Aster flower: types, varieties, planting and care in open ground

Aster (Calystephus) is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Asteraceae (Compositae) family, which includes more than two hundred species.

Native to Asia and the Far East. The flower's Greek name means star, while its international name means "beautiful wreath."

Aster flower: photo and description of what it looks like

It can be annual or perennial. The roots are fibrous, the stems are solitary or branched. The leaves are oval and petiolate, located on the stalk.

The flowers are ligulate at the edges and finely tubular in the middle, from snow-white to sky-blue shades, inflorescences are baskets.

Perennial aster: alpine, shrub and other species

Aster species can be tall (New Belgian - 150 cm) or low-growing (Alpine - no more than 40 cm):

View	Description Leaves	Inflorescences	Bloom
Alpine	Thin stems. Branched roots. 10-40 cm. The lower ones are lanceolate.	About 6 cm. The baskets consist of about 60 ligulate petals.	In May, for about a month.
New Belgian	About 150 cm tall, the bushes are branched. The plant is cold-resistant. The rhizome is creeping. Lanceolate, sessile.	Paniculate with ligulate lilac flowers arranged in 6 rows.	From July to September.
Heather	Spreading bush, multi-flowered, frost-resistant. Upper needle-shaped, lower scapular.	Different shades, small.	September, October.
Peony-shaped	The bushes have varying branching, the bush is up to 70 cm.	Spherical, up to 10 cm, of various colors, petals directed towards the center.	From July to October.
Italian	The bush has a strict shape, the stems are pubescent, the root is small. Small, they form a dense cushion.	Reminiscent of a daisy. The edges are ligulate, the center is tubular, and comes in various purple colors.	July - September.
Bushy or shrubby	A branched perennial. Green, in large quantities.	Various shades. They form baskets about 3 cm in size, with a sunny center.	July - October.
New England	The stems are straight, branched, approximately 1 m, and can withstand light frosts.	4 cm, different colors.	September, October.
Ageratoides	About 1.5 m, wild species, used for planting natural flower beds, drought-resistant.	The baskets change color from white to lilac, up to 1 cm, the core is golden.	August, September.
Star-shaped	Thick rhizome, pubescent stem of reddish color.	Baskets or panicles of different shades of blue, with a sunny center.	July, August.
Large-leaved	Erect, branched, with a long, thick rhizome. Frost-resistant.	3 cm, purple, amber core.	From August to October.
Sedum	Erect, branched, heavily foliated.	Multiple baskets, sand-colored in the middle and purple at the edges.	September, October.
Heart-leaved	Small, upright semi-shrubs. Lanceolate.	Oblong petals, canary yellow center, edges in various shades.	August, September.
Siberian	Red-green, sparsely branched, 55 cm. Small, another one.	4 cm. Tubular flowers are pink and lemon, ligulate, lilac.	June, July.

Alpine aster hybrids

Low-growing varieties are widely used as framing for alpine gardens, flower beds, borders, and also for decorating balconies.

Variety	Description Leaves	Flowers Flowering period
Albrus	About 25 cm. Small, dark.	Snow-white with gold. June, July.
Gloria	Height 35 cm. Emerald lanceolate.	Small, up to 3 cm, heavenly. May, June.
Goliath	Herbaceous bush. Emerald with grey.	Shades of lilac, up to 6 cm, semi-double. June.
Happy ending	About 30 cm. The next ones, green ones.	Pink, ligulate. May.
Rosea	15 cm, horizontal rhizome. Light green.	Baskets up to 6 cm, pinkish with an amber center. May, June.
Dunkle Schöne	Low-growing. Lush greenery.	Purple with yellow center, 3cm. June.
Ruber	About 30 cm. Small ones.	Red-pink. June, July.
Superbus	Graceful bushes, 30 cm. Openwork, green.	Lilac-blue, 3 cm. July.
Dark Beauty	They grow to about 30 cm.	Violet, 3 cm. July, August.
Helen Beauty	Height 25 cm. Green, lanceolate.	Soft pink and lilac up to 4 cm. May, June.

