. The writer believes it quite possible to grow this beautiful flower 
with equal success here on the Eastern coast, but to do so we must accommodate 
our methods to meet the climatic conditions. 
If the seed is sown in October or November, and the plants carried through 
the winter in pots in a cold frame, or a very cool greenhouse, then planted out, 
as soon as the frost is out of the ground, on well prepared soil, given plenty of 
room, well staked and liberally treated in the matter of watering and feeding, 
as well as being disbudded to two or three growths per plant, we should secure 
quantities of fine Sweet Peas until the advent of the hottest weather. The stems 
and blooms produced under these conditions would be as superior to the ordinary 
grown Sweet Peas as are the finest Roses seen in the florists' stores to the com- 
mon garden flower. However, the foregoing methods are not within the reach 
and possibilities of "everybody," and it is as a flower for everybody that we are 
dealing with the Sweet Pea just now. 
CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
Get your seed from a reliable seedsman — and get the best varieties. The 
best time to sow the seed, to meet the requirements of the average grower, is 
