November, 1920 
^tllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIMIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIMIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIHIMIIIHIIMIIIHIIIIIIIHC 
! Odds and Ends 
In the Garden. | 
MICHAELMAS DAISIES. 
With the tingle of the first frost 
color comes into the lowlands, maples 
blaze and are joined by the scarlet oaks 
and yellowed chestnuts until the whole 
countryside seems aflame ; but as na- 
ture glows our gardens seem to grow 
dull and sere for only their hardiest 
occupants endure the coming winter’s 
breath. Now it is that our gleaming 
Poppies, our Four O’clocks and Cosmos 
desert us, we may still have orange 
Calendulas, or gray white clouds of 
Alyssum, but for effect we must go to 
our hardy Asters even more than to 
the less enduring perennials, the Japa- 
nese Anenomes and Chrysanthemums. 
Yes, Asters, our native Asters and 
their progeny, Asters that may clothe 
our roadsides or trim our open woods, 
and yet Asters that in our gardens are 
probably known by the English name 
of Michaelmas Daisies and in their 
named varieties are of foreign birth. 
Surely a true reflection of human na- 
ture ! 
I would not have you neglect them 
in their native state ; there are sparse 
clustered white ones in the dry woods, 
heavy headed panicles of tiny tinted 
lavender blooms more in the open, 
coarse leaved, big flowered things in 
the marshes, at this September season 
aster color everywhere. For each you 
may find a place if your garden be not 
too proper and among the cultivated 
forms are flowers for the most con- 
ventional setting. 
Possibly because they do not like my 
garden clime, or more probably be- 
cause they do not prove good competi- 
tors with the more colorful Phlox, the 
amellus varieties with their big but 
slightly clustered flowers, are not much 
to my liking. They are rather dwarf 
(two feet), a little stiff, and I rather 
class them with Catananche and Erig- 
eron as but second rate. With the 
cordifolius varieties we get a three to 
four foot growth with little attention 
as to soil. Pestiferous seeders they 
are, but in early season their tuft of 
smooth, heart shaped leaves is not ob- 
trusive and later what could be more 
engaging than their many branched 
heads literally smothered by the my- 
riads of flowerets. Typically the petals 
are pale lavender, the clustered sta- 
mens a warm buff that purples with 
age, but there are many variations of 
tone among the seedlings, some white 
with tinged centers, some blush, but so 
subtle is the coloring that one must 
look twice and yet again to differen- 
tiate. It is as a mass that I like them 
best, self-sown on a sunny slope be- 
neath a maple where little else will 
thrive. 
Ericoides is not unlike in flower ef- 
fect, though a purer white, but it has 
a less tufted growth, the stalks are 
less bloom-laden and though its wiry 
stems and fine heath-like foliage have 
charm, the habit is rather weedy. Less 
tall though similar are the vimineous 
ZD[)<L~J[ov><ir (Brower 
varieties but the very names of two 
varieties Delight and Lovely are not to 
be resisted. 
With Aster Novi-Belgii we reach the 
climax, not of beauty, but of named 
varieties, with flowers of good size that 
form billows of color; three to five 
feet high they may grow and whereas 
with most Asters one may appreciate 
the character of each lovely stalk, here 
there is a smoothly rounded mound of 
bloom. They are ideal for a well-kept 
garden, but they should be often, al- 
most annually, replanted. The first 
year in rich soil they are superb, the 
second not much to brag about and the 
third the least said about them the bet- 
ter. White Queen I do not care for, Aster 
whites are so less white than that of 
Phlox, but Feltham Blue, the pale lav- 
ender Glory of Colwall, rosy lilac Nancy 
Ballard, Perry’s Pink or the rosy St. 
Egwin and many more are fine. One 
of a kind will, however, give you many 
within the year. 
The hybrid Beauty of Colwall, the 
first double to be raised, and Climax are 
even larger growing and lovelier. I 
suspect that they have some of the 
blood of the New England Aster which 
for richness of color is unsurpassed. 
This is a native of our meadows and 
dislikes drought but is happy enough 
to sow itself in our gardens and among 
the seedlings one may find the clear 
pink of Lil Fardell or the blue tone of 
Ryecroft Purple. The petals are very 
narrow but numerous and have a silky 
sheen that is quite irresistible. The 
growth tends to be a little clumsy, the 
flowers held on a heavy, leafy stalk, but 
if one lets them sprawl among other 
growths the effect is not quite so stiff. 
