COLOUR IN MY GARDEN 



gardening they adorn the landscape as fittingly as a cloud 

 the sky, and in the most formal arrangements they are no less 

 at home. In colour they seem, save for a few Tyrian pink and 

 magenta sorts, almost incapable of inharmony. The faint 

 grayish tones, the hundred tints and shades of lavender, mal- 

 low pink, mauve, and heliotrope, and even the deep-toned 

 violet and purple sorts lend themselves happily to almost any 

 association. 



The great body of hardy Asters or Michaelmas Daisies 

 belongs to September, but August has a few and October 

 and November also. The amellus group flowers in August 

 and early September; and thereafter until frost occasional 

 flowering stems are developed. The flowers are large, 

 sometimes two inches across, and wear soft, porcelain-like 

 tones of lavender and heliotrope. The flower stems rise 

 from a tuft of attractive leafage to a height of from ten 

 inches to two feet. Three of the best varieties are Beaute 

 Parfaite, Beauty of Ronsdorf, and Rudolph von Goethe. 

 These are plants for the front of the border, for while the 

 flowering stems reach a fair height they have not the 

 sturdy bushy habit of other Michaelmas Daisies and the 

 tuft of leaves would be smothered among the taller growing 

 plants of the early summer. It is necessary to divide 

 nearly all the kinds of hardy Asters every other year, but 

 Aster amellus is of more deliberate growth and may often 

 be left undisturbed for three or four years without signs of 

 deterioration. 



Toward the end of August Aster acris asserts its fluffy 

 bloom. It is distinct in appearance and very lovely when 

 well grown. It grows about two feet high, its slender 



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