Astra (calistefus) - herbaceous plants representing the Astra family (Asteraceae), including more than two hundred species.
Homeland Asia, Far East. The Greek name of the flower means a star, international - a beautiful wreath.
Astra flower: photo and description, what it looks like
It happens annual and perennial. The roots are fibrous, single or branched stems. The leaves are oval and petiolate, sitting on a stalk.
Reed flowers along the edges and small-tubular in the middle, from snow-white to heavenly shades, inflorescences-baskets.
Perennial aster: alpine, shrubby and other species
Types of asters are high (New Belgian - 150 cm) and undersized (Alpine - no more than 40 cm):
View | Description Leaves | Inflorescences | Bloom |
Alpine | Thin stems. The roots are branched. 10-40 cm. Lower lanceolate. | About 6 cm. Baskets consist of approximately 60 reed petals. | In May, about a month. |
New Belgian | About 150 cm high, branched bushes. The plant is cold-resistant. The rhizome is creeping. Lanceolate, sessile. | Paniculate with reed lilac flowers arranged in 6 rows. | July to September. |
Heather | Spreading bush, multiflowered, frost-resistant. Upper needle, lower scapular. | Different shades, small. | September October. |
Peony | Branching in the bushes is different, the bush is up to 70 cm. | Spherical, up to 10 cm, of various colors, petals directed to the center. | July to October. |
Italian | The shape of the bush is strict, the stems are pubescent, the root is small. Small, form a dense pillow. | Reminds a camomile. The edges are lingual, the center is tubular, of various violet colors. | July - September. |
Shrub or bush | Branched perennial. Green, in large numbers. | Different shades. They form baskets of about 3 cm, in the middle are sunny. | July - October. |
New English | The stems are straight, branched, about 1 m, can withstand small frosts. | 4 cm, different colors. | September October. |
Agate | About 1.5 m, a wild-growing species, used for planting natural flower beds, drought-resistant. | Baskets change color from white to lilac, up to 1 cm, the core is golden. | Aug. Sept. |
Star | Thick rhizome, pubescent stem of a reddish color. | Baskets or panicles, various shades of blue, the middle of the sun. | July August. |
Large leaf | Erect, branched, with a long thick rhizome. Frost resistant. | 3 cm, violet, amber core. | From August to October. |
Clear-leaved | Erect, branched, highly leafy. | Multiple sand-colored baskets in the middle and purple at the edges. | September October. |
Heart | Small shrubs, erect. Lanceolate. | Oblong petals, the center of the canary color, the edge of various shades. | Aug. Sept. |
Siberian | Red-green, slightly branched, 55 cm. Small, next. | 4 cm. Tubular flowers pink and lemon, reed, lilac. | June July. |
Alpine Aster Hybrids
Low-growing varieties are widely used as a frame on alpine hills, flower beds, borders, as well as for decorating balconies.
Grade | Description Leaves | Flowers Flowering period |
Albrus | About 25 cm. Small, dark. | Snow-white with golden. June July. |
Gloria | Height 35 cm. Emerald lanceolate. | Small, up to 3 cm, heavenly. May June. |
Goliath | Grassy bush. Emerald with gray. | Shades of lilac, up to 6 cm, semi-double. June. |
Happy end | About 30 cm. Regular, green. | Pink, reed. May. |
Rosa | 15 cm, the rhizome is horizontal. Light green. | Baskets up to 6 cm, pinkish with an amber center. May June. |
Dunkle Chenet | Undersized. Lush greenery. | Violet with a yellow center, 3cm. June. |
Ruber | About 30 cm. Small. | Red-pink. June July. |
Superbus | Elegant bushes, 30 cm. Openwork, green. | Lilac-blue, 3 cm. July. |
Dark Beauty | Grow approximately 30 cm. | Violet, 3 cm. July August. |
Helen Beauty | 25 cm high. Green, lanceolate. | Light pink and lilac up to 4 cm. May June. |
Varieties of New Belgian aster
Tall varieties are used as hedges, as the main accents of flower beds and flower beds.
