26 
^3 l)e Slower (Brower March, 1919 
Growing Sweet Peas. 
Edwin Jenkins, Massachusetts. 
| Northwestern Peony 
I and Iris Society. [ 
Are any of our members acquainted 
with the Iris Lurida ? This Iris is a 
fall flowering plant in addition to giv- 
ing bloom during the month of May. 
We quote as follows from an article in 
the January number of the Garden. 
Magazine by Louise B. Wilder, well 
known author of splendid garden books: 
“An Iris flower after the first of July is 
most uncommon and if my plants are pecu- 
liar in this respect I should like to know it. 
Mr. W. Richardson Dykes, mentions a Hun- 
garian form of I. Aphylla as always flower- 
ing twice, (in May and again in August) 
and also a hybrid of I. Chamaeiris and I. Tro- 
jana, but the habit, even in his wide acquaint- 
ance among Irises is evidently unusual and he 
makes no mention of I. Lurida. I know that 
an Iris whose regular blossoming is inter- 
rupted by its being moved, will often give a 
flower or two at a later season, but with I. 
Lurida the habit is a fixed one, my plants 
having been in the same place for at least 
eight years and the October display has 
never failed. The late flowering is quite as 
free as the earlier one, that is the plants are 
well set over with dark, plum-colored buds, 
but in October these are sometimes frozen 
before they fully expand. 
“ Iris Lurida is a member of the Bearded 
Group of Irises, and is, according to Mr. 
Irwin Lynch, very close to I. Squalens and 
I. Sambucina. It is, however, quite without 
the fine perfume of the first and is consid- 
erably dwarfer than either. The flowers 
scarcely overtop the leaves. The standards 
are a bright plum color with copper lights 
and the falls are a darker, duller shade. The 
stem is three or four headed and the spathe 
three flowered. It is a very handsome and 
easily grown Iris for the front of the border. 
With me it grows luxuriantly in a dry situa- 
tion and is one of my favorite Irises.” 
With the many new, beautiful va- 
rieties that are being constantly added 
to our list of desirable Iris that possess 
entrancing beauty and pleasing fra- 
grance, the addition of a fall flowering 
variety possessing equal attributes 
would be a valuable acquisition to any 
collection. Will be pleased to hear 
from any of our members having had 
experience with any of the Irises named, 
or any other variety having like pro- 
clivities. Iris Lurida should be a de- 
sirable sort to propagate with a view 
of improving and originating new va- 
rieties of fall blooming habits. I trust 
we may hear more about this variety 
from our members who have had ex- 
perience with the raising of same. To 
my knowledge this variety is not offered 
for sale by any American growers. 
Can any of our members advise me 
where it can be procured ? 
W. F. Christman, Sec’y. 
H. E. Meader, Dover, N. H., sends us 
a handful of Liberty cormels. These 
average three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter and are, we think, the largest 
and strongest looking cormels, or 
“bulblets” we have ever seen. 
There has hardly been a time this 
winter when bulbs could not be shipped 
with perfect safety by express or Par- 
cel Post. We may get more severe 
weather in March. 
M ANY who have seen the wonderful 
Sweet Peas exhibited in Great Britain 
— stems a foot and a half long, sur- 
mounted by four, and often five large flow- 
ers— have marveled, and wished that such 
Sweet Peas could be grown here in America. 
The writer believes it quite possible. 
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 about the end of 
February or the beginning of March ; and 
the surest way to get a good percentage of 
germination is to sow the seed about a half- 
inch deep in sand. 
Seed of all the reds, crimson or scarlet 
sorts will germinate quicker and more surely 
if a small piece of the hard seed coat is cut 
off. Do this with a sharp knife on the side 
opposite the bud or growing point. This 
chipping enables the seed to soak up mois- 
ture and may well be practised on all the 
colors, though it is more essential to the 
colors mentioned. 
In a temperature of 55° to 60°, the seed 
should germinate in about a week, and must 
then be potted in soil, or planted out in 
boxes to grow along in a temperature of 
about 55°, until weather conditions will 
allow of out door planting. This out door 
planting must be done as early as possible, 
and the plants protected at nights from frost. 
A good way to protect the plants in the row 
is to nail two boards together, so as to 
form an inverted V, and set it over the plants 
at night until danger from hard frost is past. 
