September, 191! 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



47 



them the most satisfactory second crop 

 for perennial poppies. 



Perennial asters are the most useful 

 plant I know of — in fact the only one that 

 is absolutely reliable — for forming great 

 masses of bloom in the fall months, but 

 they are made doubly valuable when their 

 grayish blues, lavenders, and purples are 

 contrasted with their invariable compan- 

 ions in the wild, the yellow composites, 

 such as the sunflowers, goldenrods, helen- 

 iums, and rudbeckias. Friend Neighbor 

 was moved to remark, in discussing a 

 yellow and purple color scheme, that it 

 struck him as a Senegambian symphony 

 but that, as it came in watermelon time, 

 it was probably appropriate. I assured 

 him that the color scheme was classically 

 severe, being Assyrian, after the manner 

 of the far-famed cohorts which came down 

 on the fold, gleaming in purple and gold. 



There is nothing much commoner in the 

 country than the sunflower and aster in 

 the fall, but the wild sunflowers cannot be 

 put into a border with impunity. Neither 

 can the domesticated ones for that matter, 

 but Miss Mellish, Wolley Dod, and one 

 or two other varieties make a wonderful 

 display if planted sparingly in the back- 

 ground of a fall border and given plenty 

 of room to develop the individual plants. 

 In the rich soil they will form pyramids of 

 yellow eight feet tall, and are valuable for 

 cutting. Friend Neighbor and myself 

 solve the sunflower problem by having a 

 r eserve patch in an out of the way corner. 

 In the spring we take as many sprouts as 

 we want plants, place them in the border, 

 and, as soon as the bloom begins to fade, 

 pull them up. This is the only safe way, 

 as the rootstocks, which ramble under- 

 ground, do not start into active growth 

 until just after the flowering season. 



The heleniums also go with the asters 

 — that is the yellow ones. And with the 

 asters to furnish breaks in the skyline or 

 perspective, the most useful plants are the 

 boltonias, the pinkish purple B. latisquama, 

 and the white B. asteroides. Strictly 

 speaking they are not asters, but may be 

 regarded as such from a gardening stand- 

 point. They must be regulated like the 

 sunflowers as they are great colonizers 

 and spring up as thick as lodging-house 

 voters on election day. 



I have been growing asters for a number 

 of years and Friend Neighbor is assisting 

 enthusiastically. Collecting these peren- 

 nials has been most fascinating because the 

 improvement in them has been so remark- 

 able in the last few years. Of the species 

 and varieties I grew seven years ago I now 

 have only three, and each season better 

 varieties come to displace the older ones. 

 The asters seem to be a bugbear to botan- 

 ists. Even the Cyclopedia of American 

 Horticulture sidesteps them, but there are 

 a few species so well defined as not to be 

 mistaken which form the best of the family 

 from a gardening standpoint. They are 

 native asters, too, which have returned 

 to us after striking improvement by Euro- 

 pean nurserymen. At the head of the list 



should be placed the so-called New York 

 asters, Aster Nov<z-Belgim. The latest de- 

 velopment in this section is a series of pure 

 pink and rose shades which are the finest 

 yet produced. Originally this aster was 

 found only in blue, lavender, purple and 

 white. Then, too, the size of the individual 

 blossoms has been increased almost two- 

 fold in some varieties and, in others, where 

 the size of the bloom has not been increased, 

 the number of blooms per plant is wonder- 

 ful. Fortunately, even the very best 

 varieties are not expensive and when a 

 good variety is secured its seedlings will 

 offer an opportunity to secure more desirable 

 plants. The selection of extra good types 

 from the seedlings is one of the most inter- 

 esting features of aster growing. 



The New York asters have only one 

 fault: they will mildew the first cool damp 

 day in fall but it does not affect the bloom- 

 ing in the least. They are most effective 

 in broad masses placed in front of the taller 

 growing kinds. 



The varieties which Friend Neighbor 



and myself have found extra good are 

 these: 



St. Egwin, pure pink, large flowers, 

 many branched and compact, but not so 

 floriferous as others of the section. Three 

 feet. 



Elsie Perry, rose pink, small-flowered, 

 covered with bloom in its season. A vciy 

 showy sort. Three feet. 



Collerette Rose, purplish rose, taller 

 growing than the preceding and does not 

 branch so freely. 



James Kelway, light lavender, large- 

 flowered, a tremendous bloomer. Two 

 and one half feet. 



F. W. Burbidge, light purplish lavender. 

 A very free bloomer. One of the older 

 varieties. 



Mrs. D. Evans, a tall grower, azure 

 blue, flowers in closer formation than any 

 of the preceding. 



Nancy, a good clear blue. Three feet. 



Dwarf White Queen, the best white of 

 this section I have found. Large-flowered 

 and of fine habit. About two feet. 



Three types of aster that win enrich the garden in fall. The tall New England (A. Novae-Angiiae); the 

 lower a New York variety (A. Novae- Belgiae); and the misty small leaved A. ericoides 