Grade | Description Leaves | Flowers Flowering period |
Mont Blanc | Approx. 140 cm, cold resistant. | Terry, snow-white up to 4 cm. September. |
Amethyst | About 100 cm. | Purple, reminiscent of a daisy flower, semi-double with a yellow core. August. |
Maria Ballard | 100 cm tall. branchy Lanceolate, green. | Blue about 8 cm. September lasts about 2 months. |
White ladies | Bushes of the inverse pyramidal shape are about 110 cm, the lower part of the stem is exposed. | Reed, white. 3 cm The beginning of autumn, plentiful. |
Royal ruby | Medium-sized branched bush, up to 90 cm, branches straight. Good winter hardiness. | Half Terry, Raspberry up to 4 cm August. |
Sam Benham | Height up to 150 cm, wide shrub. Oblong dark. | White to 4 cm, with a lemon core. September. |
Saturn | Branched about 150 cm. | Blue, up to 4 cm, reed. Abundant, September. |
Sunset | Tall branching bush. Small, green. | Dark pink, tubular, amber core. September. |
Royal Blue | Small about 140 cm, straight stem. Oblong, green. | Semi-double, about 4 cm., Heavenly color, golden in the middle. September. |
Planty | Branched, approximately 140 cm. | 4 cm, raspberry, reed. September. |
Beachwood Ravel | Spreading, up to 70 cm. | Reed, purple. August. |
Oktoberfest | About 100 cm. | Semi-terry, reed, collected in baskets up to 4 cm, blue. August. |
Aden | Lush tall bush 100 cm, multiflorous. | Terry with the middle of a canary shade, white. September. |
Bengale | The bush is branched, lush. | Pale purple. September. |
Herbst Wunder | Up to 90 cm, straight stem. Green, all over. | Reed white, tubular sand 3 cm. Beginning of autumn. |
Heather aster varieties
Srednerosly varieties are distinguished by small abundant flowering and aroma.
Grade | Description Leaves | Flowers Flowering period |
Herbstmirte | 1 m, leafy bush. | White-lilac, 1.5 cm, middle yellow. September. |
Erlkenig | Barrels, 100 cm. | Purple with an amber middle. Beginning of autumn. |
Blue star | Creeping, 70 cm. Needle-like heather. | Baby blue, small. From August to frost. |
Snow flurry | Barrel variety. Needle, 10 cm, linear. | Small, white. September October. |
Golden spray | Branched 100 cm, the trunk is straight. Linear | Small, reed, white with a lemon center. September October. |
Lady in black | The bush is decorative, not tall. Dark green or dark purple. | Small, snow-white in the middle of the pink spot. The first two months of autumn. |
Pink cloud | Strongly branched stems, spherical bush. Greens. | Baskets, pinkish, small up to 1 cm. From September to late autumn. |
Varieties of peony aster
Feature of the species in flowers resembling peonies.
Grade | Description | Flowers Flowering period |
Silver tower | The pyramidal shape is up to 70 cm. The stem is dense. | Terry up to 10 cm, spherical. Petals change color from purple along the edge to the white middle. Aug. Sept. |
The Dragon | 70 cm, medium late variety. | Large, purple, petals resemble Dragon's claws. Aug. Sept. |
Duchess | Column-shaped, branched 70 cm. | In the form of balls of inflorescence, terry, reed edges, the center is tubular, from snow-white to blue shades. Aug. Sept. |
American browning | 70 cm | More than 10 cm, red-blue shades. July - September. |
Yellow tower | About 70 cm, with up to 12 inflorescences. | Large, terry yellow. July August. |
Red tower | 70 cm, do not fall apart, stand straight. | Terry up to 10 cm, carmine color. From July to the first frost. |
Fontainebleau | Long-flowering, columnar, 65 cm, cold-resistant. | Terry, 10 cm, bent to the center, the color has a transition from light purple to snow-white in the center. July to September. |
Annushka | Compact 60 cm, unbranched. | Rounded, fiery color. Petals elongated along the edge, reduced to the center. Abundant August - September. |
Chambord | 65 cm, strongly branched. | up to 10 cm, petals bent to the center, burgundy. July August. |
Varieties of Italian aster
Varieties of medium height are distinguished by lush compact bushes with various shades of purple.
