Autumn Aster. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Decorative Flowering. Annuals. Garden Plants. Flowers. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

One-year aster, or more correctly, Chinese aster belongs to the family of Compositae. It grows wild in the regions of North and East China, in the Mongolian People's Republic, in Korea, Japan and in the Primorsky Territory. Aster got its name from the Greek word "aster", which means a star.

© Mazé Parchen

For a beautiful structure of inflorescences and unpretentiousness in growing, asters have been cultivated for a long time in many countries of the world. In our country, asters can be found in all natural areas. If in the south they bloom in August - September and bear fruit normally, then in the middle zone they do not always have time to finish the growing season before the onset of frost, and then only the first, central inflorescences have time to form seeds. In the northern zones, where the growing season is limited by late spring and early autumn frosts, aster seedlings are preliminarily grown in greenhouses or hotbeds. When the danger of frost has passed, it is planted in open ground.

© Mirian Guarnieri

To obtain viable seeds, growers often have to resort to special techniques. For this, frames with a film coating are made over the seed plots, insulation methods are used, or the plants are dug out with a lump and transferred to a greenhouse or room. To speed up the process of seed ripening, only the inflorescence of the central shoot is left on the plant, removing all the lateral ones. Sometimes, even in a vase of water, seeds can "ripen". This requires: a change of water, pruning the tips of the stems, removing decaying lower leaves.

Asters relatively well tolerate transplanting not only at a young age - seedlings, but also in the budding phase and during flowering. This allows them to be successfully used in urban greening, replanting at any time of the year in flower beds and flower beds, and with the onset of cold weather - in pots and plastic containers, greening the premises. In greenhouse conditions, subject to temperature and light factors, it is not difficult to make asters bloom on New Year's Eve or on March 8. In this case, tall varieties are used that can be formed into one stem.

© Viveka's photos