Astra - perennial or annual plantwidely distributed throughout the world. The vast majority of landing is carried out in open ground... Breeding at home in a pot is extremely rare and only for dwarf varietiesrequiring special care.
Domesticated Aster requires a lot of light, so an additional source must always be present.
Also, Astra is often indoors suffers from lack of land... Therefore, transplanting an adult plant may be required more than once. After all, the plant loves fresh air and sunlight, which are inaccessible in the apartment. But if you carefully care for the plant, observing all the rules, you can achieve lush flowering no worse than in a flower bed.
It can be planted with seeds in open ground. This method is considered effective only if if you strictly follow the landing rules... At the very beginning, you need to choose a quality planting material.
Store-bought seeds must be sealed, dry and free from visible damage.
Seed production date should not exceed 1 year, planting material that is stored longer than this time loses its ability to germinate.
Seeds can be collected at home by yourself, from faded plants. In this case, they must be sown immediately. Both purchased and collected seeds are planted in open ground in the fall.
In this case, young plants will already appear in the spring, but they most likely will not mature before flowering. Usually, plants diluted in this way bloom only in the second year of life.
The seeds can be planted in spring. In this case, the seedling method is used. It is more time consuming, but the result justifies the effort.
How to organize correct sowing in spring and before winter
There are two ways to grow outdoors: autumn and spring.
In the first case, seeds are planted into the frozen ground, to a depth of 3-5 centimeters. Previously, the soil on the site must be cleared of weeds and fertilized. Seeds are sprinkled with earth and watered warm water... Despite the fact that for the most part Asters are frost-resistant, it is recommended to cover the seeds for the winter with a small layer of sawdust. In the spring, this layer is removed.
In the second case, the seeds are sown in the ground. late springwhen the snow thaws and the earth warms up. Seeds are buried in the prepared and fertilized soil by 3-4 centimeters. After falling asleep with earth, the soil is slightly compacted with your hands and watered with warm water.
If the nights are cold, it's worth cover the seeds with material until shoots appear.
When the future asters get a little stronger, they must be thinned out to a distance of 15 centimeters from each other. Plants planted in this way do not bloom until the second year of life.
Sowing seeds for seedlings
Seedlings are grown in early spring.
At the very beginning it is necessary prepare soil compositionconsisting of sod land, sand and humus. The substrate should be light and loose so that air can pass through. The seeds themselves, before planting, are placed for several hours in a solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection.
Meanwhile, in the box where the future Asters will be planted, a drainage layer is laid from small stones or expanded clay. A ready-made soil composition is poured on top. Into it plant seeds to a depth of 1 centimeter and watered with warm water.
After the appearance of the second leaves, the seedlings are transplanted into separate pots.
Re-watering is carried out only after germination. Until this point, it is recommended cover the box with plastic or glass. While waiting for sprouts, the air temperature should be 18 degrees.
When the second leaves appear, their transplanted into a separate bowl... With the onset of warmth, in mid or late May, the seedlings can be moved to a permanent place in open ground. This procedure is performed in the evening. After transplanting, the soil around the plant is watered and mulched.
Diseases and their elimination
Very often Asters are exposed to pests and diseases. The most dangerous are the following:
- Fusarium... This is a fungal disease that arises from excessive soil moisture. More often susceptible to fungus annual species... Outwardly, the disease appears as dark stripes on one side of the plant. The next stage is yellowing of foliage and wilting of inflorescences. It helps to fight fusarium with ordinary lime, which is sprinkled around the flowers.
- ... She is also a disease caused by fungi. At the first signs of thinning and blackening of the stem at the base, the soil should be treated with potassium permanganate. Severely affected plants should be removed from the flower bed.
- ... It appears with brown spots. It provokes waterlogging of the soil and heat air. To get rid of the disease, it is necessary to spray the bushes with a solution of Bordeaux liquid every two weeks.
- ... A viral disease carried by aphids and cicadas. The leaves turn yellow and the buds stop growing. There is no cure for the disease. The only way is to remove the affected flowers and kill insects.
- Aphids, cicadas and spider mites - they all harm the plant and lead it to death, if not destroyed during them. Any chemical specialized product that can be bought in a store will help in this.
