238 
2g 
PUNICEUS5 
PULCHERRIMUS 
My 
MRS RAYNOR 
take its place when the great burst of 
their bloom is over. Its flowers are 
. large, with narrow ray-florets of so pale 
a lavender that they tend to gray rather 
than to purple. They come, however, in 
great panicles so that the color is not 
uncertain—and the charm of the large 
inflorescence makes up for any rough- 
ness of growth. 
By the time this is passing, the great 
host of the Asters is opening the term- 
inal flowers and in but a few days the 
garden is a mass of lavender and pur- 
plish crimson. The white varieties 
produce the greatest profusion of bloom, 
but are less attractive than most. be- 
cause the disc-florets are soon discol- 
ored by the reddish brown pappus. 
Snowflake and White Queen are almost 
identical save that Snowflake is a few 
days earlier and perhaps a foot shorter. 
Madonna and Boule de Niege are very 
similar with broader ray-florets as com- 
Aster puniceus var. pulcherrimus is even later than 
most Asters in developing flower stalks. Pale lavender 
FLAKE 
THOMPSONI 
T AOE SG YAGR DIET N  MVANG FAyrZza ING 
pared to Snowflake and White Queen. 
Heidenrose comes nearest with white 
flowers flushed with pink in the centre. 
Like this in general style is Herbstelfe, 
but the pink flush is less pronounced 
and the foliage of the plant is remark- 
ably poor, perishing early in the sum- 
mer and leaving the stems bare or cov- 
ered with blackened leaves. Next in 
color might come either pinks or lay- 
enders, so delicate is the gradation. 
An improved form of Mrs. Perry is 
the only pink variety of the New York 
Aster (A. novi-belgii) form that has 
bloomed for me. It is a charming one 
of medium growth with ciear pink flow- 
ers similar in color to the reverse side 
of a La France Rose. St. Egwin has 
declined to bloom for me, but is de- 
seribed as a very desirable pink. 
Turning the lavenders, the varieties 
are many and very similar; a mass of 
them tones down into a soft lavender 
cloud provided no varieties of the New 
England Aster (A. novae-angliae) are 
introduced. Arranged in order of 
bloom, I had Curtisii, Beauty of Colwall, 
Top Sawyer, Climax, laevis Baldur, Rob- 
ert Parker, W. Bowman, Saphir, amethys- 
tinus, laevis Calliope, Feltham Blue, 
formosissima, and grandiflorus. 
Of these I consider Saphir, laevis 
Baldur and Curtisii quite useless. They 
are all poor in form of flowers and habit 
of growth. Beauty of Colwall is poor 
to my mind because it is double, which 
of course is considered by others a re- 
markable advantage. Of the others 
which are all charming, bearing flowers 
obviously different yet difficult of de- 
scription, three stand out with marked 
distinction: these are Climax, Feltham 
Blue and grandiflora. Climax, which is 
very similar to Top Sawyer, has clear 
lavender flowers of good form, though 
not so symmetrical as those of the lat- 
ter and bears them on great arching 
sprays that are admirable for cutting. 
Feltham Blue is of course not blue, but 
the color is very deep and intense. And 
PTARM A- 
AMELLUS, PERRY'S FAVORITE 
Individual blooms of modern named Hardy Asters, exact size 
COIDES 
AMELLUS, BEAUTY OF RONSDORF-- 
grandiflorus, a good deep lavender, is re- 
markable for its late blooming. Coming 
with all these are the varieties of novae- 
angliae. These latter ones are much 
more rank in growth and bear flowers 
of greater intensity of color. Mrs. Ray- 
nor first appears with deep crimson 
flowers; sparingly at first but constantly 
until the entire head of the plant is cov- 
ered. Then a week later comes novae- 
angliae rosea, almost identical, but 
taller. Within a few days or simul- 
taneously the type appears, bearing its 
deep purple flowers and last Lil Fardell 
and Melpomene, the former a shade 
lighter than Mrs. Raynor, which is still 
in bloom, and the latter a shade lighter 
than the type of our common New Eng- 
land Aster. All of these ferms are of 
intense color and strike a much more 
vigorous note than any of the New York 
sorts. Dornréschen did not bloom for 
me. It is described as silvery mauve. 
The New England Aster stands as a sentinel in the 
late border, giving freely its wealth of flowers 
