August 10, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
801 
SWEET PEA NOVELTIES FOR 1901. 
Those who were able to attend the exhibition of the 
National Sweet Pea Society, no doubt took copious 
notes of the varieties which most accorded with 
their taste whether new or old. Happily the varie¬ 
ties are all easy to grow, and though they differ in 
Sweet Pea Miss Willmott. 
the details of the flower as to form and colour and 
the length of the flower stalk, most of these particu¬ 
lars can be noted at exhibitions, and the rest taken 
for granted. Some of them vary from the average 
in height, vigour of constitution and earliness, but 
that will not alter the possibility of growing and 
flowering them. We refer on this occasion to the 
taller growing types, excluding the Cupids. 
By the courtesy of Mr. Henry Eckford, Wem, 
Shropshire, we are able to place illustrations of his 
half-dozen novelties for this year before our readers, 
so that those at a distance from London may have 
some conception of the latest doings of that cele¬ 
brated raiser. Needless to say, all the varieties we 
are about to mention made their appearance at the 
recent exhibition of the Sweet Pea Society, in 
greater or less numbers, some of them in every large 
collection, so that their value could generally be 
estimated by their frequency in the stands, the 
exhibitors having confidence in their fitness for the 
purpose. 
Of the six varieties under notice none of them was 
more frequently in evidence than Miss Willmott, 
which may be described as a glorified Gorgeous, the 
flower being much larger and handsomely expanded 
in all its parts, with a slight hood to the standard, 
Gorgeous, to which we compared it, has a smaller 
fliwer with a more intense orange standard. 
Sadie Burpee is better known to most growers 
than the above, and its continued popularity shows 
that it has never belied its reputation. The large 
pearly-white flowers are freely produced over a long 
period when grown under favourable conditions, 
and the long stalks enable the flowers to be used in 
the cut state for exhibition, and various other 
decorative purposes for which white flowers are 
suitable. It is a beautifully refined flower, and 
though more hooded than Blanche Burpee it does 
not lose in favour on that account. When two white 
varieties were asked for at the recent exhibition 
Sadie Burpee and Blanche Burpee were most 
frequently shown together as the best of this 
colour. Many First-class Certificates and Awards of 
Merit have already been granted it. 
Taking the varieties in the order given on this page 
the next to be mentioned is George Gordon, with a 
reddish-crimson standard and rosy-purple wings. Of 
the half-dozen under notice George Gordon has the 
Sweet Pea Coccinea. 
darkest flowers, which are quite distinct in colour as 
they are large and handsome. 
The beauty of Coccinea lies in its brilliant cerise 
flowers, and handsome, broadly-rounded standard, 
as may be seen by referring to the illustration of it. 
The standard is also erect as in the previously 
named variety, and the flowers when cut and 
exhibited in their proper and best form have a 
very striking and telling appearance in a stand. 
Certificates have been granted it by more than one 
society. 
As exhibited at the recent show, we think Lady M. 
Ormsby-Gore a lovely variety with buff-yellow 
flowers of the largest size and strikingly distinct in 
colour. The colour is somewhat intensified towards 
the apex of the flower, and, in its best form, this is 
'-w 
Sweet Pea George Gordon. 
Sweet Pea Sadie Burpee. 
which is of a lovely shade of orange. The wings, 
also well developed, are a shade paler and more 
decidedly rosy. The flower is nevertheless classed 
as a self, and we affirm that it is of the first magni¬ 
tude and merit, and will long retain its pre-eminence 
as an exhibition variety or for any other purpose. 
overlaid with a delicate pink. A glance at the cut 
flowers gives one the impression that the variety is a 
vigorous grower to produce flowers of such handsome 
proportions 
It will be admitted by all Sweet Pea growers and 
lovers alike that improvements must still be looked 
Sweet Pea Lady M. Ormsby-Gore. 
for in more intense and decided shades of yellow 
Indeed,we may say that the Sweet Pea will be nearing 
the goal of perfection as the yellow, the blue, and 
the scarlet shades become intensified and purified to 
the highest representatives of those colours amongst 
flowers. The Hon. Mrs. E. Kenyon is primrose and, 
indeed, has been termed “The Giant Primrose.” 
The flower is larger and the colour deeper or more 
decided than in the case of Mrs. Eckford ; and that 
is what we ought to encourage in the production of 
new varieties, as being a step or link in the right 
direction. The standard is erect, beautifully rounded, 
and the wings as well as all parts of the flowers 
shapely. The plant is also of strong constitution, 
and the flower stalks long, so that for cutting pur¬ 
poses it will hold its own with any. 
As to which is the best of the above, it is all a 
matter of taste. Some would say there is no best as 
all are good, only different from one another. 
Certain of them might do better in some districts 
than others ; and all of the above are certainly 
worthy of a trial, while most of them will be con¬ 
sidered worthy of retention for future sowings. A 
close scrutiny of the accompanying illustrations will 
give a better idea of the form of the flowers than 
mere descriptions could. 
PINK FREESIAS. 
Pink is quite a new colour for Freesias, but plants 
have produced flowers of that colour at Kew during 
the past spring. The plant and flowers are almost 
Sweet Pea The Hon. Mrs. E. Kenyon. 
exactly the same as F. refracta, only the colour of 
the flowers is rose-pink. It was introduced from 
Humansdorp, Cape Colony, about four years ago, by 
Mr. W. Armstrong, of Port Elizabeth. It comes 
perfectly true from seed and will no doubt soon be a 
very popular flower in conservatories. 