To prevent fungal diseases, Asters should be watered with warm water with the addition of 1 cup of nettle or celandine infusion.
You can prepare the infusion by pouring 1 kilogram of grass with 10 liters of hot water.
Fertilization and feeding
In order for the flower to develop well and have an attractive appearance, it must be fertilized. It is customary to feed the flower with mineral fertilizers and wood ash.
Nitrogen fertilizers, on the other hand, should not be used, as they enhance the growth of leaves, which in turn reduces the number of inflorescences. It is recommended to apply fertilizers twice a season.
In autumn, humus or compost can be added to the soil before planting seeds.
Plant propagation
Aster can be propagated in several ways:
- Seeds... In this case, the seeds are sown in late autumn in frozen ground or in early spring in boxes to get seedlings.
- Perennial can reproduce vegetatively... The plant bush is divided into equal parts with a sharp object so that at least 5 shoots and good roots remain on each. The resulting plants are planted in pre-prepared holes and watered with water.
- Cuttings... This method is used less often than others. In order to obtain a new plant, the upper shoot is cut off and placed in the soil. A few days later, after rooting, the cuttings are transplanted to a new place.
Perennial
Is a large group of plants of the Aster family, which numbers several hundred species and varieties.
The most popular are the following:
- - This is a large species with a varied color scheme, which blooms earlier than others and looks like a chamomile.
- - a frost-resistant species that mainly blooms in autumn and has large multi-colored inflorescences.
- Italian Asters - medium height Asters, from 30 to 60 centimeters, with a range of colors of all pink and purple colors.
Annuals
Annual plants of the Astrov family are no less popular among flower growers. The most common varieties:
- - plant height up to 60 centimeters, large inflorescences, with curly petals. Colors from white to dark blue.
- - a medium-sized plant, blooming in a variety of flowers by early autumn. Outwardly, it looks like a chamomile.
- - high aster up to 100 centimeters, with a large spherical inflorescence of bright colors.
- American beauty - frost-resistant and drought-resistant Aster with round inflorescences of various colors.
These are just one of the few known varieties. A wide range of shades and shapes will impress even the most sophisticated flower lovers.
Combination with other plants
Asters work well with many garden plants.
The flower looks good with carnations, peonies, irises, lilies and even roses. But the neighborhood with vegetable crops, such as tomatoes and potatoes, are best avoided as Fusarium disease can develop.
Also Astra not worth planting under conifers - falling needles provoke the growth of rust on the leaves.
Asters in landscape design
In landscape design, Astra is used as a decoration for paths and paths. In a flower bed, they are used as a background for other flowers, since aster keeps color for a long time - up to 2 months.
Dwarf Asters are planted in hanging pots on verandas and gazebos. They also look great in massive floor pots along paths or near waterways.
Aster is a sunny and bright flower that looks perfect on street beds and in bouquets. If you properly care for the plant, then its lush forms will decorate any site for the entire season.
Every year my garden is decorated with a variety of varieties annual asters... At home, using the generally accepted method, I almost never grow seedlings, there are no suitable conditions for this, and the plants, it seems to me, turn out to be more pampered, they get sick more often. I tested three methods of sowing: podzimny, winter (in boxes) and early spring. I will dwell on each of them in more detail.
For winter sowing (October-November) I prepare the soil in the garden in advance. We have it mainly of medium loamy. I carefully dig up, add sand, mineral fertilizers. I water with a solution of potassium permanganate (dark red). I try to sow asters when the ground is already slightly seized by frost and significant warming is not expected.
In the spring, after the snow has melted, I cover the crops with frames with plastic wrap stretched over them, periodically I open them. With the appearance of the first shoots of the frame, I clean it, once again water it with potassium permanganate, loosen the aisles.
In the phase of 2-3 true leaves, I plant seedlings at a distance of 3-5 cm on previously prepared beds (later I use them for late garden crops). As I grow, I water the asters if necessary (I keep spring water in the sun in barrels and buckets), loosen the earth, feed the plants with mineral fertilizers (2 g of flower mixture per 1 liter), infusion of mullein (1:10) or bird droppings (1:20 ). I alternate mineral fertilizers with organic ones. You can also give foliar dressing - spray the leaves (before budding) with a solution of half the concentration. During the period of increased growth, I mainly apply nitrogen fertilizers, and during flowering and fruiting, potash and phosphorus fertilizers. Microelements, especially boron, are very useful.