I have left until last my real favorite, 
laevis, this is for decoration rather than 
for mass, it is smooth leaved, slender 
stalked and the loose sprays of mauve, 
Heliotrope, or Lilac blooms are lightly 
poised, the flowers are of good size and 
full rayed, the whole growth has a 
finish and proportion that just suits my 
ideals. As a grower it is not too ram- 
pant, yet it is tall, not particular as to 
soil and when one sees its lavender in- 
termingled with the scarlet of sumac, 
words fail completely. 
The Japanese Anemones bloom in 
September also, with me they are a 
little tender, but I have but just seen 
them in their perfection. A broad path 
beneath a simple cedar arch lightly 
clothed with Roses and the colorful 
Virginia Creeper and on either side a 
solid bank of these Anemones, waist 
high and dazzling in their whiteness. 
You will find them under many names 
and though the rosy ones verge on that 
seductive shade that we find in Gladi- 
olus Ashes of Roses, Whirlwind, a snowy 
white with a double row of petals, is 
sufficiently fine for anyone. 
You will wonder why I pass by the 
bronze and yellow Chrysanthemums. 
They are so late with me that I give 
them a special border sheltered from 
the early sun where they may be apart 
from the remnants of the summer’s 
bloom. With berried shrubs and low 
evergreen perennials one would not 
guess that summer was past and win- 
ter almost here. R. S. Barre. 
173 
Hollyhock Blight. 
Bv Bertha Berbert-Hammond. 
[ Written expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
Until comparatively a few years ago, 
cases of the destructive fungus disease 
that attacks the Hollyhock were al- 
most unheard of in this country, 
though in England the ravages had 
become so widespread and ruinous, 
that the growing of the stately Holly- 
hock had to be practically discon- 
tinued. 
When this troublesome disease Qnce 
gets a firm foot-hold, it is about im- 
possible to effect a cure. In its early 
stages, it may be controlled by con- 
stant vigilance removing and cremat- 
ing all parts of the plant that show the 
slightest signs of the disease, and 
spraying the growing plants with 
Bordeaux mixture that is not strong 
enough to injure the foliage. If this 
remedy does not check the spread of 
the disease, the surest and most 
effectual method is to burn all Holly- 
hock plants and abandon their culture 
for a few seasons, beginning anew in 
a year or so and bearing in mind the 
old adage, “An ounce of prevention is 
worth a pound of cure.” 
In the garden, as elsewhere, cleanli- 
ness is essential. In autumn gather 
up and burn old Hollyhock leaves, 
stalks and other refuse that may afford 
winter protection to the organisms of 
this disease. Where the blight has 
once been in the garden, it is a safety 
measure to remove and destroy in the 
spring all but the very heart of the 
rosette of Hollyhock leaves that may 
have come through the winter un- 
harmed, so as to be certain of annihil- 
ating any of the disease spores that 
may be lurking upon them prepared to 
infect the new leaves as they appear. 
It is said that barnyard litter may be 
in a measure responsible for the trans- 
mitting of the fungus, but our old ac- 
quaintance, the common Mallow, that 
bears a tiny, pinkish blossom not un- 
like a diminuitive single Hollyhock 
flower, and produces the little round 
seed-heads known in the parlance of 
childhood as “cheeses” has been pro- 
nounced guilty by the agricultural 
powers that be, of being the chief of- 
fender in harboring the rust fungus 
that seems so partial to the Hollyhock. 
It should, therefore, like the old bar- 
berry bush, which shelters the organ- 
isms of the grain rust be doomed to 
eventual extermination. This low- 
growing, humble weed however is most 
difficult to rout. It must be uprooted 
and the entire plant burned. As a pre- 
cautionary measure, it is the part of 
wisdom to see to it that the mallow is 
not allowed to grow within a radius 
of one hundred feet or more of the 
Hollyhock border, and so prevent the 
spreading of the disease which blights 
this desirable garden plant and proves 
so difficult to eradicate. 
In these days of difficult labor condi- 
tions the hardy flowers are in greatest 
demand. Hardy flowers require some 
labor, but not as much as the tender 
sorts which must be lifted in the fall. 