Varieties of New England aster

Tall varieties are used as hedges and as the main accents of flower beds and flower gardens.

Variety	Description Leaves	Flowers Flowering period
Mont Blanc	Approximately 140 cm, cold-resistant.	Terry, snow-white, up to 4 cm. September.
Amethyst	About 100 cm.	Lilac, reminiscent of a daisy, semi-double with a yellow center. August.
Maria Ballard	100 cm tall. Branched. Lanceolate, green.	Blue ones about 8 cm. September, lasts about 2 months.
White Ladies	The bushes are inversely pyramidal in shape, about 110 cm, the lower part of the stem is bare.	Reed, white. 3 cm. The beginning of autumn, abundant.
Royal Ruby	A medium-sized, branched bush, up to 90 cm tall, with straight branches. Good winter hardiness.	Semi-double, raspberry up to 4 cm August.
Sam Benham	Height up to 150 cm, wide bush. Oblong dark.	White, up to 4 cm, with a lemon core. September.
Saturn	Branched, approximately 150 cm.	Blue, up to 4 cm, ligulate. Abundant, September.
Sunset	Tall branching bush. Small, green.	Dark pink, tubular, amber core. September.
Royal Blue	Small, about 140 cm, stem straight. Oblong, green.	Semi-double, about 4 cm, sky-blue, golden in the middle. September.
Planty	Branched, about 140 cm.	4 cm, raspberry, reed. September.
Beechwood Rivell	Spreading, up to 70 cm.	Ligulate, purple. August.
Oktoberfest	About 100 cm.	Semi-double, ligulate, collected in baskets up to 4 cm, blue. August.
Aden	A lush, tall bush, 100 cm, with many flowers.	Terry with a canary-colored center, white. September.
Bengal	The bush is branchy and lush.	Pale purple. September.
Herbst Wunder	Up to 90 cm, stem straight. Green, all the way up.	Tongue-shaped white, tubular sand-colored 3 cm. The beginning of autumn.

Heather aster varieties

Medium-sized varieties, distinguished by small, abundant flowering and aroma.

Variety	Description Leaves	Flowers Flowering period
Herbstmirte	1 m, leafy bush.	White-lilac, 1.5 cm, yellow center. September.
Erlkönig	Ground cover, 100 cm.	Purple with an amber center. The beginning of autumn.
Blue Star	Creeping, 70 cm. Needle-like, reminiscent of heather.	Pale blue, small. From August until frost.
Snow flurry	Ground cover variety. Needle-shaped, 10 cm, linear.	Small, white. September, October.
Golden Spray	Branched 100 cm, straight trunk. Linear.	Small, reed-shaped, white with a lemon-colored center. September, October.
Lady in Black	The bush is decorative, not tall. Dark green or dark purple.	Small, snow-white with a pink spot in the middle. The first two months of autumn.
Pink Cloud	Strongly branched stems, spherical bush. Green ones.	Baskets are pinkish, small, up to 1 cm. From September to late autumn.

Peony aster varieties

The distinctive feature of this species is its flowers, which resemble peonies.

Variety	Description	Flowers Flowering period
Silver Tower	Inverse pyramidal shape, up to 70 cm. Stem is dense.	Double, up to 10 cm, spherical. Petals change color from purple at the edges to a white center. August, September.
Dragon	70 cm, mid-late variety.	Large, purple petals resemble dragon claws. August, September.
Duchess	Columnar, branched, 70 cm.	The inflorescences are spherical, double, with ligulate edges and a tubular center, ranging in shades from snow-white to blue. August, September.
American Browning	70 cm.	More than 10 cm, red-blue shades. July - September.
Yellow Tower	About 70 cm, with up to 12 inflorescences.	Large, double, yellow. July, August.
Red Tower	70 cm, do not fall apart to the sides, stand straight.	Terry, up to 10 cm, carmine color. From July until the first frost.
Fontainebleau	Long-flowering, columnar, 65 cm, cold-resistant.	Terry, 10 cm, bent towards the center, the color has a transition from light purple to snow-white in the center. From July to September.
Annushka	Compact 60 cm, few branches.	Rounded, fiery-colored. The petals are elongated at the edges, tapering toward the center. Abundant August - September.
Chambord	65 cm, strongly branched.	up to 10 cm, petals bent towards the center, burgundy. July - August.