Sowing asters in boxes with disinfected soil I usually spend in January - February. Sprinkle lightly on top with calcined sand and cover with a sheet of thick paper (cardboard). I bury the boxes deep in the snow, where they remain until spring. Then I move them to the south window of the garden house and look after them as usual. I dive seedlings indoors (mortality is insignificant). As I grow, I take out the boxes with seedlings for hardening in the air, and put them back in the house at night. I land on a permanent place at the end of April.
With the third method, I sow in early spring (April) into the cultivated soil, cover it with a film before emergence. I try not to be late with the pick, so that the plants do not stretch and hurt.
In the notebook I note the name of the variety, its color, variety type, time of sowing and emergence of seedlings.
It seems to me that the second method is the most convenient. Elderly people find it easier to dive while sitting at a table. Plants bloom earlier than when sown in the ground. Asters begin to bloom behind them autumn sowing, and already the last - sown in the spring.
I plant seedlings in a cloudy year or in the evening. I usually place asters on flower beds and beds that were occupied by early flowering plants, including bulbs (narcissus, tulips). On plots freed from seedlings, I sow radishes, salat, dill, onions for herbs.
If autumn is warm enough, asters bloom for a long time. With the onset of light frosts, I remove the faded bushes. The remaining flower stalks with buds I put in water and keep in garden house (low temperature does not harm them). Later varieties, which are just blooming, are transplanted into a vacant greenhouse from under the cucumbers, where they continue to bloom for another three weeks, or even a month. On November holidays, I usually have a bouquet of fresh asters at home. It is so nice to give them on cold autumn days, when there are no flowering plants in the garden.
I grow various varieties: "Ze-fir", "Abundance", "Lada", "Smile", "Jubilee White", "Jubilee Pink-vaya" (cut); "Changeable Golu-baya", "Mtsenskaya Pink", "Mtsensk Rubin", "Voronezh Lilac" (universal). I really like "Lilac Evening", "Raspberry Ball" (Pompon variety). I usually cut them at the root. All buds bloom in water and flowers do not fade for a very long time. Asters of the Triumph variety also look good. The most stable are Tubular and Peony, less - Unicum, Radio, Artistic. In rainy weather, some especially lush inflorescences can be damaged.
When buying aster seeds, I would like to see on the bags the name of the variety, the variety type, the color of the inflorescence, the date of the bevel. You need to be sure that the seeds are viable enough and can be used even for the next season. Most often, only the name and color, weight and price are indicated. This, of course, is too little at the current level of development of color production.
If the asters get sick ...
A white, ash or grayish bloom on the upper side of the leaves and on the stems of these beloved autumn flowers signals that the plant has been attacked by powdery mildew.
If this fungal disease is severely started, the whole plant will soon suffer: growth will begin to slow down, and the shape of the bush will bend.
To prevent this, at the first signs of the disease, to increase the resistance of plants to powdery mildew, feed the asters with potash fertilizers and treat the plants with biological fungicides Fitosporin-M, Alirin-B, or spray the flowers with colloidal sulfur.
If the disease has gone too far, use such drugs as "Skor", "Tiovit Jet", "Pure", "Topaz", "Strobi". Does all this seem too burdensome to you? Then plant varieties that are resistant to powdery mildew.
These are, for example, "Dauerblau", "Bluetenmeer" and "Rosa Perle" (Aster novi-belgii). Among the New England asters (Aster novae-angliae), "Andenken an Paul Gerber", "Barr" s Pink "and" Herbstschnee "are considered resistant to powdery mildew.
Asters in the garden - combinations and uses in landscape design
The use of asters in garden design is very diverse.
The fact is that they themselves are very different: they bloom at different times (from late spring to late autumn), differ greatly in height (from 15 - 20 to 200 cm), and they are very diverse in the shape of the bush, because there are even creeping forms, more like a juniper - aster heather (Aster ericoides) "Prostrate Form".
