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Common Name: | Crinitaria, Microglossa |
| Scientific Name: | Aster | |
| Family: | Asteraceae / Compositae | |
| Origin: | well-drained, mountainous sites to moist woodland in the N. hemisphere, particularly North America | |
| Leaves: | alternate, entire, simple, lance-shaped; some softly hairy |
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| Flowers: | daisy-like, either solitary or borne in terminal corymbs, racemes or panicles, strap-shaped female ray-florets in white, pink, blue or purple and tubular, hermaphrodite, usually yellow disc-florets |
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| Light: | from full sun to partial shade |
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| Soil: | well-cultivated, fertile, moist - for sun or partial shade places; well-drained, open, moderately fertile - for full sun places; moist, moderately fertile - for partial shade |
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| Fertilizer: | mulch annually after cutting back in late autumn |
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| Air humidity: | normal |
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| Watering: | freely |
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| Transplanting: | every third year divide cultivars of A. novae-angliae and A. novi. belgii |
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| Dimensions: | not more than 1 m |
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| Propagation: | sow seed in containers in a cold frame in spring or autumn, divide or separate runners, preferably in spring, otherwisein autumn, root basal cuttings in spring |
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| Life: | annual, biennial, perennial and subshrub depending on cultivar |
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| Pests and diseases: | vulnerable to eelworms, aphids, slugs, snails, Fusarium wilt, leaf spot and grey mould; A. novi-belgii are prone to powdery mildew and tarsonemid mites |
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| Species and varieties: | A. acris, A. albescens, A. alpinus, A. amelloides, A. amellus, A. capensis, A. coelestis, A. cardifolius, A. corymbosus, A. diffusus, A. divaricatus, A. ericoides, A. x frikartii, A. himalaicus, A. lateriflorus, A. linosyris, A. mongolicus, A. natalensis, A. novae-angliae, A. novi-belgii, A. pappei, A. pinnatifidus, A. pringlei, A. sedifolius, A. thomsonii, A. tongolensis, A. turbinellus, A. vimineus, A. yomena |
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| Tips: | stake tall perennials from early spring |
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| Hardness: | fully hardy to frost tender |
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