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“DA Wocy RELIABLE FLOWER SEEDS {{{I| 97 
~ Dreer’s Pans Th ieriean 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 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 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 Queen of: the Market, 
Lavender Gem and Royal, begin blooming in July, 
followed by,the mid-season varieties, which are usu- 
ally at their best during August, and which include 
such splendid sorts as Pink Beauty, Mikado, Ostrich 
Feather, and the Improved American Victorias. Then 
come the late-flowering kinds, which blcom 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 in eight beautiful colors, 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 eel quantity of bone meal or other good commercial fertilizer; 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. 
AsTERMUM 
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 almost as good results. 
The main essentials to insure fine Asters are a rich soil, frequent cultivation, no check to then growth from start to finish and 
ample 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 We 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 disease which causes the stem to decay just at the 
- point where 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 preparation of the bed 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 the late-flowering kinds can be avoided. 
.: ASTERMUM ASTERS Crego’s Giant Comet Asters 
A strain of Comet Asters which, on account of their size and - We consider this the finest and largest of all Comet Asters, 
~ Chrysanthemum-like appearance, have appropriately been named | bearing immense fluffy flowers five inches and over in diameter, 
_  Astermums. The plants grow about 2 feet high, and come into | as fine as any Chrysanthemum, and when cut keep in good con- 
bloom a little earlier than the Crego’s Giant. We offer three | dition longer than any pines of this type (illustrated on page 68). 
'. fine colors, as under: i We offer five colors, viz. 
-1261 Lavender. A rich shade of lavender or light violet. 128k: Whites. tPureswhite ss se meer 
1262 Pink. A very attractive shade of lively rose-pink. 5 : 2 
vs Ma 282 Pink. Delicate shell-pink ..................0.. 
1263 White. Purest snow-white. i oe Rentyats ne 
“Price. 15 cts. per pkt.; a packet of each color for 35 cts. 1283) Purples > Brightspunples muy ascension 6 ie). 15 
> : 4 4 1284sRose= Rich>deep rose: (ews esse ep scisvlvis eels « 15 
CHINA ASTERS 1285 Lavender. Deep lavender..................... 15 
1340 General Mixture. This mixture was saved from the HBS MISO @E Gs PEGS Gels ai ia colors, UGS. 
' many sorts and colors grown on our trial grounds the | 1290 Crego’s Mixed. All colors. 15 cts. per pkt.; 75 cts. 
past season. 5 cts. per pkt.; }0z., 25 cts. per } oz. 
Asters are continued on pages 68 to 70. See also Specialties, pages 52 to 62 
