Astra varietal group “Princess” includes a variety of varieties that are distinguished by the splendor of buds, brightness and variety of colors, unpretentiousness to growing conditions. Each of them is unique and beautiful in its own way. Among the wide variety, you can choose the one that you like. Astra “Princess” transforms the garden, helps to create unusual flower arrangements, effectively arrange a flower bed. We can say with confidence that this is one of the most attractive flowers in the garden.
Description
Asters, which belong to the “Princess” series, are late-flowering plants with straight, strong stems branching at the top. Reach 50 – 80 cm in height. Leaf blades are lanceolate, sessile, dark green, with alternate arrangement.
Inflorescences solitary, formed in the upper part of the stems. Attached to long peduncles, reaching about half a meter. The flowers are large, hemispherical, up to 15 cm in diameter, very lush. Reed flowers are arranged in 5 rows, slightly bent back. Tubular flowers are located in the central part of the bud. The color of the buds is varied, depending on the variety. Flowering begins in mid-summer, lasts until late autumn.
Variety type “Princess” is used in group plantings, used to create flower beds, flowerbeds, cutting.
Varieties
“Princess Diana” – an aster variety, which is a sprawling bush about 80 cm high. The stems are highly branched, with dark green foliage densely growing on them. The flowers are large, up to 11 cm in diameter, spherical, very voluminous, consist of several tiers of white petals. Closer to the central part, the petals are yellowish. Up to 30 buds can form on one bush per season. This variety begins to bloom in July. The flowers stay on the plant until frost.
“Princess mix” – a varietal mixture of asters with flowers of different colors: lilac, purple, crimson, white, yellow, blue. Buds reach 10 cm in diameter. The bush grows up to 70 cm.
“Princess copper-red” – a variety characterized by lush large double inflorescences with a diameter of 12 cm. The color of the flowers is red-orange. During flowering, the bush looks very bright, adding rich colors to even the most nondescript part of the garden.
“Super Princess Mix of Colors” – an aster, which is a tall sprawling bush, reaching 70 – 90 cm. It consists of straight branching stems covered with rich green foliage. Inflorescences are spherical, various colors. Flowering lasts from the beginning of August to the middle – the end of September.
“Princess is beautiful” – a varietal mixture with densely double flowers of yellow, lilac, white, hot pink. The bush reaches 70 cm in height. Strong branching of shoots and an abundance of foliage make it lush, sprawling. Flowering begins in the last summer month, lasts until the onset of cold weather.
“Benari princesses” is a popular aster variety, which is a strong dense bush with powerful branching stems up to 70 cm high. The flowers are spherical, 10 cm in diameter, rich red, with a yellow central part. Flowering lasts until October. The variety is frost-resistant, unpretentious to growing conditions.
“Sylvia” is another variety quite common among domestic gardeners, belonging to the “Princess” variety type. This spreading shrub reaches a little less than a meter in height. Valued for lush carmine-red flowers, the diameter of which is 10 – 12 cm. Flowering continues from mid-summer to October.
Growing from seed
The “Princess” group of varieties is often found on plots. In order to grow a strong, abundantly flowering bush, you need to take into account some points when growing. For the first time, this culture is obtained using seeds that are purchased in a store. If the aster “Princess” is already in the garden, it is enough to collect the seeds after flowering, and in the spring plant them in open ground or seedlings.
To achieve early flowering, seeds should be planted for seedlings in January – February. By the end of April – mid-May, the plants will grow up, get stronger, they can be planted in open ground.
Before sowing, the seeds are kept for 30 minutes in a weak solution of manganese, then removed for a couple of days in a damp cloth. During this time, sprouts hatch from the seeds. After that, they are planted in a substrate, which is purchased at a store for growing seedlings, or they are made independently by mixing river sand, humus, garden soil in a ratio of 1: 1: 2.
A layer of drainage is laid out at the bottom of the sowing container. Soil is poured from above, on which the seed is evenly distributed. Seeds are covered with a layer of earth, covered with polyethylene. For storage they take it to a warm room with a temperature of 24 – 26 degrees.
After the appearance of sprouts, the shelter is removed, the seedlings are transferred to a well-lit windowsill. Young plants are regularly cared for in the form of watering. Planted on the site with the onset of warm spring days.
You can also plant seeds immediately in open ground in spring or before winter. When sowing in late autumn, the seed material is not subjected to processing. During spring sowing, watering is carried out with the addition of chemicals that accelerate plant growth. After the emergence of seedlings, plantings are thinned out, leaving 5–7 cm between plants.
Care
Caring for the Princess variety series is very simple and consists mainly in properly adjusted watering. It is only necessary to moisten the soil around the bushes when its top layer dries out after the previous watering. An excess of moisture in the substrate should not be allowed, which this crop will tolerate worse than drought.
After planting seedlings and watering, it is recommended to immediately mulch the area near the plant in order to avoid frequent loosening of the earth and eliminating weeds.
During the season, 2 – 3 top dressings are required, using a mineral complex for flowering plants. The first – during the growing season, the second – during the formation of buds, the third – at the height of flowering, or at its completion.
The selection of photos below shows the varieties of aster flower of the Princess series, where the characteristic features of each of them are visible:
