5 6 4 
August 24, 1907. 
THE 
GARDENING WORLD. 
Sweet Peas 
IN AUGUST. - 
any season of the year. Thus a house that 
can be retained at a normal temperature of 
55 to 60 degrees meets their requirements. 
The resting season of the plants is im¬ 
mediately after the flowering season is past, 
and where plants are placed in a cool house 
immediately after flowering they may be 
kept in a reasonably dry state at the roots 
for several weeks. In fact, it is well to 
see that the young growths are well away 
from the base of the last-made pseudo-bulb 
before any degree of liberal treatment is 
afforded in respect to applying moisture to 
the roots. The plants are so remarkably 
free flowering that they become constitu¬ 
tionally weakened, and if incited to grow 
immediately after flowering the new growths 
are then usually of a sickly nature and un¬ 
satisfactory results may be anticipated. 
Re-potting Plants of M. vexillaria. 
Cultivators differ in their seasons of re¬ 
potting. In my opinion the conditions under 
which plants have to be grown materially 
alter methods of treatment. In the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London I would always advo¬ 
cate annual re-potting at the time when the 
new bulb commences to form in the ad¬ 
vancing growth in the early spring of the 
year. In fog-laden areas one should avoid 
disturbing plants more than can be possibly 
helped in the autumn. The effect of fog 
on the foliage of Orchids is bad enough 
with well rooted and established plants, 
but in the case of newly potted plants the 
effect is far more disastrous and, speaking 
from my own experience of such localities, 
I would advocate potting in the above-men¬ 
tioned state. In districts where the atmo¬ 
sphere is pure the plants may be attended 
to for re-potting from the present time until 
the end of September. There is a little root 
action still going on from the last made 
pseudo-bulb, but actual rooting commences 
when the new growths commence developing 
their bulbs, just before the flower spikes are 
produced. It is not necessary to divide the 
plants while they have plenty of room to 
grow. It is best to form good specimens by 
keeping them together. The potting com¬ 
post consists of about equal portions of 
fibrous peat and sphagnum moss pressed 
moderately firm, and when potting is com¬ 
pleted the plant should rest slightly higher 
than the rim of the pots on a gentle mound. 
The pots should be clean and filled to about 
one-half their depth with clean, broken 
crocks or chopped bracken roots. Water 
as soon as potting is completed with rain 
water. Shade the plants from the direct 
rays of the sun and keep the atmosphere on 
the close side about the plants for a few 
weeks. 
H. J. Chapman. 
- ¥++ - 
“ Annual and Biennial Plants.” 
A book has been written on this subject 
by C. M. A. Peake and is published by 
Messrs. Methuen and Co., 36, Essex 
Street, London, at 3s. 6d. It is in the 
form of lists with brief descriptions of 
hardy annuals, half hardy annuals, hardy 
biennials and half hardy biennials. Then 
there are chapters giving directions for 
the culture of these various plants. The 
greater portion of the book is then de¬ 
voted to descriptions of all these things 
arranged in alphabetical order. Under 
•Dianthus are paragraphs dealing with 
several of the most common, such as 
D. alpinus, D. barbatus, D. caesius, D. 
Caryophyllus and some others. A num¬ 
ber "of full page illustrations reproduced 
from photographs represent the flowers 
of which he speaks. 
The N.S.P.S. Show. 
Although the National Sweet Pea So¬ 
ciety’s Show took place this year eleven 
days later than last year, the season has 
been so late that none of the Scotch 
champions were able to exhibit. Eck- 
ford’s had a display, but in their district 
the flowers had only just commenced to 
open, and consequently fell far short of 
the quality that one looks for in that 
quarter. Mr. Bolton did not put up a 
stand at all. 
In spite of these facts, however, the 
show was a great success, and the quality 
of the exhibits excellent. Novelties of 
varying merit were to be seen on all sides, 
the most interesting, perhaps, being the 
new breaks from Countess Spencer. It 
may now be said that almost every colour 
that is represented in the old form of 
Sweet Pea is represented also in the waved 
form, but it will probably be several 
years before fixed strains are on the mar¬ 
ket. 
A Season of Sports. 
