November 2, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



521 



Some of these Michaelmas Daisies are not properly As- 

 ters, Erigerons, Boltonias and Calimeris being included 

 among them. 



Mr. Dewar says that Asters cross or hybridize as freely 



Fig. 88. — Aster surculosus. — See page 520. 



as the Columbines and Larkspurs do. He also states that 

 "considerably over one-third of the Asters cultivatedin our 

 gardens are crosses or seedlings from Aster lasvis and A. 

 Novi-Belgii." These two species, with A. paniculatus and 



A. longifolius, are evidently most prevalent in the popular 

 garden kinds, although there are something like twenty 

 American species represented here. The named garden 

 varieties are recommended as being much superior to the 

 typical or wild species. A list of the best 

 of the varieties will be published in the 

 journal of the Society. 



It is unnecessary to praise the Michael- 

 mas Daisies as autumn-flowering plants. 

 They form the most striking of the flower- 

 pictures in the open air at Kew at this 

 time of year. Massed in the mixed bor- 

 ders or planted alone in beds they are 

 equally effective, and as they are among 

 the easiest to cultivate of all plants, their 

 claim to popularity is of the strongest. 

 Mr. Dewar recommends them as bedding- 

 plants, a purpose for which such kinds as 

 A. alpinus, A. acris, A. Amellus and sev- 

 eral others have been in use some years 

 at Kew. Like all other plants, these Asters 

 repay good cultivation. They" like a deep, 

 strong, loamy soil, and they should be dug 

 up, divided and replanted every two 

 or three years. Spring-struck cuttings of 

 the young shoots form nice plants in a 

 year. The tall kinds, such as cordifolius, 

 Diana, W. J. Grant, paniculatus, Lindley- 

 anus and Arcturus are suitable for plant- 

 ing to form single specimens on the 

 lawn. 



Dr. Masters remarked at the meeting 

 when Mr. Dewar's paper was read that 

 the Michaelmas Daisies, having now 

 " caught on," are certain to improve rap- 

 idly in the hands of enthusiasts, as all 

 other garden-plants have when thor- 

 oughly taken in hand. At present they 

 are extremely beautiful in the garden, and 

 equally so when arranged in vases. Pos- 

 sibly, however, in a hundred years' time 

 the Michaelmas Daisy will be as far ahead 

 of the present forms as the Chrysanthe- 

 mum of to-day is of the plants from 

 which they have been " evolved " by cul- 

 tivators. 



Besides the American Asters we have 

 also some beautiful species and varieties 

 of European nativity. Of these A. acris 

 and its forms are first-rate plants for the 

 border and flower-bed. A. canus and A. 

 Dahuricus are equally good. Best of all 

 is A. Amellus, from central and eastern 

 Europe. There are numerous named 

 forms of this species, the choicest of 

 them being Bessarabicus, amelloides, 

 major and cassiarabicus. 



From the Himalayas we have the new 

 and beautiful A. diplostephioides, which 

 has tufted radical leaves and tall stems, 

 a yard or so high, each bearing a large 

 flower four inches across, colored rich 

 lilac with a yellow disk. A. Thomsoni 

 is one of the best of the dwarf autumn- 

 flowering Asters, flowering from July to 

 November. A. Stracheyi, also Himalayan, 

 is a creeping species only a few inches in 

 height, with small, but very numerous, 

 blue-purple flowers. 



Mr. Dewar also recommends several 

 species from China and Japan, namely, 

 A. scaber, A. Tataricus, A. trinervis and A. Maachii. 



Orchids at St. Albans. — The month of October is, per- 

 haps, the worst in the whole year for Orchid-flowers, but 

 the best for an inspection of the plants themselves. The 