Varieties of Italian aster

Medium-height varieties, distinguished by lush, compact bushes with various shades of purple.

Variety	Description Leaves	Flowers Bloom
Herman Lens	60 cm, elastic. Green, alternate, lanceolate.	Purple daisies. July - October.
Dwarf	Height 35 cm, spherical.	Light lilac, densely double, 6 cm. From July until cold weather.
Henrich Seibert	Large, 60 cm, looks like a pink cloud, frost-resistant. Alternate, lanceolate.	Pink 4 cm, collected in baskets. July - October.
Kobold	Branched, 50 cm tall. Green ones.	Dark purple, 4 cm. From July, lasting 55 days.
King George	60 cm tall, resistant to mold, requires staking.	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, lemon or bluish center. July - August.

Varieties of annual asters

Annual asters are divided into three groups according to the structure of their flowers:

• reed;
• tubular;
• transitional.

Lingual group

View	Variety	Inflorescences
Curly	Hohenzollern, California Giant, Ostrich Feather, Market Queen, Early Wonder and Chrysanthemum.	The center is tubular, the edges are curled like curls. Terry.
Hemispherical	American Beauty, American Bush, Duchess, Peony, Rose, Triumph, Shenheit.	Wide boat-shaped tongues, curved inward. Hemispherical shape.
Radial	Radio, Unicum, Art.	They have narrow tongues, folded lengthwise, terry.
Needle-shaped	Radiant, Needle, Riviera, Valkyrie, Krallen.	The tongues are fused together and resemble a claw.
Spherical	Dragon, Matador, Valkyrie, Princess, Old Castle, Krallen, Milady.	Very terry, with short, wide tongues.
Imbricated	Victoria, Dwarf, Royal.	Short, wide tongues, arranged as if they were laying tiles.

Tubular group

View	Variety	Inflorescences
Cirrus	Rosette, Rose-Marie, Oktoberfest.	Semi-double, up to 7 cm, long at the edge.
Lilliputian	Pinocchio, Montpensier, Border Aster, Summer.	Terry, various colors, up to 4 cm.
Tubular	Memory, Chocolate Girl.	Chrysanthemum-like, have small tubes.

Transitional group

View	Variety	Inflorescences
Coronary	Aurora, Laplata, Princess, Fantasy, Ambria, Pompom.	Double, long, tubular flowers in the center, with many rows of ray flowers along the edges. The middle is almost invisible.
Simple	Apollo, Margarita, Waldersee, Sonnenkugel, Edelweiss.	2 rows of non-double flowers with a yellow center.
Semi-double	Mignon, Madeline, Victoria Baum, Rosette, Anmouth, Akemodavidnaya.	Flowers are semi-double with a yellow center.

How to Grow Annual Asters

Growing asters is a wonderful opportunity for gardeners to learn how to care for cultivated flower varieties. They are undemanding.

They select species that suit their region and soil, and enjoy the flowering.

Two ways to plant annual asters

They choose between seedling and non-seedling methods.

Seedling

Growing asters from seeds using seedlings allows for earlier flowering.

Asters are sown in mid-spring. A month later, they are planted in soil, and the plants bloom in July.

• For planting seeds, prepare containers and soil. Wash the containers and pots with a disinfectant solution.
• Place drainage at the bottom of the box, then fill it with soil with the addition of sand and humus.
• The soil is watered with a hot pink solution of potassium permanganate and fertilizers are added.
• Scatter the seeds over the soil and add 1 cm of soil on top. Water with warm water.
• Containers with plantings are covered with spunbond or polyethylene film to prevent the soil from drying out.
• To reduce the risk of plant loss when planting in the garden, it is better to plant them in separate pots.
• After two true leaves appear, the seedlings are pricked out, transplanting the excess plants to another location.
• The seedlings are not watered too abundantly to prevent root rot.
• After the plants grow taller than 10 cm, they are transplanted, maintaining a distance of 40 cm from each other.