This season has been one of sports, and 
the seedsmen have much work in rogue- 
ing, for even old-established varieties are 
in some cases very mixed. Some strains 
of Countess Spencer are still very unsatis¬ 
factory, and very few strains of John 
Ingman are quite true, while Helen 
Lewis is worse than either, but these three 
varieties are absolutely essential to every 
complete collection. Frank Dolby was 
mentioned last month as being practically 
fixed, and so, in many gardens (including 
my own) it is, but in inspecting Sweet 
Peas in various districts I have seen cases 
where it is not so satisfactory. 
A variety which has not before received 
favourable notice in these columns is 
Lord Nelson. At the commencement of 
the season it was not well known, but it 
has proved very satisfactory, being a bril¬ 
liant form of the old favourite, Navy 
Blue, which it quite supersedes. This 
same variety was sent out from America 
under the name of “Brilliant Blue.” 
Work of the Month. 
Apart from cutting the flowers, the work 
with the Sweet Peas this month is not 
very heavy. Unless seed is required, no 
pods should be allowed to form. If it is 
desired to perpetuate any new break that 
may have occurred, the plant should be 
marked before it finishes flowering, and 
the seeds carefully saved, but it should 
be remembered that very likely hardly 
any of the seeds will produce plants that 
come true next year, and it should also 
be noted that, as a rule, if a certain break 
occur with one grower, it will also occur 
with other growers all over the country, 
and a large grower has a much better 
chance of getting it fixed than has a small 
grower. Nevertheless, attempting to fix 
new varieties is intensely interesting, and 
there is always the chance of a valuable 
break coming true straight away. 
When it is seen that the Sweet Peas 
are getting past their best it is wise to 
cut away the top two or three feet. This 
has the effect of causing the plants to 
throw out fresh shoots which yield better 
flowers with longer stems than would 
otherwise be obtained. 
There has been very little need for arti¬ 
ficial watering, but it is not yet too late 
for dry weather to set in ; at the end of 
the season, however, watering often seems 
to have the effect of increasing the ten¬ 
dency of many plants to give streaky 
flowers. During August weak manure 
water will still help the plants. 
Sweet Peas at Mark’s Tey. 
Essex has long been noted as a seed- 
producing county, and in the district 
round Kelvedon acres and acres of flowers 
are grown. Naturally the Sweet Pea is 
very largely represented, and cycling 
along the roads one constantly breathes 
the scent of this flower as it is wafted over 
the hedges. Dobbies, the famous Scotch 
firm, grow their Sweet Peas in this dis¬ 
trict at Mark’s Tey, and I had the plea¬ 
sure recently of visiting their grounds. 
The varieties grown include all the best 
of the older -varieties, all the novelties, 
and many of the firm's own selections, 
w'hich are not yet in commerce. The 
Sweet Peas are exceedingly well grown, 
and few persons know as much about 
them as does Mr. Ireland, the grower. 
As an example of the manner in which 
the plants are grown one might mention 
a row of Mrs. Hardcastle Sykes one hun¬ 
dred feet long. The seeds were sown 
singly, in the open ground, a foot apart, 
in the spring. All but one came up, and 
the blank was filled by a plant from a 
pot. When I saw them in July the rows 
were well filled, and the plants were six 
feet high and covered with flowers. Other 
plants were from autumn sown seed, but 
the method that is as successful as any 
in this district is sowing under glass in 
February. Of the standard varieties 
grown. Queen Alexandra was very fine; 
Dorothy Eckford, Countess Spencer, King 
Edward VII., John Ingman, and* Helen 
Lewis were also in excellent form. 
New Varieties Ready for Distribution. 
Of varieties not yet in commerce, but 
practically ready for distribution, Princess 
Victoria resembles Mrs. Hardcastle 
Sykes, but is, perhaps, a little better. 
This is the variety that, when exhibited, 
attracted the admiration of the Royal 
lady whose name it bears, the name being 
given by special request. This variety 
must not be confounded with an older 
variety of the same name, for the latter 
has now been quite superseded. Prince 
Olaf is a blue-striped variety, and the 
N.S.P.S.’s recent Award of Merit stamps 
it as being the best of its class. The 
Marquis has received a like award, and 
is a waved mauve. Minie Christie is a 
plum-coloured waved variety, somewhat 
