210 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1906 



BIS. Clusters small and flattish 

 stalked 

 C. Height 6-8 ft. 

 D. Foliage attractive all year: 



lvs. round 4. bracteata 



DD. Foliage less attractive: lvs. 



lanceolate 5. Van Houttei 



CC. Height 3-4 ft. 



D. Blooming May: lvs. a -1 4 



in. long 6. crenata 



DD. Blooming May and June: 

 lvs. 1-2$ in. long, green 



till late fall 7. Cantoniensis 



AA. Blooming late on this year's 

 wood: (Prune in late winter or 

 early in spring, before growth 

 starts). 

 B. Clusters large and flat: 



C. Color of flowers, white 8. albiflora 



CC. Color of flowers, pink or deep 

 pink 

 D. Height 2-2^ ft. unfolding 



lvs. not purple-tipped.... 9. Bumalda, 



var. Anthony Waterer 

 DD. Height 4 ft.: lvs. i\ inches 

 wide; unfolding leaves pur- 

 ple-tipped 10. Japonica 



BB. Clusters broad, loose pyramids 

 or narrow cones. 



C. Color of fls. white II. alba 



CC. Color of fls. pink to purple 

 D. Height 4 ft.: lvs. velvety 



brown beneath 12. tomentosa 



DD. Height 6-8 ft. 



E. Color bright pink: lvs. 



usually grayish beneath . . 13. Billardii 



EE. Color deep pink: lvs. velvety 



white beneath 14. Douglasi 



INDEX 

 Species in black face type; synonyms in italic; 

 varieties in roman 

 alba — 1 1 crenata — 6 



albiflora — 8 Douglasi — 14 



Anthony Waterer — 9 Japonica — 10 



arguta — 2 Lenneana — 13 



Billardii — 13 prunifolia — 3 



bracteata — 4 Reevesiana — 7 



Bumalda — 9 rotundifoIia—4. 



Calijornica — 13 rubra — 13 



callosa— 10 Thunbergii— i 



Cantoniensis — 7 tomentosa — 12 



Van Houttei — 5 



Flowers After the Fall FrOStS-By Herbert Green'smith 



Conn- 

 ecticut 



THREE INGENIOUS METHODS OF SECURING BLOOMS ON MICHAELMAS DAISIES, PINKS, LARKSPURS, AND SNEEZEWEED, AT 

 A1TIME WHEN THE AVERAGE GARDEN IS DEVOID OF COLOR— GOOD REASONS FOR LATE DIVISION OF HARDY PERENNIALS 



A COMMON source of trouble with most 

 amateurs' gardens is that the first frost 

 sees the end of all floral brightness except, per- 

 haps, for a few hardy chrysanthemums. 



By manipulation I have been able to se- 

 cure flowers from some of the hardy her- 

 baceous perennials much later in the season 

 than they are accustomed to blossom and at 

 a time when there is nothing else in flower. 



The Snowflake aster ordinarily grows 

 three or four feet high and two feet or more 

 across, with flowers in early September, but 

 I have been able to retard and dwarf it. 



DELAYING THE ASTERS 



After the plants have commenced to grow 

 in the spring, when three or four inches high, 

 they are dug up, and divided, not in very 

 small pieces at first, then placed in three-inch 

 pots, set aside in a frame, and watered spar- 

 ingly until they get thoroughly established. 

 Then they are again shaken out, and this time 

 are divided into single stems, with a few roots 

 attached to each, placed in two-inch pots, 

 and kept growing until the latter part of 

 June, when they are planted in the open 

 ground where wanted. Should they com- 

 mence to throw up flower stems before this, 

 pinch them off. After planting in the border 

 encourage them to grow, if need be, by 

 an occasional watering. The two distinct 

 checks given them, combined with the late 

 planting, retard their growth. When full 

 grown the plants are not more than a 

 foot high, about eighteen inches to two feet 

 across, and are completely covered with snow- 

 white blossoms, long after most of the other 

 late-flowering asters have gone, and the sharp 

 frosts have carried away the tender-flowering 

 plants. Many other asters will yield to simi- 

 lar treatment, but not with such good results. 



There are two asters which ought to be 

 found in every garden where late flowers are 

 desired; namely, the showy aster {Aster gran- 

 diflorus), which grows from two to four feet 

 high, with small, bright, clean foliage, and 

 a sturdy, upright, non-spreading habit, and 

 yielding in November and December a mass 

 of gold and purple flowers that hard frosts 

 seem to have no effect on ; and the beautiful 



three-nerved aster (Aster trinervis), which 

 sometimes in sheltered positions will flower 

 later still. I have seen it from late division 

 and planting, a mass of flowers in late No- 

 vember. Another native species, the heart- 

 leaved aster (A. cordifolius), may be had 

 equally as late. 



BLOOMING FROM SEED 



A large amount of bloom is in store for the 

 one who will sow, in liberal quantities, in late 

 March or early April, seeds of the New Eng- 

 land aster {Aster Novce-Anglia), the yarrow- 

 leaved aster (Aster ptarmicoides) and the 

 great lobelia (Lobelia syphilitica), giving 

 them careful attention and keeping them 



The tender flowers of the Japanese anemones (A. 

 Japonica) will be produced for several weeks after 

 frost in places where slight protection can be given 



growing, which is not at all difficult. If a 

 coldframe is at hand so much the better, as 

 seed can then be sown much earlier, and the 

 transplanting and care of the seedlings is 

 made much easier; but all three species are 

 very easily managed without the frame, 

 needing only ordinary care in sowing the seed, 

 transplanting to the nursery row when large 

 enough, and again to the border or bed. I 



greatly prefer a good-sized bed, planting 

 them in masses, as then they are much more 

 effective. Before the cold nights have ar- 

 rived it may be necessary to place a sash or 

 some other protection over the lobelias as 

 the constant freezing by night and thawing 

 by day are apt to damage the foliage and 

 flowering stems; but when given this pro- 

 tection the fall, if continued good weather 

 reigns, will be far too short for the crop of 

 flowers. The asters, being of a much hardier 

 nature, will not need any protection, and both 

 will survive the winter. 



SECOND BLOOM OF LARKSPURS 



It is well known that the larkspurs (Del- 

 phiniums), if not allowed to produce seed, 

 but have their stems removed immediately 

 when through blooming, produce a second 

 crop of flowers. These are not so large as 

 the first, but are very acceptable in late fall . 



Another way, which I like better, and by 

 which good spikes of bloom may be had, is 

 to sow seed late in April, or very early in 

 May. They soon germinate, and can be 

 easily transplanted or potted up singly, and 

 grown on until the latter part of June, then 

 placed in the border, wherever there is an 

 opening. You will be rewarded by a crop 

 of delightful flowers. The showy larkspur 

 (Delphinium formosum) is best adapted for 

 this purpose. 



BLUE FLOWERS TILL SNOW COMES 



The Chinese larkspur (Delphinium grandi- 

 florum, var. Chinensis), pretty both in foliage 

 and flower, though not nearly so robust as the 

 former, may be sown at the same time in the 

 border, and the first year, if not too crowded, 

 will give flowers of delicate blue, until 

 smothered by snow. 



The large-flowering fleabane (Erigeron 

 grandiflorus) , which flowers in June, if cut 

 back will produce another crop of equally 

 large flowers in late fall. Villars's fleabane 

 (Erigeron Villarsii), from spring-sown seed, 

 will be in its prime during September and 

 October, and is a very presentable plant, both 

 in the color of its flowers and in its 

 habit. 



