Aster
Family astroves.
Herbaceous perennials;stem erect;inflorescence - basket;reed flowers of various forms and colors, tubular flowers - yellow;fruit seed. Astra alpine ♦ Plant height up to 50 cm;the stalk is pubescent;basal leaves oblong, shovel-kovidnye, pubescent, cauline - regular, small, narrow-lanceolate( almost linear);baskets are single, up to b cm in diameter;blooms in May-June. The varieties differ in color, the most common are: "Al-ba" - white;"Duskla Shene" - dark purple;"Golif" - light purple;"Ruber" - pink and red, etc. Astra Italian * Plant height up to 60 cm;stalk densely pubescent;leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate, entire;The baskets are collected in loose flaps, each diameter is up to 4 cm;blooms in July-October. The most common varieties: "Henry Seibert" - light pink;"Gnome" is purple;"Rose" - pink, etc. Aster bushy ♦ Plant height up to 50 cm;stem softly erupted, strongly branched;leaves lanceolate;The baskets are collected in loose flaps, each diameter is up to 3 cm;blossoms from the middle of September to the end of October. The most common varieties: "Diana" - pink;
"Shpetroze" - dark pink. Astra New England * Plant height up to 2 m;stems numerous, strongly branched;leaves lanceolate, rough;baskets are collected in a thick brush of 25 - 30 pieces, each up to 4 cm in diameter;blooms in September.
The most common varieties: "Bars Pink" - red;"Doctor Eckener" - red-violet;"Constance" - dark purple, etc. Astra Novobelgian * Plant height up to 150 cm;stalk naked or pubescent, strongly branched;leaves oblong-lanceolate;baskets in a paniculate inflorescence, up to 2 cm in diameter each;blooms in September. The most common varieties: "Amethyst" - half-mahogany, dark-purple;"Brichwood Rayel" is purple-red;"Otorberfest" is a semi-double blue;"Saturn" - blue, etc. Unpretentious plants.
Humidity requirements: no pronounced preference;optimum constant moderate humidity, during periods of drought, requires irrigation.
Requirements for heat and light: prefer sunny places, but can grow in partial shade.
Requirements for soil: any, except for strongly acidic and strongly alkaline, but prefers loamy soils.
Reproduction: by seeds( sown in open ground), by dividing the kueta, by cuttings.
Features: resistant to bad weather, pests and diseases. At one place can grow about six years.
Use: flowerbeds, borders, rock gardens;often for cutting.