Grade | Description Leaves | Flowers Bloom |
Herman Lens | 60 cm, elastic. Green, regular, lanceolate. | Purple daisies. July - October. |
Gnome | Height 35 cm, spherical. | Light lilac, densely terry, 6 cm. From July to the cold. |
Henrich seibert | Coarse 60 cm, similar to a pink cloud, frost-resistant. Regular, lanceolate. | Pink 4 cm, collected in baskets. July - October. |
Kobold | Branched, 50 cm tall. Greens. | Dark violet, 4 cm. Since July, lasting 55 days. |
King george | 60 cm tall, resistant to mold, needs a garter. | Purple with a yellow center up to 6 cm. July - September. |
Lady hindlip | Spreading, 60 cm, branches of medium branching. | Baskets 4 cm, pink, golden in the center. End of summer. |
Coerulea | Low. | Burgundy violet, 4 cm, center lemon or bluish. July August. |
Varieties of annual asters
One-year asters in the structure of flowers are divided into three groups:
- reed;
- tubular;
- transitional.
Reed group
View | Grade | Inflorescences |
Curly | Hohenzollern, California Gigantic, Ostrich Feather, Queen of the Market, Early Miracle and Chrysanthemum. | The center is tubular, reed at the edges curled like curls. Terry. |
Hemispherical | American Beauty, American Bush, Duchess, Peony, Pink, Triumph, Shenheit. | Broad scaphoid tongues bent inward. Hemispherical shape. |
Beam | Radio, Unique, Artistic. | They have narrow tongues, rolled up in length, terry. |
Needle | Radiant, Needle, Riviera, Valkyrie, Krallen. | Reeds fused, resemble a claw. |
Spherical | Dragon, Matador, Valkyrie, Princess, Old Castle, Krallen, Milady. | Strongly terry, with short broad tongues. |
Tiled | Victoria, Dwarf, Royal. | Short, wide tongues, located as if laying tiles. |
Tubular group
View | Grade | Inflorescences |
Cirrus | Rosette, Rose Marie, Oktoberfest. | Semi-double, up to 7 cm, long along the edge. |
Liliput | Pinocchio, Montpasier, Curb Astra, Summer. | Terry, various colors, up to 4 cm. |
Tubular | Memory, Chocolate Girl. | Chrysanthemum species, have small tubes. |
Transition group
View | Grade | Inflorescences |
Crowned | Aurora, Laplata, Princess, Fantasy, Ambria, Pompom. | Terry, long in the form of tubes flowers in the center, many rows of reed around the edge. The middle is almost invisible. |
Simple | Apollo, Margarita, Valderaee, Sonnenkugel, Edelweiss. | 2 rows of non-terry flowers with a yellow center. |
Half Terry | Mignon, Madeleine, Victoria Baum, Rosette, Anmouth, Akemavodidnaya. | Half-double flowers with a yellow core. |
How to grow annual asters
Growing asters is a great opportunity for a gardener to learn how to care for cultivated varieties of flowers. They are not demanding.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjdXypSWPdc
They select species that correspond to their region and soil, and enjoy flowering.
Two ways to plant annual asters
Choose between seedling and seedling methods.
Seedling
Seedling method of growing asters from seeds allows you to get earlier flowering.
Asters are sown in mid spring. After a month they plant in the soil, and in July the plants bloom.
- Containers and soil are prepared for planting seeds. Boxes and pots are washed with a disinfectant solution.
- Drainage is placed at the bottom of the box, then it is covered with earth with the addition of sand and humus.
- Spill the soil with a hot pink solution of potassium permanganate, add fertilizer.
- Seeds are scattered on the soil and 1 cm of soil is poured on top. Watered with warm water.
- Containers with landings are covered with spanbond or plastic wrap so that the earth does not dry out.
- For less loss of plants during planting in the garden, it is better to plant them in separate pots.
- After the appearance of two true leaves, seedlings dive, replanting excess plants in another place.
- Sprouts are not watered very abundantly so that root rot does not appear.
