2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The life of a gardener does not stop even in the winter months, when it seems that all nature is hiding in hibernation in anticipation of the spring sun. In winter, they successfully plant trees prepared by specialized nurseries with huge clods of frozen soil on the roots. From December to February, you can sow Chinese aster in frozen soil, if you work a little first
Popular flower
The annual aster is very popular with flower lovers. Their stems branching from the very base grow to a height of 20 to 90 centimeters.
What an inexperienced person in botany calls an aster flower is actually an inflorescence collected from reed and tubular flowers. The wide range of colors of reed flowers amazes the imagination. There are: white and yellow, blue and cream, all kinds of shades of pink, lilac and lilac, purple and red. In the center of the inflorescence there are yellow tubular flowers, which are not always visible in double inflorescences. The size of the inflorescences depends on the type of plant and varies from 3 to 17 centimeters.
Asters are habitually associated in the minds with September 1, when crowds of smartly dressed and rested children over the summer go to school for knowledge. This association is not accidental, because asters bloom from July or August to autumn frosts.
Growing conditions
Asters are photophilous, therefore, given the reduction in the length of daylight hours by autumn, they should be planted in areas that are well lit.
From soils, light or medium loams are more suitable for them, as well as sandy loams, well fertilized with organic matter.
Reproduction
Asters, sown directly into open ground, give the gardener their flowering in late autumn. To enjoy flowering earlier, you need to plant seedlings asters.
There are three terms for sowing in the ground:
1) Before winter, that is, somewhere after November 10, when the frost will firmly settle in the garden.
2) From December to February, sowing is carried out in frozen ground. To do this, grooves are prepared in advance on the garden bed, which, after sowing, are covered with compost humus prepared in advance.
3) At the end of April after the snow melts.
Flowering time and seed collection
Ground-sown asters (especially for winter sowing) bloom much later than those grown through seedlings. Therefore, it is almost impossible to wait for seeds from such plants. But such asters bloom much longer (1, 5-2 months) and do not get sick, growing in strong and hardened winter chills.
To get aster seeds, you need to use the seedling growing method. Then flowering will take place in July-August, and the seeds will have time to ripen.
It must be remembered that aster seeds lose germination quickly. Therefore, for sowing, it is best to take seeds of the current year, or a maximum of two years ago.
Growing seedlings
Sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out in March-April. Boxes filled with a mixture of turf and sand (3: 1) with the addition of a small amount of leaf humus or peat are placed in a warm room with an air temperature of 18-20 degrees..
So that the seedlings do not get sick with a black leg, 2-2.5 centimeters of river sand, well washed, are poured onto the soil mixture. Soil prevention does not end there. It also needs to be poured abundantly with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (1.5 grams per 10 liters of water).
Seeds are covered with dry sand, a layer of 5-6 millimeters. After sprouting, do not rush to water them, this can be done in a week. For the successful growth of seedlings, a temperature of 15-16 degrees is enough.
If necessary, the seedlings dive. Before planting in the ground, two mineral dressings are made: 1-1, 5 weeks after the pick; the second time three weeks after the first feeding. Seasoned seedlings are not afraid of frosts down to minus 3 degrees, so such seedlings can be planted in the garden in mid-May. Asters do not get stressed, even if they are planted during the budding period.
Use in the garden
Asters will decorate any type of flower garden. From them you can arrange a picturesque rabatka or border. They will harmoniously fit into any flower bed, mixborder, in which they can decorate any of its plans, if their height is chosen correctly.
With a separate curtain, they will revive the autumn green lawn. And bouquets of large, and not very large, inflorescences are classics of autumn bouquets.
Compact bushes of undersized varieties of asters, giving abundant flowering, feel comfortable in boxes and flowerpots that adorn balconies, verandas and terraces.
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