Flower beds and borders are chosen on the sunny side, trying to plant them so that the asters are not hidden by other flowers.

It is not recommended to plant asters where potatoes and tomatoes were grown the previous year.

Seedless

Aster is an unpretentious plant that will happily delight its owners even when planted directly in the garden.

If this method is chosen, there are 2 periods for it.

• The first is before winter, after the first frosts have passed. At this point, it's no longer possible to dig the soil, so the seeds are scattered on the ground, then covered with a layer of humus, followed by mulch. Watering is not necessary.
• The second method is in the spring. The pre-prepared soil is loosened, phosphorus and potassium are added, and then the seeds are planted in the holes, deepening them by half a centimeter. Then, they are watered.

Further care is exactly the same as for seedlings planted in boxes.

Choosing a location

Different aster varieties prefer sunny or lightly shaded locations. Gardeners receive this information when purchasing seeds. It's indicated on the packet, which they carefully examine before planting.

In the fall, the area where the flowers will be planted is dug over, and humus, compost, and mineral fertilizers are added. Then, it is covered with black spunbond, which will protect the soil from unwanted weeds and provide insulation. In the spring, the covering is removed, the soil is loosened, and the seeds are sown.

Care instructions

After transplanting and thinning the plantings, asters, like other flowers, require certain care:

• The plant is cold-resistant and does not require shelter.
• Watering is essential if the summer is dry. Avoid overwatering the soil, as this can lead to root rot.
• Fertilizer is added once every two weeks, starting when the sap begins to flow. Phosphorus and potassium are added continuously, but nitrogen is added only at the very beginning; it delays flowering. If there's too much nitrogen, leaves grow, but buds fail to form.

Perennial aster: planting and care

Perennial asters are often propagated by seed rather than by seed, as it's a labor-intensive process. Cuttings and rhizomes are used.

The cuttings are germinated in a greenhouse, in prepared containers. They thrive best at a 45-degree angle. The containers in the greenhouse are not covered, but they must be moistened periodically.

Planting in open ground

Young plants with a good root system and at least 3 pairs of true leaves are planted in open ground.

Choose a sunny location. Tall varieties should be planted at a distance of up to 1 m, short varieties at a distance of up to 50 cm.

Care instructions

When caring for perennial asters, use mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. As with annuals, nitrogen is applied only at the very beginning of growth to avoid disrupting flowering.

Many shrub asters can tolerate mild drought, such as alpine asters, as their relatives thrive on rocky mountain soil. However, this should not be overdone; watering should be done regularly and thoroughly.

Tall asters are supported at the beginning of summer.

Perennial asters bloom the following summer after being planted in flower beds.

Post-flowering care for annual and perennial asters

After flowering, the seeds ripen, are collected, and stored, carefully labeled in packets. The remaining green material is cut off and thrown into the compost heap.

The soil where this year's annual plantings were located is dug up, fertilized with humus and peat, and mineral fertilizers are added.

The soil around perennial asters is loosened, removing the last weeds, then less frost-resistant varieties are covered with mulch or spruce branches.

Potential problems with asters

Problem	Elimination measures
Brown leaf spot.	Watering from a shower head with a solution of Bordeaux mixture or other preparations containing copper.
Blackleg.	Treatment with a solution of onion scales is carried out every week.
Jaundice or ringspot.	Burning diseased plants, using insect control agents and yarrow tincture to control aphids.
Gray mold	Removing diseased bushes, fertilizing with Bordeaux mixture.
Fusarium.	Proper planting. Watering the soil with disinfectant solutions.
Cucumber mosaic.	Complete destruction of asters.
Rust on leaves.	Spraying with Bordeaux mixture or a solution of sulfur and lime.

Asters are often attacked by foliar nematodes. To prevent this, marigolds are planted between them to repel these pests.

Top.tomathouse.com informs: interesting facts about asters

The aster is a very ancient flower. An old legend says it was born from a speck of dust that fell from a star. It is also believed that at night, these flowers whisper faintly to their sister stars.