SWEET PEAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 July 1938, Page 4

SWEET PEAS

GROUPS AND CIRCLES. Where there are reasonably wide herbaceous borders, nothing could be ipore charming than to have sweet peas in the background, not in a row but in separate clumps, each of one variety, and with about six to ten feet between each one. A great deal of room need not be allowed them. A circle with a diameter of two feet is sufficient for each, and, providing the plants are carefully tied, there will be no fear of their encroaching un-

duly on neighbouring subjects. Similar clumps cut out around the margin of a lawn are equally delightful. What is more, they will flower well-nigh the whole summer through, providing spent blooms are removed before they set seed. This is one thing so many growers are apt to neglect, unless the plants are grown principally to provide cut flowers. Sweet peas not only set seed readily, but rapidly —the flower is fertilised while still in the bud stage —and unless they are gone over once or twice a week, and all the spent blooms removed, they will, like all annuals, succumb in a very short time.

It must, of course, be realised that, if clumps are to be appreciated to the full, a neat but unobtrusive method of staking must be adopted. One good stout stake, to which circular wire rings are secured, will serve admirably oi- an even simpler idea is to insert three stakes in triangular formation, and tie around these a framework of tarred twine or string netting. Yet another alternative is to use wire-net-ting. A length of this, bent in a circle and secured to a couple of stakes driv-. en firmly into the soil, will solve the support problem.

An even less practised idea, and one that is, if anything, even more effective if the plants are well grown, is to use the umbrella type of wire trainer on which weeping standard roses are grown. This should be affixed to a strong stake at a height of about four feet from the ground. Two or three plants will be sufficient for each stake until they reach the wires, when they should be tied into cover it evenly. If they are not allowed to develop too much growth, they should grow until they practically touch the ground, and, as all the flower stems will grow upwards, the picture they present is that of a mound of colour. Good culture is the more essential in this case, as the plants have first, to climb the stake, and they should on no account be alllowed to flower until the trainer is fairly well covered with growth. Again, it is well to bear in mind that the dense and spreading head of growth will prevent much of the natural rainfall from reaching the soil. Therefore, be the more careful, to see that the plants are well watered when necessary. Nothing is less to sweet peas’ liking than dryness at the roots, and nothing is more likely to bring about a premature collapse. For earliest flowering, autumn-sown plants, or those raised from an early spring sowing under glass, are invaluable, but it must not for one moment be imagined that good results can only be obtained from sowings made under cover. Sweet peas are true annuals, and from sowings made in the open ground where they are to flower, will grow magnificently. It is, of course, essential to see that they do not suffer from starvation. Plants which make so much growth and flower so abundantly are naturally fairly hungry feeders. The soil for them must be thoroughly prepared. Digging to a depth of two spits should be looked upon as more or less essential, and, where it is available, a generous dressing of thoroughly rotted manure should be worked in. Do not, however, place it in a solid layer in the bottom of the second spit. Just when sowing should take place depends not only on the prevailing weather, but also on the type of soil with which the grower has to contend. In some parts of the country it is possible to make a start as early as August, but, as a general rule, September is the better month. There is nothing to be gained by starting too early and having the plants crippled by cold, searing winds, or by sowing while the soil is still too cold and wet to encourage free germination.