ASTER. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN". ASTRAGALUS. 355 



more to the choice fernery than to the 

 flower garden, unless when we are 

 happy in having old walls near or 

 around it, often so congenial a home 

 for the smaller rock- ferns. 



ASTER (Starwort, Michaelmas 

 Daisy}. Hardy perennial plants. 

 There is a quiet beauty about the more 

 select Starworts, which is charming in 



the autumn days, and their variety of 

 colour, of form, and of bud and blos- 

 som is delightful. For the most part 

 Starworts are regardless of cold or 

 rain. Even where not introduced into 

 the flower garden, they should always 

 be grown for cutting ; and they aie 



i excellent for forming bold groups to 

 cover the bare ground among newly- 



I planted shrubs. Nothing can be more 

 easy to cultivate. The essential point 



1 is to get the distinct kinds, of which 

 the following are amongst the best that 

 flower in early October : Aster amel- 



I lus, acris, cassubicus, turbinellus, Chap- 



! mani, versicolor, pulchellus, cordifolius, 

 elegans, Reevesi, discolor, laxus, horizon- 

 tails, ericoides, Shorti, multiflorus, dumo- 

 sus, Curtisi, l&vis, longifolius, coccineus, 

 sericeus, Nova-Angler, Ncvo - Belgii, 

 puniceus, and vimineus. Every year 

 adds to our autumn-blooming hardy 



Aster Strackeyi. 



plants, and a choice of Starworts may 

 be made by autumn visits to collec- 

 tions. 



ASTILBE (Goat's Beard}. A vigor- 

 ous group of. chiefly tall-branching 

 herbaceous perennials. The robust 

 kinds resemble the Spiraeas of the 

 Aruncus group, but are bolder, and 

 perhaps better suited for the margin 

 of water. There are eight kinds in 

 cultivation, the best known of which 

 are A. japonica and A. rivularis. 

 Moist places in the wild garden are 



most suitable for A. decandra, A. 

 rivularis, A. rubra, A. Lemoinei, and 

 A. Thunbergi, the last being also 

 known as Spiraea. These plants group 

 well, and the handsome foliage makes 

 healthy undergrowth, over which the 

 tall plumes of white or red flowers 

 tower with good effect. The new. 

 hybrid Astilbes, raised by crossing A. 

 Davidii and other species, are important 

 gains, and may be used with good 

 effect, particularly in cool or moist 

 situations where a rich soil obtains. 

 Their habit is that of an enlarged A. 

 japonica, both in foliage and flower, 

 the chief colours being pink, rose, 

 salmon, and carmine. They are of a 

 uniform height of 3 feet. Ceres, rosy- 

 lilac ; Gloria, rich rose ; Kriemhilde, 

 salmon ; opal, purplish - pink ; Sieg- 

 fried, carmine ; Venus, rosy-purple ; 

 Queen Alexandra, pink; and Salmon 



gueen, are a selection of the best, 

 ivision of the roots, and some by the 

 runners. 



A recently introduced kind is the 

 vigorous and handsome A. Davidii, 

 with crimson-purple flowers on stems 

 about 6 feet high. It is a fine peren- 

 nial. A . Simplicifolia, a new perennial 

 Alpine species of the highest beauty 

 and omament from Japan. Rarely a 

 foot high, with somewhat hairy, palin- 

 ately lobed leaves in cushion-like form. 

 It produces graceful pamiles of creamy 

 white flowers in July and August with 

 the greatest freedom. A first-class 

 plant for cool or moist places in the 

 rock garden in rich vegetable soils. 

 ^There is also a rose-coloured variety, 

 the twain unequalled for dainty grace. 

 A most amiable and easily grown plant, 

 it produces seeds freely and may be 

 quickly had in quantity. Quite an 

 acquisition. 



ASTRAGALUS (Milk Vetcfo.A 

 large family of alpine and perennial 

 leguminous plants, not many of which 

 are valuable for the garden. The best 

 are rock plants, but they grow freely 

 on the level ground in borders. A. 

 monspessulanus is useful for the front 

 of borders and for the rock garden. 

 The vigorous shoots are prostrate, 

 so that it is seen to greater advantage 

 when its long heads of crimson and 

 rosy flowers droop over rocks. It grows 

 well in any soil. Ther are several 

 varieties. A. Onobrychis (Saintfoin 

 Milk Vetch) is a handsome species 

 from S. Europe and Siberia (in 

 some varieties spreading, and in others 

 about 1 8 inches high), with racemes of 



