Annuals & Biennials

Callistephus
China aster

Height 1/2-2 ft (15-75 cm)
Planting distance 1-11/2 ft (30-45 cm)
Flowers midsummer to first frost
Well-drained garden soil
Open, sunny site
Half-hardy annual

Just one species, Callistephus chinensis, is responsible for the many cultivars of China asters on the market - dwarf and tall, single-flowered and double-flowered, mixed colors or one color. The flowers may look like daisies or, depending on the cultivar, may be pomponlike or mimic chrysanthemums or even peonies. In color China asters range from pink, red, purple, blue, and cream to white. Flowering from midsummer to the first frost, they provide excellent color in borders and containers. As they last well in water, they are also suitable for cutting.

Popular species and cultivars
The dwarf cultivars of Chinese aster reach 6-12 in (15-30 cm) high and the tall cultivars 15-30 in (38-75 cm). Single blooms have clearly visible central disks, while double blooms have more petals, concealing the centers.
Dwarf cultivars
'Blue Skies' grows only about 6 in (15 cm) high but is almost smothered with a mass of double, pale lavender-blue flowers.
'Carpet Ball' has tightly packed double flowers in a good color range.
'Comet' is an early-flowering mixture, with double flowers in white and shades of blue and red.
'Crimson Sunset' bears double, deep red flowers.
'Lilliput Duet' has small pomponlike flowers in rose, carmine, pink, and blue.
'Milady' has large, double incurved chrysanthemumlike flowers in a range of rich colors. It is long-lasting and especially weather resistant.
'Pinocchio' is a compact seed mixture, bearing a mass of small, double, ball-shaped blooms.
Tall cultivars
'All Change' has double pomponlike flowers bicolored red and white or blue and white.
'Duchess,' in shades of rose-pink, yellow, crimson, blue, and pure white, is late flowering. It is good for cutting and with flowers like incurved chrysanthemums.
'Early Ostrich Plume Finest Mixed' bears double flowers of feathery, recurving petals in purples, pinks, and white, on 11/2 ft (45 cm) tall plants.
'Florette Champagne' has quilled flowers of soft creamy pink on sturdy stems.
'Giant Single Andrella' has single, many-petaled flowers in white, rose, scarlet, lavender, or blue. Each blossom has a prominent yellow center.
'Gusford Supreme,' 15 in (38 cm) tall, is wilt resistant, with scarlet, white-centered flowers.
'Operetta' is a color mixture of large, double chrysanthemumlike flowers with incurved petals.
'Ostrich Plume' has double flowers with curled and feathery petals in a range of colors.
'Pastel' is a wilt-resistant mixture with double flowers in soft pastel shades.
'Powderpuff Hybrids' produce upright, compact plants with an abundance of tightly double flowers in shades of pink, blue, and purple as well as white.
'Prinette Pink' bears double flowers of pink petals frosted silver at the tips. The 2-ft ( 60-cm) tall plants are resistant to aster diseases.
'Super Princess Symphonie' is a color mixture with large flowers that have tightly quilled petals.

Annuals
and
Biennials