Also interesting are dense, low asters, similar to balls, for example low grades a. shrub (Aster dumosus). Sometimes the overgrown bushes can somewhat resemble a pillow: a small one made from an alpine aster (Aster alpinus) and a large one made from an ageratoid aster (Aster ageratoides). In addition, outwardly flowering aster bushes can look like a vase with a bouquet of flowers, for example, asters Frikarta (Aster x frikartii). And, of course, spectacular, tall, strong and not falling apart bushes of naked aster (Aster laevis) from afar resemble columns. See, asters have plenty of options.
Ecology is also important, because there are both quite moisture-loving species - the New England aster (Aster novae-angliae), and species that grow well on poor, sandy and dry soils - the flax-leaved aster (Astre zlatovlasa). Well, if so, then these plants can be used in various compositions. In principle, it is quite possible to make a flower garden out of asters alone - they are very different from each other. But it's still better to create a mix from different plants. And asters in such a flower garden will definitely take a special place. In late spring - early summer, its edge will be decorated with varieties of a. alpine. In the fall, in the foreground, stars of low (up to 20 - 25 cm) varieties will sparkle. shrub or acnhs hybrid (Aster x hybridus). A little further from the edge, plant a beautiful Italian aster (Aster amellus) and at the height of summer and again in the fall, it will decorate the flower garden with bright pink, raspberry and blue baskets.
In autumn, she will be accompanied by high grades of a. shrub and compact varieties a. heather. In the background or center (for an all-round view), place a. New England and A. naked or New Belgian aster (Aster novi-belgii), but the latter has a drawback: its bushes are falling apart and actively spreading in different directions.
You can use asters in a single landing, but not all. Perhaps the most suitable option is a. naked and a. New England, they form dense, shaped bushes, do not creep in different directions and bloom effectively. More often, asters are grown in large groups.
In this case, the selection of plants depends on the height of the group you want to get. So, low groups (up to 50 cm) can be created from a. shrubby, hybrid asters, Frekart asters and ageratoid asters. Medium in height (up to 100-150< получаются из астры очитко-листной (Aster sedifolius), астры голой, астры вересковой, ну и, наконец, крупные группы (150-200 см) создаются из астры новоанглийской и астры татарской (Aster tataricus).
Color combinations with asters
1. Asters - decoration of autumn flower beds. They will be in place in any mixborder. They are appreciated for their bright colors and abundant late flowering.
2. Ornamental a. New England and A. naked in the composition behave delicately, non-aggressive and do not form thickets, but simply gain strength and power every year, becoming more and more beautiful.
3. Tall, slender bushes a. New England and A. New Belgian - great accents in any composition. Their bright color will be emphasized by large purple steppes, snow-white dahlias, airy cereals.
Astra - loved by many garden flower, belonging to the Astrov family. There are about five hundred species in the family. Asters grow in the wild all over the world - from China to North America. From China, the flower came to Europe. It was taken out secretly (the Chinese did not want to share their floristic "treasure") from the imperial gardens in the 17th century. In China, astra is given great importance and deep sacred meaning.
From Latin, the name of the flower is translated "star". According to legend, two Chinese monks, deciding to reach the stars, set off on a journey, and there was no end to this path, and the stars shone in the sky, still far and unapproachable. Then one of the monks stopped looking at the sky and turned his gaze to the earth And saw an amazingly beautiful flower that looked like a star. The monks brought flowers to the monastery and began to grow them under the "star" name. No, but in Chinese culture, asters are still a symbol of unattainable charm and unearthly beauty, given to man as a gift by God.
Many-faced creatures
Asters are rhizome herbaceous ornamental flowering plants with simple leaves, basket inflorescences, which consist of central yellow tubular flowers and marginal ligulate flowers of various shades.
Today, breeders have bred many varieties of asters of unimaginable colors and structures - velvet, terry, paniculate.
Astra and her "relatives"
There are perennials and annuals asters. And here there is one obscure nuance for amateur flower growers. There is a genus of asters, which include both annuals and perennials grown in culture as annuals due to the peculiarities of certain climatic zones. There are only annual asters, they are "relatives" of all asters, but they are called differently - callistefus (Chinese callistema). This is the only representative of its kind, singled out as a personal type by Carl Linnaeus.
