MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 143 
nearly all perennials, it grows easily from seed and if sown 
in August and wintered in a cold-frame will produce flowers 
the following season. The flowers are of a gentian blue and 
are borne at a height of about 2 to 3 feet. At this point, the 
main stem begins to branch and these branches in turn pro- 
duce flowers, so that the plant under favorable conditions 
blooms the better part of middle summer. In late summer 
the alkanets become shabby and the flower spikes will need 
to be cut off. It is then desirable to have some plant that can 
be used as a filler; or, what is probably better, the alkanets 
may be cut back immediately after flowering, thus producing 
- ont crop in the fall. In height the plant reaches 4 to 
eet. 
Anthericum.—The Anthericum is a white-flowered plant 
popularly known as St. Bruno’s lily. The varieties “Liliago” 
and “Liliastrum” are well adapted for cutting. The bloom- 
ing period is from May to June or July, and, like all peren- 
nials, they require an abundance of water during that time. 
In height, the plant ranges from 4 to 5 feet. 
Aquilegia or columbine.-—Columbines may be had in a 
great variety of colors and with an almost unlimited varia- 
tion in the spurs that are characteristic of the flowers. These 
plants seldom do well in this locality when exposed to the 
full sun, and it is a general practice to plant them where they 
obtain full sunlight for only part of the day. They require 
a few years to become well established but are well worth 
the time and care. Their blooming period is rather early— 
about May and June. Agquilegia chrysantha, a yellow- 
flowered variety, is the one most grown in St. Louis, but 
attention should be called to the vastly superior hybrids of 
Aquilegia caerulea which are mainly blue with white and 
Drie Fe et Plants of this genus vary in height from 2 
to 4 feet. 
Aster.—The perennial asters, or Michaelmas daisies, must 
not be confused with the annual asters, which, by the way, 
belong to an entirely different genus. The former are par- 
ticularly desirable for their masses of flowers which bloom 
as late in the fall as the goldenrod. They vary in height 
from the low-growing Aster alpinus to the very tall Aster 
tataricus. So far as is known, all the asters do well in St. 
Louis and should be more generally grown. Their one ob- 
jection is the fact that they are worthless in the garden the 
greater part of the year, on account of their short and late 
blooming period. This is more than offset, however, by the 
mass of charming colors that they add when nearly all else 
is gone. Their variety gives plenty of room for choice and 
