Stokes Aster and Shasta Daisies

What a desolate place would be a world with out a flower!  It would be a face with out a smile, a feast with out a welcome.  Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our stars the flowers of the hevens.  A.J. Balfour



I went out on the morning of May 05, 2011 and found  buds on my Stokes Asters.   I was really excited!  The wait was over at last

     I bought my Stokes Aster in 2009.  I was in Shevesport with my daughter Charlotte.  I was beginning to think it would never bloom.  Well worth the wait.  The Stokes Aster  is a native flower of  Georgia and south eastern part of Carolina.  I will be planting more of the Stokes Asters.  The other type Asters that I have planted  were bad to have white mildew.  If the plant is not pretty without blooms, I do not keep it.  That is another plus for my roses, they are  green here,  even in winter.  Roses can have brown spots and turn yellow.  Carrel sprays them to prevent this.

I put iron on them,  to make them darker green.   I do have some small Asters that I have kept.  These smaller Asters are not in bloom at this time.  When they bloom I will up date with pictures.  One of my favorite flowers has always been a Daisy.  I do not think a garden would be complete with out one.   I love the single Shasta Daisy with the yellow center but they are either too tall or to short.  So I planted this one.  This Daisy is a full Shasta with out the center,  this one is not fully opened.  All the hybrid flowers today came from wild flowers.  Botanist Luther Burbank developed the wonderful Daisy of today.  It took him from  around 1889 until 1906 or 1907 to produce the snowy white Shasta Daisy.  He started with the common oxeye weed that grows in California.   After keeping and combining only the biggest and best for 6 years,  he was still not satisfied.  Mr. Burbank  then sprinkled the pollen of the English field daisy on the best of what he had.  It took 2 more years, still not completely  happy.  He sprinkled Portuguese field daisy over the best of these.  After 6 more years keeping only the best of this combination, he still did not have the snow white flower he wanted.  The Japanese field daisy  was whiter than the others so he sprinkled its pollen over the best he had produced.  At last he had what he had worked so hard for.  He named his Daisy, Shasta, after the California Peak.  So it took 4 weeds to make a beautiful flower.  They still come in white only.     

I like Daisies and lilies.  I hope you have enjoyed this  page of my blog.  Happy gardening to you from  me.  Thank you for watching my garden   "bloom" with  me.      Juanita                                                                          Juanita's  favorite.