868 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
Notes on .. . 
Our Illustrations. 
ON CENTRE 
The Italian Starwort (Aster Amellus). 
In this week’s issue an Aster and a border 
Chrysanthemum have been introduced to show 
how much they are akin to the Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, which will occupy the attention of 
every grower and lover of the Autumn Queen, 
during this month especially. The Chrysan¬ 
themum, which is the favourite with every¬ 
body at this hour, is botanically known asi 
C. sinense, though C. indicum is a very closely 
allied and small form which is supposed to 
have given rise to the yellow which originally 
appeared amongst the Chinese Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, and is believed to be the wild original. 
The Starworts or Asters are not distantly 
related, though there are some botanical 
differences that make them belong to different 
sections of the order. The past autumn, 
however, has shown that Michaelmas Daisies 
and early-flowering Chrysanthemums consort 
well together during September and October. 
The Aster which we figure is the Italian Star¬ 
wort (Aster Amellus), which has been known 
to exist in that country for centuries, as the 
poet Virgil speaks of it in the “ Georgies.” 
Our illustration shows the habit of the plant, 
which is 18in. high and well furnished with 
large purple-blue flowers during August and 
September. Although not the earliest of the 
Asters, it is, nevertheless, the finest of those 
which commence to bloom at the end of 
summer. It is of the easiest cultivation in 
any good garden soil, although it is not so 
common in villa gardens as its beauty would 
entitle it to. The lines of Virgil to which we 
refer will show that even in those ancient 
times the flower was appreciated for its 
beauty— 
“ A flower there is which grows in meadow 
ground, 
Amellus called, and easy to be found ; 
For, from one root, the rising stem bestows 
A wood of leaves and violet-purple boughs : 
The flower itself is glorious to behold, 
And shines on altars like refulgent gold— 
Sharp to the taste—by shepherds near the 
stream 
Of Mella found ; and thence they gave the 
name.” 
Chrysanthemum Donald McLeod. 
The illustration of this Japanese variety of 
Chrysanthemum shows a bloom very much re¬ 
duced. The florets are drooping, more or less 
curled at the tips, but scarcely interlacing. 
Indeed, they are too broad to interlace so 
freely as the narrow petalled ones. They are 
bright yellow, and more or less tinted with a 
bronzy-gold on the top of the bloom. Such a 
bloom as this would not require a deal of 
dressing to make it appear neat and hand¬ 
some, as flowers of this type are expected to 
be. When of full size they measure about 
7in. each way when ready for exhibition pur¬ 
poses. This, of course, implies that the plant 
lias been carefully disbudded at a certain 
time in order to get blooms of these propor¬ 
tions. Each variety of Chrysanthemum re¬ 
quires special treatment in order to get it in 
bloom at a given time in the autumn, and 
likewise to get blooms of the best quality. In 
SHEET (pages 866 and 867). 
the case of Donald McLeod, the plants aie 
stopped in April, and the first crown bud 
which appears after that is then secured. 
This applies to plants which have been pro¬ 
pagated late in the autumn, but if the rooting 
of the cutting has been deferred till February 
the cultivator should not stop or take off the 
top of the young plant, but secure the first 
bud which makes its appearance. 
Chrysanthemum Harrie. 
The above new early-flowering Chrysanthe¬ 
mum appeared at the early autumn show of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society, and 
was accorded a First-class Certificate. The 
plant only grows about 18in. high, branches 
very freely, and forms a spreading bush abun¬ 
dantly furnished with flowers. The blooms 
are bronzy-orange, of a shade that is likely 
to please those who like early-flowering Chry¬ 
santhemums, either in the open garden or for 
cut flower purposes. Our illustration .shows a 
small spray with one bloom in perfection, and 
several others in different stages of advance¬ 
ment. 
The method of treating this class of Chry¬ 
santhemum is entirely different from that 
necessary to grow Japanese blooms for exhibi¬ 
tion. The plants of these early-flowering 
varieties may be grown in pots or in the 
borders or beds of the open garden. Under 
the latter conditions they give far less trouble 
to the cultivator, and prove highly orna¬ 
mental for several weeks together during 
autumn. There is no necessity for timing the 
buds by taking off the top of the plant at a 
given time in spring, nor is there need to pay 
any attention to securing any particular bud. 
The spray shows a plant that has practically 
been left to its own free will. 
