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RELIABLE FLOWER SIIEOS; 



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67 



DREER'S FAMOUS AMERICAN ASTERS 



Asters are one of the most important summer and 

 autumn flowers, and receive special care at our hands. 

 Yearly exhaustive tests are made with a view to ofiering 

 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 that nothing better is 

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



The varieties offered on this and the following three 

 pages represent the finest Asters introduced to date, and 

 are all firmly established favorites with the most critical 

 growers of this popular flower, and should be in every 

 garden where high quality is appreciated. 



The early sorts, such as Early Wonder, Queen of the 

 Market and Lavender Gem, begin blooming in July, 

 followed by the mid-season varieties, which are usually 

 at their best during August, and which include such 

 splendid sorts as Pink Beauty, Ostrich Feather and the 

 Early Branching or Royal. Then come the late flowering 

 kinds, which bloom from the end of August on through 

 September into October. This class furnishes the finest 

 flowers of all, and is well represented in our list by our 

 Superb Late Branching, Beauty, our Peerless Pink, the 

 finest Pink Aster grown, Crego's Giant, Crimson Giant, 

 the Kings and a number of other fine sorts. It is quite 

 easy, therefore, with a little care in the selection of the 

 varieties, to have Asters in bloom from the first days in 

 July until hard frost. 



A Few Cultural Hints on the 

 Growing of Asters 



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 bone meal or other good commercial fertil- 

 izer; and the addition of wood ashes or air-slacked lime, and should not be grown 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, hotbed or cold-frame in April, transferring them 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 equally as good results. 



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

 aipple room to develop. When wanted for cutting with long stems, they 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. Both of these troubles are rarely met with if the plants 

 are grown on new soil, and are not checked in their growth. The addition of wood ashes or air-slacked lime at the time of the preparation 

 of the beds also helps to prevent these troubles. 



ASTERMUM 



Astermum Asters 



A strain of Comet Asters which, on account of their size and 

 Chrysanthemum-like appearance, have appropriately been named 

 Astermums. The plants grow about 2 feet high, and come into 

 bloom a little earlier than the Crego's Giant. We offer three fine 

 colors, as under: 



1261 Lavender. A rich shade of lavender or light violet. 



1262 Pink. A very attractive shade of lively rose-pink. 



1263 White. Purest snow-white. 



Price. 15 cts. per pkt.; a packet of each color for 35 cts. 



Beauty Asters 



A recently developed late flowering strain coming into bloom 

 in late September, and being at their best through October, the 

 plants grow nearly 3 feet high, and bear their very large, densely 

 double flowers on long strong stems. We offer four beautiful 

 colors. 



1271 American Beauty. Bright cerise-rose. 



1272 Lavender Beauty. Soft lavender. 



1273 Purple Beauty. Rich deep purple. 



1274 September Beauty. Delicate shell-pink. - 

 Price. 15 cts. per pkt.; a pkt. each of the 4 colors, 50 cts. 



New^ California Giant 

 Branching Asters 



A splendid new midseason to late flowering strain, the result of 

 years of painstaking selection by one of California's leading 

 hybridizers; plants grow 3 to 3h feet high with long, strong stems 

 18 to 24 inches in length bearing beautifully formed curled and 

 interlaced flowers 5 inches and over across. We offer the following 

 colors. 



1291 Lavender Blue $0 25 



1292 Peach Blossom 25 



1293 Pure White 25 



1294 Purple Violet 25 



1295 Rich Rose 25 



1299 Collection of a packet each of above 5 colors 1 00 



1300 Finest Mixed 20 



China Asters 



1340 General Mixture. This mixture was saved from the many 

 double flowering sorts grown on our trial grounds the past 

 season. 10 cts. per pkt.; J oz., 25 cts. 



Asters are continued on pages 68 to 70. See also Specialties, pages 52 to 62 



