The Aster
Callistemma hortensis.
THIS charming flower, which ranks with the balsam in importance as an annual, has no history, and is nothing unless well grown; therefore the best employment of the space at our command will be to frame a compact essay on the cultivation of the aster in first-rate style, with a view to the production of flowers good enough for exhibition.
It is impossible to grow good asters in a poor soil, and the water supply should be constant and plentiful. If grown in the same bed every year, it should be regularly well dug and tolerably manured, as if intended for a crop of peas or cauliflowers. But finer flowers may be secured by growing them every year in fresh soil that has not carried asters before, or at least only once in seven years or so.
The seed is usually sown too early, and the plants get starved before the season is sufficiently advanced to allow them to be put out. The last week in March is early enough for the first sowing, and a cold frame will be the best place for the pan or box in which the seeds are sown. For all ordinary purposes it is not desirable to sow until about the 15th of April, as there is then no probability that the plants will suffer a check. The young plants should have as much air and light as they can bear, the cultivator, of course, keeping in mind that they are tender in constitution. If they have insufficient light they will become weak and wiry, and if insufficient air they will soon be smothered with green fly, and thereby seriously impoverished.
As soon as large enough to handle, prick out the young plants in a bed of light rich soil in a frame; put them three inches apart, water them well, and keep the frame rather close for two or three days; then give air with caution, and increase the ventilation daily, and they will become strong and well prepared for planting out.
A bed for asters should be made ready a few weeks before it is wanted. The third week in May is soon enough for planting out, and dull warm weather should be chosen for the business; in any case, if the nights are frosty, the plants had best remain in their snug bed under glass until a change occurs. If put out in sunny weather, turn empty pots over them for a day or two to save them from exhaustion. As a rule, they should be planted a foot apart every way, but this rule may be varied as circumstances may suggest. They should be lifted with care, so that every tuft of roots is kept intact, and should be firmly though gently pressed into their places, and then have a good watering to finish to work. The remainder of the management will consist chiefly in watering and weeding, and both tasks must be pursued assiduously, or the flowers will be below exhibition mark.