February, 191 1 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



35 



wanted, willingly. Both happened to be 

 Scotch. The younger of the two was a 

 brilliant scholar and had just carried off 

 the gold medal, and I forget how many 

 scholarships. I had lodgings where he 

 boarded, and his thirst for information 

 regarding our Canadian Flora was won- 

 derful. His ambition lay Kew-wards, 

 and there is little doubt he will make a 

 name for himself, if he does not ruin 

 his health by overstudy. 



HAMPTON COURT 



The big border at Hampton Court is 

 well worth seeing. It is a long, straight 

 border, very wide and a blaze of flowers, 

 chiefly perennials, but annuals are used 

 to fill up odd spares, probably where _ 

 bulbs have been in the earlier part of tht 

 season. Amongst these a rich, crimson 

 Wistaria was the most brilliant thing 

 there, though some very rich colors in 

 Potentillas were very fine. To the left 

 of this border were large beds of various 

 showy things. One of Delphiniums made 

 a grand mass of blue against the green 

 background of the trees. There was 

 also a very fine bed of paeonies, just as 

 their prime. It was the 21st of June. 



The trip from Hampton Court down 

 the Thames by boat to Richmonu is ii«>st 

 enjoyable. On each shore are picturesque 

 house boats, cottages and handsome re- 

 sidences, with beautiful grounds coming 

 to the water's edge, and as the little 

 steamer goes obligingly slowly, one has 



First Prize Asters, from Mr. RobinsOD's GardcD 



Here were grown the first prize Mikado pink asters shown at the exhibition of the Barrie Hor- 

 ticultural Society, a number of which measured seven inches in diameter. 



ample time to enjoy the ever-changing 

 view. 



(To he continued.) 



Success With Asters 



Mrs. A. C, Barrie, Oi\t. 



IN The Canadian Horticulturist of April, 

 1910, there was an interesting letter 

 from Mr. G. A. Chase, of Toronto, 

 in which he gave part of his experience 

 with asters. It was so much like my own 

 former attempts that I determined that 

 at .some future time I would give my ex- 

 perience also, in the hope that it might 

 be helpful to someone. 



Like Mr. Chase I petted and worked 

 with my plants each year, hoping that I 

 should have better success, and trying 

 everything I ever heard of in the way of 

 cultivation, fertilizers, and different var- 

 ieties of seed. Sometimes I bought 

 plants from the greenhouse. At the end 

 of seven years of patient work and hope 

 deferred, I could not .say that I had ever 

 grown a perfect aster. That was three 

 years ago that spring. 



One year we were very busy and I had 

 not time to prepare a flower bed. As I 

 had purchased a full collection, Truflant's 

 Pccony Perfection, twelve colors, and 

 felt like giving them a trial, I sowed 

 them in drills between the rows of Dutch 

 sets, intending to transplant them when 

 they were ready into the flower bed. 

 They were never moved. The onions 

 were bunched as .soon as they were 



ready. They got only one weeding, and 

 then the weeds were nearly as tall as 

 the onions. A lot of the asters were pull- 

 ed up with the weeds and were set in 

 again. 



The ground had been dug the same 

 day that the seeds were sown, and had 

 not been touched the fall previous. It 

 was rather damp, and part of it was 

 under a large apple tree. Some common 

 stable manure had been dug in. No 

 other fertilizer was used. The bed was 

 not watered once during the season — but 

 such asters! Gorgeous was no name for 

 tiiem. Colors of the richest reds, purple 

 black, pure white, rose pink, like sheaves 

 of ro-ses. Each plant was an armful in 

 itself, and they continued blooming till 

 their dear heads were capped with snow. 

 We took two prizes with them that year, 

 and I was so tickled it nearly took my 

 breath away. No worshipper at any 

 shrine could have been more devout than 

 I at my bed of bloom. 



ANOTHER SUCCESS 



The folltwip".,' spring I sent across the 

 line and bought a collection of twelve 

 varieties, mixed colors of each variety. 

 We sowed them in the open, where wc 

 had dug up an old strawberry bed, and 



did not manure them at all, and only 

 gave them a douche of soapsuds every 

 week, and the.se were, if possible, finer 

 in every way than those of the year be- 

 fore. There were so many varieties — 

 varying from the tiny Jewel or Ball to 

 the feathery Ostrich Plumes. When our 

 exhibit was ready for the exhibition, we 

 coimted thirty-three varieties and colors. 

 We captured two prizes with them. This 

 year the plants were as healthy as could 

 be under much the same treatment, but 

 a new enemy, a fly of some kind, destroy- 

 ed the bloom before we found the 

 remedy. 



Perhaps some will think that I am ad- 

 vocating neglect and carelessness. Not 

 so, for nothing gives as much in return 

 for so little attention as flowers of all 

 kinds. I do think, however, that in the 

 case of asters, and some other hardy 

 flowers, one can easily be too attentive. 

 I do not consider it wise to work too 

 deeply around the roots after the flowers 

 bloom. A mulch would be much better, 

 and they need lots of ventilation, but not 

 hot winds, which leave the roots exposed. 

 .\ little kerosene in the weekly wash of 

 soapy water will kill most of the aster 

 enemies. 



Cold frames and hot beds will be 

 wanted very soon. No garden is too 

 small for a cold frame. Lettuce, rad- 

 ishes, parsley, beets, carrots, beans, 

 can all be helped along as early crops, 

 by being grown in a cold frame. 



