^e(j 



THE OANArHAN HORTICULTURIST. 



settled; but the fall sown seed will 

 usually come soonest into bloom. Our 

 readers will find the Abronias of easy 

 cultivation if they can give them a 

 light, and moderatly rich soil and full 

 exposure to the sun. The plants will 

 soon cover a large space and need not 

 be set nearer than eighteen inches. 



The Aster is already well known and 

 deservedly popular as one of the most 

 attractive of our autumn flowers. This 

 is its season of beauty, when the sun has 

 begun to decline, and the evenings are 

 cool, with abundant dews. Cultivators 

 have succeeded in producing many va- 

 rieties, some growing quite tall, others 

 very dwarf, and others, of an interme- 

 diate size, and these with names with- 

 Oiit end. Those of intermediate habit, 

 and generally known as boquet asters, 

 seem on the whole to be the best. The 

 aster prefers a deep, rich soil, with full 

 exposure to sun and air, while the roots 

 are kept cool with a thick nnilch. The 

 seed may be sown in a good rich seed 

 bed, thinly in rows. Care should be 

 taken that the plants are not crowded 

 at any time. As soon as they begin to 

 crowd, transplant to a permanent bed, 

 placing them about a foot apart each 

 way. A paper of choice aster seed from 

 one of the best growers in Prussia, is 

 one of the three papers of seeds offered 

 to the readers of the Canadian Horticul- 

 turist in the spring. 



Mignonette needs no description to 

 make it known to our readers, its very 

 name is suggestive of sweet perfume. 

 The seeds may be sown in the open 

 ground at any time after the spring 

 opens, either in a shady corner or in 



the open sunshine. It thrives best in 

 a rich, friable loam. The individual 

 flowers are exceedingly modest, yet the 

 spike is not without beauty, while its 

 fragrance is prized by every one. It is 

 well to sow a small bed with it every 

 three or four weeks until past midsum- 

 mer, so that there may be a succession 

 of bloom, for its sweet-smelling spikelets 

 are always in demand. 



The Pansy seems to look up at you 

 as though it would speak. And does 

 it not speak, though its voice is not 

 heard, speak to your heart in a way 

 that thrills, stirring many memories ; 

 touching perha})S some minor chord in 

 your life's psalm, wakening thoughts of 

 the days and the loved that come not 

 again. It is the home flower, inter- 

 woven with all the scenes of home life 

 and all the precious memories and ever 

 to be cherished associations of that hal- 

 lowed spot. 



Though not strictly an anntial yet in 

 our climate it is well to treat it as such, 

 and sow the seed in a rich moist loam, 

 shaded from the fierce noonday heat, 

 but not under the drip of the overhang- 

 ing trees. It likes the cool moist air 

 of early spring and later autumn, then 

 giving forth its largest, richest blooms, 

 but it dwindles and well nigh perishes 

 under our midsummer heat. We have 

 had good success with young autumn 

 grown plants, slightly protected during 

 the winter with a thin covering of 

 leaves, which gave in spring most 

 magnificent flowers in great profusion. 

 The readers of our monthly can have a 

 package of the choicest seed of this 

 flower, if they so choose, raised by the 