- After the plants grow above 10 cm, they are transplanted observing a distance of 40 cm from each other.
Workers and borders are chosen from the sunny side, trying to land so that the asters are not covered with other colors.
They do not recommend planting asters where potatoes and tomatoes were grown in the previous year.
Reckless
Astra is an unpretentious plant that will gladly delight the owners and when planting immediately in the garden.
If this method is selected, there are 2 periods for it.
- The first - in the winter, when the first frosts passed. In this case, it is already impossible to dig up the ground, so the seeds are scattered on the ground, then sprinkled with a layer of humus, mulching the plantings from above. Watering is not necessary.
- The second way is in the spring. The soil prepared in advance is loosened, phosphorus and potassium are added, then the seeds are thrown into the wells, being buried by half a centimeter. After being watered.
Further care is exactly the same as for seedlings planted in boxes.
Seat selection
Different varieties of asters prefer bright places or slightly shaded. This information is received by the gardener with the purchase of seeds. It is indicated on the bag, which is carefully studied before boarding.
In autumn, the place where the flowers are supposed to be planted is dug up, humus, compost, and mineral fertilizers are added. Then cover with a black spanbond, which will protect the earth from the germination of excess weeds and insulate. In spring, shelter is removed, the soil is loosened and seeds are sown on it.
Care Rules
After transplanting and thinning out plantings, asters, like other flowers, require some care:
- The plant is cold-resistant and does not need shelter.
- Watering is mandatory if the summer is dry. The soil is not waterlogged, as root rot may appear.
- 1 time in 2 weeks add fertilizer, starting from the beginning of sap flow. Phosphorus and potassium are fed continuously, and nitrogen is added only at the very beginning, it delays flowering. With its excess, leaves grow, and buds do not form.
Perennial aster: planting and care
Perennial asters try not to propagate by seeds, because it is a laborious process. Use cuttings and rhizomes.
Cuttings are germinated in the greenhouse, in prepared boxes. Landing will feel best at an angle of 45 degrees. Containers in the greenhouse are not covered, but moisturized periodically.
Outdoor landing
Young plants with a good root system, with at least 3 pairs of true leaves, are planted in open ground.
The place is chosen sunny. High varieties are planted at a distance of 1 m, low up to 50 cm.
Care Rules
When caring for perennial asters, mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are used. As for annuals, nitrogen is used only at the very beginning of growth, so as not to disturb the flowering of bushes.
Many shrubby asters endure a small drought, for example, alpine, as their relatives live on stone soil in the mountains. But this is not abused, watering is carried out periodically and efficiently.
Tall asters at the beginning of summer put backups.
Perennial asters bloom the next summer after planting on flower beds.
Care after flowering for annual and perennial asters
After flowering, the seeds ripen, they are collected and sent for storage, carefully signing the bags. The remaining green mass is cut and thrown into a compost heap.
They dig up the land where this year’s annual plantings were located, fertilize them with humus and peat, add mineral top dressing.
Around perennial asters, the soil is loosened, removing the last weeds, then less frost-resistant varieties are covered with mulch or spruce branches.
Possible problems asters
Problem | Remedial measures |
Brown leaf spot. | Watering from a shower head with a solution of Bordeaux liquid or other preparations containing copper. |
Blackleg. | Treatment with a solution of onion scales is carried out every week. |
Jaundice or ring spotting. | The burning of diseased plants, from the pathogen aphids, the use of insect control agents, tinctures of yarrow. |
Gray rot | Removing diseased bushes, top dressing with Bordeaux liquid. |
Fusarium | Proper planting. Spilling the soil with solutions that disinfect it. |
Cucumber mosaic. | The complete destruction of asters. |
Rust on the leaves. | Spraying with Bordeaux liquid or a solution of sulfur with lime. |
Asters are often attacked by leaf nematodes. To avoid this, marigolds are planted between them, which scare away these pests.
Mr. Summer resident informs: interesting facts about the aster
Astra is a very ancient flower. An old legend says that it appeared from a speck of dust that fell from a star. There is a belief that at night these flowers barely perceptibly whisper with the sister stars.