Callistema is characterized by alternate petiolate leaves, dark green or burgundy-red stems, and basket inflorescences. Today there are about four thousand breeding varieties of callistema, divided into forty species groups. Here they are usually grown by flower growers on their plots as annual asters.
Perennial asters
Perennials asters can belong to two large varieties:
- Early flowering.
- Late blooming.
| Group | Name | Specifications |
|---|---|---|
| Early flowering | Blossoming in May. Height - 15-25 cm. Low-growing, medium-sized flowers (4 cm in diameter), similar to daisies. The color is blue, pink. Usage - rockery, arabesque | |
| Early flowering | Bloom - June. Height - up to 70 cm. Tall, with large flowers from 5 cm in diameter. The color is red-brown, purple. Usage - alpine slides, rocky gardens | |
| Early flowering | Bloom - June. Height - from 75 cm. Very tall shrub with lilac flowers. Used for flower beds and borders | |
| Late blooming | Tall variety - up to 125 cm. Small dwarf - not higher than 40 cm. It blooms in the first autumn month. The flowers are blue, snow-white, burgundy, purple and pink, burgundy | |
| Late blooming | Early autumn - blooms in late August and all September. It grows to a height of 60 cm.The flowers are white and blue | |
| Late blooming | Blooms in late September - October. It grows up to one and a half meters. The largest species, but the flowers are small, no more than 4 cm, not similar to chrysanthemums. Colors - purple, brown, red-pink |
Annual asters
If everything is quite simple with perennial asters, then the annual Chinese classifications have many. They are classified according to:
- growth,
- color,
- flowering time,
- the structure of the inflorescences;
- cultivation goals.
The flowering time is early, middle and late. It starts with the arrival of summer and ends with the arrival of autumn.
The height of the bush is from dwarf forms (20-25 cm) to meter giants.
The colors of summer asters are very diverse: blue, yellow, red, white, pink, blue, purple, burgundy, brown. There are even two colors. So far, only black, orange and green asters have not been brought out.
Asters can be grown for cutting and for decorating flower beds. The latter are subdivided into casing (they are more compact and are used as curb) and universal.
By the structure of inflorescences there are:
- terry, semi-double and non-double;
- curly and rectangular;
- coronary;
- spherical;
- hemispherical;
- needle-like;
- tiled.
Growing asters
Grown by seeds for seedlings and seed seedling method. Moreover, with equal success. You can sow seeds in early April, and admire the flowers in the flower bed in July. But more often, flower growers grow asters seedlings in an apartment or greenhouse. Seedling seedlings bloom earlier.
Asters from seeds in a flower bed
Early varieties can be sown in early April. For late sowing dates - early May. It is desirable that the temperature does not fall below + 10 ° C. In the case of short-term depressions, crops and young seedlings are covered with a film.
- Seeds are sown into four centimeters deep grooves.
- They are covered with soil, watered, mulched to retain moisture.
- You can cover crops with spunbond until shoots appear.
- In the phase of development of three leaves, flower crops must be thinned out, leaving a distance of at least 10 cm between them for undersized varieties and at least 25 - for tall ones.
Determining the sowing time
Asters have a long growing season. Early varieties will bloom three months after sowing. Late may take up to 120 days. This is why asters prefer to grow seedlings.
Late varieties are not afraid of the first autumn frosts, so they can bloom all October and even part of November. You can sow them in May. Early bloom starting in June. It is advisable to propagate them by seedlings, sowing seeds in March.
Sowing before winter
You can sow asters before winter. This method, in contrast to the winter sowing of some garden crops, which has already been mastered by enterprising summer residents, is not yet widely popular, but in vain.
From a scientific point of view, sowing before winter has several advantages. Imagine, the spring is dry, there is not enough moisture, there is no rain. And the seeds sown before winter do not wait for "manna from heaven" - they have enough melted snow to swell and give early shoots. Another situation is a cold, rainy spring, the weather does not allow to cultivate the soil and carry out sowing. And winter seeds are already in the ground, and as soon as the first sun comes out, they are ready to start growing.
