Long-stemmed flowers free from blemish are essential for show work and for the highest forms of house decoration, and to insure an adequate supply over an extended period the following method, which is adopted by some of the most successful exhibitors, is strongly to be recommended. The plants are put out in double rows one foot apart, and spaced a foot apart in the lines. Each plant should carry two shoots only, both of which must be provided with a rod of bamboo, ash, or hazel, ten to twelve feet in length. For this double cordon system the rods will stand six inches apart in the rows, and it is desirable to make them secure against damage from high winds. Insert a stout pole at each end of the row, and about seven feet from the ground-level fix to each pole a substantial wooden crosspiece a little more than a foot in length. From these cross-pieces tightly stretch strands of wire, to which securely tie the rods. As growth develops commence disbudding promptly, regularly remove all laterals and tendrils, and tie each cordon to its supporting rod with raffia as often as may be necessary.
After transfer to the open ground the plants must never be allowed to become dry at the roots. Keep the hoe going between the rows, especially after the soil has been beaten down by rain.
The blooming period can be prolonged by the simple expedient of daily removing the dead or faded flowers. The ripening of only a few seed-pods speedily puts a stop to flowering.
In the open ground seed may be sown in spring from February to May, and successional sowings at intervals of a fortnight will extend the supply of flowers far into autumnal days. Even where a few clumps only can be grown it is unwise to depend on a single sowing. Autumn sowings outdoors are often made in September or October where a warm soil and favourable situation can be insured.
Sweet Peas have two principal foes, the slug and the sparrow. Against the former the usual precautions, such as ashes, old soot, lime, and various traps, are available; and the latter must by some means be prevented from doing mischief. After the buds show through the soil, it is generally too late for the adoption of remedies. Nearly all the heads will be found nipped off and laid ready for inspection. One could almost forgive the marauders were food the object, but the birds appear to commit havoc from pure wantonness, and whole rows are sometimes destroyed in a single morning.
Early sprays are so much prized that the practice of flowering Sweet Peas in pots under glass is yearly increasing, and for this purpose seed must be sown in August or September; the plants to be kept slowly moving during the dark days. In February the growth will be more rapid, but it is important to give the plants the hardiest possible treatment. In April, if properly managed, there will be a brilliant display.
The winter-flowering race blooms freely at a still earlier period, although the plants are less vigorous than other varieties.
SWEET WILLIAM
Dianthus barbatus. Hardy biennial
Sweet William belongs to the same genus as the Pink. The finest strains produce superb heads of flowers, some of them intensely rich in colour, while others have a contrasting edge. The new varieties are so marked an advance on older colours that they have created a fresh interest in this favourite garden flower.