154 



IRISH GARDENING. 



" The g-Iow of brig-lit colour which is thrown 

 over our g-aidens in September and October by 

 asters, siuiflovvers, soldagos, and dahlias is one 

 of the most valuable gfifts that fall within the 

 compass of horticulture, for which the old world 

 stands indebted to the new."— J. G. Baki-:r. 



DURING the month of October there will be 

 a good deal of work to be done in the 

 border in regard to cutting down the 

 steins of dead and decaying flower stalks and 

 leaves of plants, also forking over and mulching 

 the border. All bulbs and tubers such as 

 gladioli, dahlias, begonias, &c., should be lifted 

 and stored about the end of the month. All 

 spaces where bulbs, annuals, tubers, and sum- 

 mer-flowering plants were situated should be 

 filled up with bulbs such as daffodils, crocus, 

 narcissus, spring and May-flowering tulips. 

 Biennials — wallflowers, Canterbury bells, for- 

 get-me-nots, silene pendula, sweet William, 

 &c. — should be also planted out ; also plants of 

 polyanthus, hybrid primroses, and violas. 



Cuttings of herbaceous plants struck under 

 glass last July should be by this time fit to put 

 out. Carnation layers should be put into their 

 flowering quarters this month. 



A great deal depends on the person in charge 

 of the border planting at the proper season in 

 order to secure a display of bloom for the 

 longest possible period. All plants marked 

 during their flowering season as unfit for their 

 quarters — in regard to colour or height — can be 

 put into more suitable positions in the border. 



Frank Hudson. 



gardens at all times with such a wealth of beautiful 

 tioweringf plants. The genus itself is larg^e (over 250 

 species), its head centre being; in the United States of 

 America. A larg^e number of our cultivated forms are 

 hybrids. According- to Mr. Denver, most of these are 

 crosses between IcFvis and A'ovi-Bilgii. 



As before stated, these asters will grow in any 

 ordinary g-arden soil, but those planted in the border 

 will well repay deep cultivation andg-enerous treatment 

 as to feeding-. They may be increased by division of 

 " root " in autumn or spring-, or by cutting- in April or 

 May. 



The late Rt-v. C. Wolley Dod advised an annual 

 division of such forms as Novi-Bclgii that produce 

 runners, slating- that small detached pieces, showing- 

 in spring- only two or three shoots, make by autumn 

 the best plants, and have the finest flowers. They 

 must neither be crowded by having other plants near 

 them nor have the stalks too close on each plant. 

 The best lime to divide is early in the year, so soon as 

 the spring growths have made an inch or so of shoot 

 above ground As these close-growing- kinds tend to 

 exhaust the soil of the border it will be necessary to 

 supply an annual mulch of well-rotted manure. Varie- 

 ties of the AmelUis section may be left undistiubed 

 for three or four years or more. 



In a garden with plenty of available space the taller 

 varieties of asters may be grown in clumi")s or separate 

 beds with great effect. With plenty oi room, they 

 produce a larg-e number of laterals that flower 

 abundantly. The flowering period of these asters 

 rang-es from Aug-ust to October. A verj' pretty little 

 aster is A. acris and its varieties. It varies from 

 3 inches to 3 feet, and has blue flowers that appear 

 in August. Amellus, the most handsome of the 

 EiMopean astei's, is a plant of neat habit, and free-flower- 

 ing-, the flowers appearing- also in August. The Novce- 

 Ani>lice group supplies a number of fine forms, of 

 which pulchcUus may be specially mentioned. These 

 species will cairy the flowering- through September, 

 while the varieties of Novi-Bclgii will continue it right 

 on to the end of October. In addition to these, all 

 members of the cordifolius g;roup will be found g-ood 

 and useful, while the ]5ale, pink-flowering Ei-iaiides 

 and white-flowered dijfusus (varieties horisoiitalis and 

 pcndulus being-, perhaps, the best) are excellent for 

 rockeries. 



The use to which asters may be put is infinite. They 

 may be used not only foi- the border and rockery, but 

 for bedding- purposes, borders of woodlands, bays in 

 shrubbeiies, or intermixed with clumps oi evergreens. 

 Wherever you plant them they are almost sure to g-row, 

 and will brig-hten up the colour-dulness that so often 

 prevails in the g-arden before the leaves take on the 

 varied tints of the declining- j'ear. 



Michaelmas Daisies. 



MICHAELMAS DAISIES are extensively used for 

 the autumn decoration of herbaceous borders. 

 They have undoubted qualifications for popular 

 favour. They display considerable variability as to 

 size, ranging- from the dwarf Alpine species oi the 

 Himalaya, from about an inch hig^h, to the tall and 

 much-branching forms of Nova-Aiiglice that may g^row 

 to a height of eight or ten feet. They are all hardy in 

 our climate, and not the least particular as to soil, and 

 produce, as we all know, in late season charming star- 

 like flowers of various shades of colour — white, pink, 

 blue, purple— in great profusion. They belong to the 

 genus Aster, which in turn is included in that innnense 

 order of plants— the CompositEe— that enrich our 



Stoking of Seeds. — The majority of seeds naturally 

 pass into a resting state after ripening. The ripening 

 process is associated with an accumulation of reserve 

 food and a drying off". During the period of "rest" 

 the seed is by no means lifeless. Certain well- 

 known oxidation changes are slowly taking place, 

 accompanied by the formation oi small quantities of 

 carbonic acid gas and water. P"erments are also 

 formed, needful in the subsequent digestion of the 

 reserve food during germination. During this naturally 

 dormant period seeds should be kept dry and cool, as 

 dampness and a sufficiently high temperature in the 

 presence of the oxygen induce an unhealthy condition, 

 which in turn render the seeds more liable to the 

 attacks oi moulds and other fungi. A free circulation 

 of air is very adverse to fungal growth. Seeds, there- 

 fore, should be kept in a dry, cool, airy place if we are 

 to preserve their full health and germinating power. 



