IHEHRTADREER -WlllADELPHIAMm RELIABLE FLOWER SEEDS 



73 



One of Ouu Fields of Asters, Gkown Exclusively for Seed. 



EER'S SUPERB ASTERS. 



ASTERS are one of the most important summer and autumn flowers, and receive special care at our hands. Yearly exhaustive 

 tests of both home grown and imported stocks are made with a view to offering only the choicest kinds, regardless of cost. 

 As a result of this care, our list comprises only such sorts as can be planted with perfect confidence lhat nothing better is 

 procurable, no matter at what price or from what source. 



The early sorts begin blooming in July, followed by the mid-season kinds, which flower during August; then the late-flowering 

 varieties, which are at their best through September. It is quite easy, therefore, with a little care in the selection of the varieties, 

 to have Asters in flower from the first days in July until hard frost. 



Culture. Asters will thrive in any good soil, prepared in the same way as you would for a crop of vegetables, but it is well to 

 remember that any extra care taken in the preparation of the soil is repaid by finer plants, larger blooms, with longer stems and 

 more profuse flowering. They should have an open, sunny position, and prefer a good, heavy, loamy soil, enriched with a liberal 

 quantity of thoroughly rotted manure, and the addition of wood ashes or air-slaked lime, and we do not advise growing them on the 

 same ground year after year; it is better to change each season. 



For early flowering the seed should be started in the house, hot-bed or cold-frame in April, transferring Ihem to their flowering 

 quarters as soon as danger from frost is past. For August and later flowering it is just as well to sow them in the open in May, 

 preferably in a prepared seed bed, transplanting them when two or three inches high to where they are to bloom, although they may 

 be sown where they are to flower with almost as good results. 



The main essentials to insure fine Asters are a rich soil, frequent cultivation, no check to their growth from start to finish, 

 and ample room to develop. When wanted for cutting with long stems, thev should be set out not closer than twelve inches apart 



in the rows and two feet between the rows. When wanted for 

 mass effects in beds they may be planted nine inches to a foot 

 apart each way. 



Asters are sometimes attacked by an aphis at their roots; also 

 by stem rot, a fungous disease, which causes the stem to decay 

 just at the point it emerges from the ground. 



Both of these troubles are rarely met with if the plants are 

 grown on good soil and are not checked in their growth. The 

 addition of wood ashes or air-slaked lime at the time of the prep- 

 aration of the beds also helps to prevent these troubles. 



The Aster or Black Beetle, which devours the flowers, can only 

 be destroyed by hand-picking or by knocking them into a basin 

 or receptacle in. which there is some water and kerosene oil. As 

 a rule, these beetles come in August, and by growing only the 

 early and late flowering kinds can be avoided. 



BRANCHING 



P^ONY-FLOWERED ASTERS. 



A mid-season variety, which in vigor of growth, habit, size of 

 bloom and all other qualities which go to make up a first-class 

 Aster is unequalled. The plants grow about ]8 inches high, 

 every flower being borne on a long stem, making them valuable 

 for cutting or bedding. '"' R PKT - p ' R PKT 



1375 Crimson 10 I 1377 Peach Blossom . 10 



1376 Dark Blue. 10 | 1378 Pure White ... 10 

 A packet of each of the 4 colors, 30 cts. 



1380 Finest Mixed Colors. \ oz., 50 cts 10 



CHINA ASTERS. 



1340 Mixed. This is a general mixture of various sorts 



3r»nching P .bony-flowered Aster 



and colors. 



25 cts 5 



For New and Special varieties of Asters, see pases 59 to 81. See als* DJures 7* •» 7ft 