Important! The timing of winter sowing is decisive. If aster seeds are sown too early, when warm weather is still possible, they will germinate, and the seedlings will die immediately after the onset of cold weather. If you wait for deep frosts, the soil will freeze and it will be difficult to sow.
Video - How to sow asters before winter
What happens to the seeds of asters sown in the winter. They cool down (do not freeze, since they are covered and mulched), thus passing through the cold stratification procedure. And in the spring, as already noted, they are the first to take all the spring "blessings" in the form of heat, the first sun and moisture from the melted snow. The main thing is that the seeds sown in the cold season are dry and in no case germinated.
Two weeks before winter sowing, aster seeds must be soaked with an average concentration of potassium permanganate solution, and then dried thoroughly.
If in spring the seeds are sown in grooves up to 4 cm deep, then before winter the sowing depth is halved. The sowing pattern is used as for spring. Seeds are laid in the grooves dry and in dry weather, and then mulched with peat, a layer of at least 3 cm (this is necessary not only for "insulation", but also so that a crust does not form on the soil after melt water has receded).
Usually, seedlings of aster seeds sown in November appear as soon as the snow melts. But sometimes they grow right out of the snow. These are especially hardened specimens. You don't have to worry about them - in the spring they will not die anymore, because they have undergone excellent hardening and can even withstand frost down to -7 ° С. And very soon these seedlings will give abundant flower stalks, and in the process of development they will be less susceptible to diseases, in particular, Fusarium, than their spring "neighbors".
Sowing asters for seedlings
Growing in seedlings is the most reliable, although it requires more labor and time. Sowing is done in March or April, depending on the variety.
Seedlings usually do not take long to wait, they hatch already on the fourth or fifth day. But then the aster develops slowly and various problems begin.
Seedling care
The main problem with aster seedlings is the black leg. It arises from decay of the stem base, due to waterlogging of the soil. For prevention, it is necessary to disinfect seedlings after one watering with potassium permanganate and try not to overmoisten the soil.
The temperature after germination should be reduced by 5 degrees, but not abruptly, but gradually, over three days. Optimal for growing seedlings of asters is + 16 ° C.
Seedlings need light at all stages to prevent stretching. If there is little light, additional lighting is carried out.
Picking is mandatory, on three to four real sheets, according to the 40x40 mm scheme. When picking, the central root is pinched by a third.
The composition of the soil for the cut seedlings is the same as for the seeds, but ash must be added to it, one tablespoon per liter of soil.
Watering the transplanted seedlings should be carried out in moderation, only to prevent drying out - the danger of the black leg remains until the seedlings are planted in the ground, where it is replaced by a more formidable scourge - fusarium.
A week after the dive - the first feeding with a mineral complex with an increased nitrogen content. Then top dressing - every week until planting in the flower bed.
Landing of asters
Before planting, the seedlings need to be hardened. Take it outdoors gradually, leaving each day for a longer period of time. For planting, seedlings should have many leaves, at least eight. The optimum height of the planted seedlings is 10 cm. The stem is strong. The bush is squat and lush. You need to plant in April, depending on the variety. The temperature outdoors at night should be at least + 4 ° С.
Asters are best grown in a sunny place, not drained soils. Their predecessors are tagetes and calendula.
- Before planting, the flower bed is weeded from weeds.
- The ground is loosened 6 cm deep.
- Further, the seedlings are moistened in pots.
- In the flowerbed, holes are made according to the size of the seedling containers.
- The soil is watered.
- The distance between seedlings can be 15, 25, and 35 cm, depending on the variety.
- The seedlings moved into the soil do not need to be watered, they should be covered with dry soil.
- Ten days later, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied to the holes.
In the future, asters are unpretentious, taking care of them does not require much effort. They definitely need soil loosening after each moistening (watering, rain, liquid fertilization). Weeds need to be removed near them. Before branching the stem, it is good to huddle it with soil by 5-7 cm - this way the roots will grow faster and develop better.
Excess moisture is harmful to astram, but the deficiency is not useful either. It is better to water them rarely and abundantly in hot weather.
