Callistephus chinensis King Size Mix - China aster

Callistephus chinensis 'King Size Mix' is a mix that offers very large fully double flowers in a variety of colours. The plant is tall, the stems are strong and straight, and the colour palette includes shades of pink, apricot, medium blue, pink, red, and pure white. Perfect in pots or flower beds, it makes an excellent cut flower, lasting a long time in bouquets. This annual plant is easy to grow. It can be sown in a greenhouse or directly in the ground, in a well-exposed, fertile, and well-drained soil.

Callistephus chinensis, also known as Chinese Aster, is a Chinese annual plant from the Asteraceae family with a very ancient cultivation that has produced and still produces many interesting varieties for flower beds and cut flowers. 'King Size Mix' forms a well-branched plant and reaches a height of 1m (3ft) in a few months, with a width of 40cm (16in). Its stems bear oval, dentate, bright green leaves. Flowering occurs from June to September, depending on the sowing date, with 8cm (3in) diameter heads composed of several rows of ligulate or petal-like florets surrounding a centre of fertile florets. The plant only lives for one season, flowering and producing seeds.

Callistephus chinensis 'King Size Mix', with its tall stature, stands out in sunny flower beds. It grows in well-drained and cool soils, even limestone soils. Although somewhat out of fashion, the so-called Chinese asters remain highly decorative plants, planted in large clumps among other annuals or perennials. The plants flower for months if care is taken to remove faded flowers. They make beautiful and long-lasting bouquets when mixed with other wildflowers. Sow them in the vegetable garden to obtain a profusion of flowers in late summer, if only for bouquets. Among the wide range of varieties, you will find flowers of various shapes, resembling those of chrysanthemums, with thin, tapered petals, sometimes even fringed, in pompoms or single like those of the species. The large varieties with single or fully double flowers like 'King Size Mix' bring life to the back of flower beds. Combine them with plants with different flower shapes and colours.