Evening star., 1938-07-30

Guope W DS appreciated and deVel-
oped. The home gardener is chiefly
interested in two divisions of the
family: A. novae-angliae (the New
England aster and A. Novi-belgil (the
New York aSter)-the. parents of many
hne varieties. Few gardeners know
either group except that they grow
wild in the fields around here and
bloom in the fall. Species from Europe,
India, China and other parts of the
world, however. have been used in
developing today's creations.
The hardy asters are generally
thought of as late-fall bloomers. but
there are varieties that bloom in Nav.
OF course, the tall late bloomers at
tract the most attention, for they
flower when practically everything
else in the garden has been killed
by frost. We speak of the tall. hardy
aSters, overlooking the fact that there
are varieties that grow to IL inches
high and are very useful as edging
plants or in the rockery. One writer,
IN trying to group the hardy asters.
classlfles them as dwarf, 6-12 inches
intermediate, l2-3 feet, and tall. As
feet. He then proceeds to subdivide
each height group according to the
season of bloom. There are so many
OF the hardy asters that it is hard to
discuss them without confusing the
reader. BY grouping them according
to height and subdividing according to
season of bloom, the color varieties can
be named with some semblance of
order.
q The hardy asters have been de-
veloped to a stage where there are a
wide range of colors in each group
There are good whites, pinks, laven-
ders. purples, blues, reds, violets, lilacs
yes, and even yellow (sold as A.
hybrldus luteus-probably a species
OF LlnosyrlS). The flowers range in
size from less than an inch in di-
areter to more than inches across.
x x
NO PERENNIAL is better qualified
for the prefix hardy" than is the
Mlchaelmas daisy. 1t will be blaze
OF color when the dahlias are black
ened by frost. Few perennials winter
over with less care But while the
Mlchaelmas daisy is perfectly hardy.
some of the newer hybrfds are not
quite so rugged constitutionally, but
almost all of them are hardy in this
area. The dwarfs as a group benefit
by some winter protection.
OF the easiest to culture, they will
grow and bloom if left undisturbed
for years. Hotties, in his Book of
Perennials,' says: No culture is nee
essary. Plant them and if given extra
food and water they repay us: # not,
they bloom beautifully to shame us
for neglect" The practice of allowing
the plants to grow in a neglected
state. however, is not worthy of a good
gardener. Under such conditions the
clumps become unduly large, and the
individual stems small and weak, pro-
duoing small flowers of very poor quail
ICY compared with plants grown under
good garden conditions. Generally
speaking they require ample moisture
but avoid wet feet.
The roots should be divided every
second year, and there are certain
varieties which benefit by dividing
each year. They like the sun but will
do we'll in light shade. A soil mod
erately enriched with manure and
deeply prepared will produce flowers
that any gardener would be proud to
show. The taller kinds benefit by
stalking, as their huge flower heads
are easily blown over by scrong winds
and heavy fall rains. Tall growing
varieties should be spaced from 2 to
4 feet apart, the dwarf to II inches,
and the intermediates from Is inches
to 2 feet.
X X X
TOR the taller varieties a good aver
age garden soil is better suited
than one which has been heavily fer
tilted. Well-rotted manure, however
on light soils is desirable for nourish-
ment and for increasing the water
holding capacity of the soil. During
the late summer and early fall, and
during periods of dry weather, some
gardeners apply liquid manures.
To divide the hardy asters the
clumps are lifted in the spring. Break