1 STENRVADREER- PHITADELDHIA-PA"ESSP RELIABLE FLOWER SEEDS |f{I] ©” 
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 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 estab- 
lished favorites with the most critical growers of this popular flower, and should be in every garden where high quality is appre- 
ciated. 
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 usually 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 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 in eight beautiful colors, our Peerless Pink, the finest Pink Aster grown, Crego’s Giant, Crimson Giant, Violet King 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 protuse 
flowering. They should have anopen, sunny position, and prefer a good, heavy, loamy soil, enriched with a liberal 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. 
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 their 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 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 where it emerges fromthe 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. Asa rule, these beetles come in August, and by growing only the early 
and the late-flowering kinds can be avoided. 
ASTERMUM ASTERS. 
A strain of Comet Asters which, on account of theirsize 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 
Te SS 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. 
CHINA ASTERS. 
13840 General Mixture. This mixture was saved 
from the many sorts and colors grown on our 
trial grounds the past season. 5 cts. per pkt.; $ 
oz., 25 cts. 
Crego’s Giant Comet Asters. 
We consider this the finest and largest of all Comet 
Asters, bearing immense fluffy flowers five inches and 
over in diameter, as fine as any Chrysanthemum, and 
when cut keep in good condition longer than any other 
of this type. We offer five colors, viz.; 
PER PKT. 
1281. White. Pure white..................... 15 
1282 Pink. Delicate shell-pink............... 15 
1283 Purple. Bright purple................-- 15 
1284 Rose. Rich deep rose.................. 15 
1285 Lavender. Deeplavender.............. 15 
1288 Collection of a packet each of the 5 colors, 60 cts. 
: 1290 Crego’s [ixed. Allcolors. 15 cts. pkt.; 75 cts. per } oz. 
ASTERMUM : 
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Asters are continued on pages 68 to 70, See also Specialties, pages 53 to 62 
