208 ROGK GARDENING FOR AMATEURS 



Aster (Starwort or Michaelmas Daisy). The popular 

 name of Michaelmas Daisy (natural order Compositae) 

 is a misnomer when applied to the alpine species of Aster, 

 as they flower earlier in the season than the true Michael- 

 mas Daisies. Those mentioned here are attractive little 

 plants of much value in the garden. They like a dry place 

 and a sunny position, and they have been found to do 

 well in the moraine. The latter place is, indeed, the 

 best for the varieties of Aster alpinus (from the European 

 Alps), not because it requires the moraine, but because 

 slugs are less troublesome there than on rockwork. A. 

 alpinus, in several varieties, is the best, and grows only 

 a few inches high, giving nice leaves and large flowers. 

 The type has purplish flowers, about two inches across. 

 A. a. albus has pretty white flowers ; A. a. Gloire 

 d'Orleans has big lilac blooms ; A. a. speciosus is violet-blue. 

 A. himalaicus, really a variety of alpinus, has good blue 

 flowers. A. Fremonti, one foot, violet, is good for large 

 rockeries. These Asters are increased by division in 

 spring or in summer after flowering. 



Aubrietia (Wall Cress). The rock garden could ill 

 dispense with its wonderful masses of Aubrietia that give 

 such a rare colour glow in the months of April and May ; 

 they are at once among the most easily grown and the 

 most showy of all rock plants. They belong to the 

 natural order Cruciferae (Wallflower family). They 

 form spreading tufts that are never seen at their best on 

 the flat ; they should be so placed that they may droop 

 over some mound of soil or cover the face of a rock, or 