If the cultivator desires large blooms, he 
must be satisfied with fewer of them, and to 
pinch away the buds that would produce the 
side blooms shown in the picture. In order to 
have any effect upon the size of the flower left 
these side buds must be removed as soon as 
the cultivator can conveniently get hold of 
them without injuring the bud that is to re¬ 
main. The flower shown would be about 2in. 
in diameter, but if the’ plant had been dis¬ 
budded it would have been much larger. The 
flowers from which our picture was prepared 
were given us by Messrs. W. Wells and Co., 
Merstham, Surrey, who were the exhibitors. 
Chrysanthemum Embleme Poitevin. 
The above is a third type of the popular 
autumn-flowering Chrysanthemum, and is 
best known as the incurved type. As will be 
seen by reference to the illustration of it, the 
blooms are nearly globular, and all the florets 
are incurved, forming a close, dense, and 
regular bloom, quite unlike the loosely-built 
Japanese varieties. The florets are broad, 
clear yellow, and slightly bristly on the back, 
though this feature is not sufficient to place 
it in the hirsute section. The cultivation of 
this variety and others of its class requires 
as much care, or even more so, than the 
Japanese types, because the blooms are not 
only wanted to be incurved, but the careful 
cultivator takes a considerable amount of 
November 11, 1905. 
pains to make the florets fold over the top of 
the blooms with the greatest possible re¬ 
gularity. The dressing of these blooms is 
dealt with in another article, and need not he 
detailed here. 
Chrysanthemum Goacher’s Pink. 
The plants and blooms of this variety were 
also shown at the Crystal Palace on October 
4th, and received the First-class Certificate of 
the N.C.S. The flowers are of a rich shade of 
pink, and are likely to be in request for 
decorative purposes, either in the garden or in 
the cut state. The shade of pink is by no 
means common, and least of all amongst early- 
flowering Chrysanthemums. The illustration 
shows merely the top of one spray or shoot 
which had not been disbudded, but simply 
allowed to grow in the natural way. Five 
flowers, as will be seen, have reached perfec¬ 
tion according to this style of cultivation, and 
twice as many buds would serve to keep up the 
display some time longer. 
For garden decoration these early-flowering 
varieties require only to be planted in the 
border to secure such a quantity of blossom 
in September and October as to cover the top 
of the plant. September is the real month 
for it, so that it takes its place amongst the 
mid-season flowering varieties in this class. 
The plant only grows 2ft. high, and is exceed¬ 
ingly floriferous. The blooms were given us 
by Messrs. W. Wells and Co., who exhibited 
them. 
Chrysanthemum Countess of Harrowby. 
The above may be described as a Japanese 
variety with drooping and slightly inter¬ 
lacing florets. The illustration has been 
greatly reduced from the real size, as the 
blooms when grown for exhibition may be 7in. 
or 8in. in diameter. The florets are of great 
length, and of a pleasing soft pink. To get 
blooms of these dimensions the plant must be 
stopped early in May, and the first crown bud 
secured. Under this style of cultivation the 
plant grows 5ft. high. It cannot be brought 
to perfection out of doors like the early-flower¬ 
ing varieties, but is very impatient of heat 
when brought under glass to finish, so that 
those who attempt this style of cultivation 
must keep their greenhouse or conservatory 
cool and well ventilated after the Chrysan¬ 
themums have been taken indoors. 
Chrysanthemum uliginosum. 
On the top right-hand corner of our picture 
is an illustration of C. uliginosum, an en¬ 
tirely different species from that which we 
have just been considering. It is a border 
plant, and is remarkably effective during Sep¬ 
tember and October. It is a native of Eastern 
Europe, and perfectly hardy, being, in fact, 
what is best known as a hardy herbaceous 
plant. It is introduced here to show its 
affinity with single varieties of the autumn 
favourite, and also with Asters on the other 
hand. 
The plant grows about 5ft. high, and pro¬ 
duces a wealth of blossom, the rays of which 
are white and the centre yellow. Many people 
would describe it as a Marguerite, and though 
fairly appropriate, the name has now become 
applied to quite a number of species of Chry¬ 
santhemums, and even to some plants 
which are not Chrysanthemum. The blossoms 
might, -however, be compared with the Oxeye 
Daisies, with which they have an affinity. The 
plant is of the easiest cultivation, and re¬ 
quires merely to be grown in good garden soil 
to give a splendid return of flowers in the 
early autumn, either for garden decoration or 
for cut-flower pui’poses, for which they are 
admirably suited. 
