THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



263 



instead of having to wait for months 

 and see them actually pining for a 

 long time after they are put out, we 

 take a crop of some other flowers first, 

 and do not need the fuchsias till they 

 are in perfection and fit to produce 

 an immediate effect. 



Astees ought to be used in this 

 way and no other, except in great 

 places, where a few blank beds are of 

 no consequence. By the planting out 

 system the beds appropriated to asters 

 must be unattractive from the begin- 

 ning of May till the middle of August, 

 perhaps later, and then there is a 

 good display, which lasts about sis 

 weeks. I told you in No. 2, p. 150, 

 that I had in view to replace the 

 geraniums with asters if any accident 

 should happen. I now tell you that 

 when the time came to use the asters 

 I adopted fuchsias instead. But you 

 know it is as well always to have two 

 strings to your bow, and the asters 

 were not wasted, depend upon it. I 

 have reason to be proud of those as- 

 ters. I potted every one myself, about 

 a thousand in number, working occa- 

 sionally at them for an hour or two 

 before breakfast after they had filled 

 thumb pots with roots. They were 

 potted into the thumbs from the seed- 

 pans by a sharp lad, and the advan- 

 tage of the two pottings is now mani- 

 fest. Although limited to 5-inch 

 pots (48 s), they have yet bloomed so 

 'superbly that at least three-fourths of 

 them are good enough for show. I 

 have never seen such a lot in my life 

 before, and I attribute their perfec- 

 tion to the management. They were 

 potted firmly in equal parts rotten 

 dung and good loam, the pots were 

 placed on a bed of rotten dung in a pit 

 all summer, and thus their roots were 

 always cool and moist, and they had 

 of course plenty of water. There 

 could not be a simpler way of pro- 

 viding asters in any quantity. One 

 of the sharpest and most experienced 

 nurserymen in this district found 

 them out, and implored me to save 

 all the seed that could be got from 

 them. I told him I would not bestow 

 five minutes on the business, having 

 always more irons in the fire than I 

 can handle comfortably ; so he set to 

 work, and tallied the greater part of 



them for himself, and as soon as tbeir 

 beauty is over he will carry away a 

 few bushels of heads to ripen at home 

 for use next year. To use these 

 asters was a very simple matter. The 

 " Magic Ring " was sown with Tom 

 Thumb Tropteolum after spring flow- 

 ers, and just as the asters came to 

 perfection, the Tropteolum was a 

 mass of seeds ; it was therefore de- 

 stroyed, and the asters planted in 

 circles, reds, blues, etc., with pure 

 white round the margin. See the 

 gain, again, over the system of 

 growing but one crop of flowers 

 each season. To succeed the asters 

 I have plenty of ponipones, and after 

 those bulbs and miscellaneous spring 

 flowers. 



Amissing link. I have mentioned 

 Sedum fabarium. It was figured at 

 page 249 of last year's Floral World. 

 It is one of the most useful plants in 

 existence for the plunging system, 

 and it blooms at such a season as to 

 supply the missing link between the 

 summer flowers and the chrysanthe- 

 mums. Look now at the beds and 

 borders ; look at the seedy lobelias, 

 the verdant (not golden) calceolarias, 

 the ragged and forlorn-looking gera- 

 niums, and say would it not be desir- 

 able to lengthen out the season by 

 keeping up the show of flowers to the 

 very end of these bright autumn days, 

 when the garden is so enjoyable, 

 except for this general dilapidation 

 where not long since all was gay as 

 the colours on a butterfly's wing. 

 Sedum fabarium is a plant to grow 

 by thousands to make a delightful 

 display from the 19th of September 

 to about the 15th of October, when 

 there is an end of its glory. Do as I 

 do — cut and come again all through 

 March and April, and make as many 

 plants as possible from the stock you 

 have. If short, top the young plants 

 as soon as the} 7 have made growth 

 enough to furnish cuttings. I find 

 they strike quickly without bottom- 

 heat, but a little heat will hasten the 

 process. I pot them all separately in 

 thumb pots. That sort of practice is 

 becoming the rule here ; and as soon 

 as those pots are full of roots, I shift 

 at once to 32 size, using rich loamy 

 compost and good drainage. Thence. 