Do not despair of raising good Sweet Peas 
if you are without a greenhouse, or even a 
cold frame ; much may be accomplished by 
a little forethought and a little ingenuity. A 
flat, 24 in. long by 12 in. broad takes up but 
2 sq. ft. of room, and may be set in a house 
window. It is easily moved from place to 
place, holds about 100 plants in paper pots 
(which are 4 in. deep) and will give the 
plants plenty of room until they can be 
planted out. Now, these plants are enough 
to plant a single row 100 ft. in length, or a 
double row 50 ft. long, which is as much as 
many people can handle. Further, they will 
bloom longer and give superior flowers to 
any that may be planted closer ; in fact a 
good sturdy plant set out in fairly rich soil 
will fill the space if planted 2 ft. apart. 
The question may be asked: why go to this 
trouble of sowing seed inside in sand and 
transplanting afterwards when we can sow 
outside in the open ground? The reason is: 
first, to ensure germination ; secondly, to de- 
velop a healthy, sturdy root system before 
the plants make much top-growth; and, 
thirdly, because that great teacher, experi- 
ence, has taught us that it is the better 
method, and the only sure way of getting 
satisfactory results. 
While Sweet Peas may be planted in 
groups, or in various other ways, yet where 
the main consideration is the production of 
flowers for house decoration, double rows, 
with the plants set alternately about a foot 
apart either way, and five feet from center 
to center if several rows are planted, will be 
found to give the best results. Take all 
precautions to avoid checking the growth of 
the plants. Be sure that they are always 
supplied with water while growing in the 
pots or boxes, and select a cloudy day for 
transplanting to their permanent growing 
place. Do not expose the roots any longer 
than you can help when planting, and firm 
the soil thoroughly around the plants when 
they are planted. The importance of a firm 
soil is very often overlooked by beginners. 
If you are going to plant only one single 
or double row, dig a space of at least two 
feet on each side of the center of the row, 
and if you are going to plant parallel rows, 
set five feet apart from centers, then you 
will dig and manure the whole space. After 
the ground is dug, and before it is raked add 
one pound each of ground bone-meal and air- 
slaked lime to each three square yards of 
ground. 
Look ahead in this matter of supports and 
determine what you are going to use before 
you actually need it. If you find that two 
inch wire netting six feet high is the only 
material you can use, get it in place before the 
plants are set out. We prefer good brush to 
the wire netting, and this may also be placed 
first, and then the plants have something to 
get hold of right away. Nothing so appals the 
young Sweet Peas plant as to find itself 
without any visible means of support, and to 
be allowed to sprawl on the ground in a 
helpless manner. Sometimes it is necessary 
to give the plants a tie to start them up the 
supports, and the enthusiastic grower will 
not begrudge this little extra work. 
MULCHING AND WATERING. 
After the plants have started well into 
growth and the sun has warmed up the soil, 
a good mulch of strawy litter and half-de- 
cayed leaves will be of the greatest benefit 
to them, both in conserving moisture, by 
cutting off evaporation, and in keeping the 
soil from baking and getting too hot. Be 
liberal in the amount of space you cover on 
either side of the plants with the mulch, but 
do not put it on too heavy, about three 
inches is enough. Watering must be attended 
to as regularly as the soil appears to be 
on the dry side ; and when it is done be sure 
to be thorough and give a good soaking. 
Half measures are worse than nothing at all. 
Assuming that the ground has been well 
manured, as advised in the preparation of 
the soil, no great amount of feeding other- 
wise will be necessary, except that after the 
plants have been flowering for a week or 
two and the stems begin to show signs of 
shortening, a little stimulant, such as a light 
dose of nitrate of soda, or a dusting of dry 
blood well watered in, will be very beneficial ; 
and as a tonic which will brighten up the 
colors of the flowers, and generally do good, 
a dusting of soft coal soot about every ten 
days over the whole soil is well worth while. 
As one of the chief characteristics of the 
Sweet Pea is that the more you pick the more 
you have, the sprays should be gathered every 
day as soon as all the flowers are developed, 
and to do this, use a sharp knife and cut 
them close to the base ; plucking the stems 
out by force is rather unkind treatment and 
apt to injure the vines. 
A light covering of cheese-cloth, or some 
other light material, must be put over the 
salmon and orange shades if you would get 
these most beautiful colors at their best, be- 
cause a very little sunshine bleaches them 
out completely.— From American Sweet Pea 
Bulletin. 
Early in the winter we pointed out 
to Gladiolus growers that a good op- 
portunity was offered them by their 
weak-kneed competitors who were in- 
clined to cut prices with a view to 
closing out and reducing stocks. Of 
course we are not gifted with second 
sight and we did not know at the time 
that the market was going to advance 
as promptly as it did. A number of 
well-known Gladiolus growers report 
that practically all of their stocks ex- 
cept what is reserved for their own 
planting has already been sold. This 
is proof enough that the Gladiolus is 
booming, and other flower growing 
is booming also. 
