297 
January 6, UOO. THE GARDENING WORLD. 
This gives you stronger plants than if you waited 
till May and sowed outside. Old beds may be lifted, 
the roots divided and again planted just when the 
first signs of growth appear. 
Bedding-plants damping off.— Ergo : This must 
MR. HEINEMANN’S FLOWER 
NOVELTIES. 
The season is now at hand when gardeners and the 
lovers of gardens will be casting about fcr novelties 
to add to their collections of those particular 
being generally employed for the purpose at the 
festive season that has just passed. The lower 
branches of each plant spread out horizontally, 
while succeeding ones are more or less nodding or 
drooping at the tips. This mode of growth deter¬ 
mines the outline, and as each branch and shoot ter- 
Christmas-tree Aster. Myosotis alpestris gracilis “White. 
be looked for more or less, especially if your district 
is a foggy one. Keep all decomposing matter 
picked off and stir the soil on the surface of the 
pot. Afford only the requisite amount of water, and 
retain a dry warm air, say at 58° Fahr. 
Nelnmbium speciosum. — J. F.: This aquatic, 
the Sacred Lotus of Japan, is one of the finest 
members of the section of plants to which it belongs 
and is not very frequently found in private gentle¬ 
men’s gardens or in those of the amateur whose 
hobby is gardening. You of course know its 
general needs, that is plenty of space, in a sunny 
sheltered position, planted either in tubs or con¬ 
structed benches in shallow ponds, the tubs being 
filled with soil of a solid nature. In one season you 
will learn much about its likes and dislikes. Those 
from whom you buy will be pleased to supply you 
with fuller hints. 
flowers which they find most useful or which most 
take their fancy. From the list of novelties now 
being put into commerce by Mr. F. C. Heiremann, 
Erfurt, Germany, we select four of a widely different 
character, and place them before our readers in such 
a way as to indicate the chief characteristics of 
each, and which, in fact, constitute the novelty 
attaching to and separating them from their nearest 
allies or kindred. 
The Christmas-Tree Aster (see illustration) is 
a variety of the China Aster, which has varied so 
immensely under cultivation that it has been neces¬ 
sary for many years past to classify them into sec¬ 
minates in a flower head, while the stronger ones 
bear a number of heads, well grown plants are both 
conspicuous and highly ornamental. Well-developed 
specimens bear from 70 to ico blooms, all expanded 
at the same time. For this reason the Christmas-tree 
Aster is well adapted for cultivat'on in pots, or as 
isolated or centre plants in bedding arrangements. 
To make whole beds of them would be to mask or 
conceal much of their beauty, particularly if planted 
too thickly ; otherwise, if given sufficient room, a bed 
of them ought to be productive of a distinct effect 
from those of any other China Aster. The habit is 
already sufficiently fixed to come true from seed. 
Single Giant Comet Aster. 
Pansy Masterpiece 
Gentiana Yerna.— S. S .: A pretty plant, certainly ; 
it is suitable for sheltered rockeries in the south, 
though you may grow it in pots in what may be 
termed an alpine house. It likes a well drained 
pocket in the south side of a rockery. G. aucalis 
beats it for size and show. 
tions, each of which now includes a greater or less 
number of varieties distinguished by colour. The 
Christmas-tree Aster is distinct enough in habit of 
growth to constitute a section, on account of its 
conical or pyramidal outline, which has been likened 
to that of a Christmas tree, the Norway Spruce 
Four varieties are now being put into commerce, 
namely, White, Pink, Light Blue, and Carmine. 
Single Giant Comet Aster, as may be seen fey 
the illustration, holds the same position towards the 
double varieties of the Comet section of China 
Aster as the single Cactus Dahlia bears to the true 
