166 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS 



they are not fully covered by the detailed suggestions presented in 

 Chapters VII and VIII: 



Ageratum. This trim, bushy plant, easy to grow all the year in 

 California, is chiefly notable for its excellent shades of blue, from 

 light to deep in different varieties, though there are. white ones. 

 Dwarf kinds are less than a foot in height and a mass of bloom; good 

 for edging and bedding effects. 



Alyssum. Another low plant of continuous bloom is alyssum. It 

 is chiefly useful for its white effect, though it comes also in yellows. 

 We have wearied of it because it volunteers as freely as a weed. It 

 comes from the seed most carelessly sown and it can be grown also 

 from cuttings of the side shoots, but the fact never impressed us 

 because we had so much trouble keeping the seedlings where we 

 desired to have them. They seemed to enjoy growing as well in a 

 gravel walk as in a bed. 



Asters. Asters are grandly available for bloom all through the 

 summer and autumn from plants started in seed boxes under frames, 

 beginning in January and continuing until May. This program will 

 give blooming plants from May until October or later. If one does 

 not desire to use protection appliances, a start can be made in April 

 or May by sowing the seed in a small bed in the open ground and 

 covered over one-quarter, or one-eighth of an inch. Cover with a light 

 mulch and the plants should make their appearance in seven or eight 

 days and be ready for transplanting into the permanent bed in five 

 or six weeks. Some growers claim this method gives better results 

 than planting seed in boxes, but the latter method seems more 

 rational and is relied upon by most growers. The aster is a popular 

 commercial flower and a great variety of forms, sizes and colors 

 are available. Excellent bedding effects can be had with asters suit- 

 ably arranged. We have seen this, for instance,, very effectively 

 worked out, in a large circular bed, by planting in the center of the 

 bed a tall quilled variety in one distinct color, next the peony per- 

 fection in another distinct color, following with the cocardeau and 

 dwarf chrysanthemum, the former having white centers and colored 

 margins; and edging with the pretty little bouquet aster. 



During recent years the aster has been grandly developed as a 

 large plant to grow in singles or in clumps. A writer for the Cali- 

 fornia Cultivator notes this: "The new varieties of the giant comet 

 branching type and the upright branching add greatly to the list of 

 desirable sorts. Giant comet is a loose, chrysanthemum, recurved 

 petaled variety, while the upright branching is identical in form of 

 flower with the old American branching type, having very large flowers 

 of a branching habit but with thick, heavy stems which grow erect 

 and are not easily beaten down by rain or sprinkling. For the amateur 



