Annual. Lustrous salmony-pink peony-type 2–3" blooms. The Tower Series asters are bred for uniform height and bloom time. In ideal conditions, one sturdy plant can produce up to 20 stems. We’ve found that plants in a lower-input setting still reliably produce at least 8–12 stems.
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| Variety | Product Type | Hybrid Status | Days to Maturity | Lifecycle | Bloom Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Chamois | seeds | open pollinated | 110 days | annual | salmony pink |
| Tower Silver | seeds | open pollinated | 110 days | annual | white and purple |
|
Crego Mix Organic |
seeds | open pollinated | 90 days | annual | multi-colored |
|
Tower Chamois Organic |
seeds | open pollinated | 110 days | annual | salmony pink |
|
Tower Silver Organic |
seeds | open pollinated | 110 days | annual | white and purple |
| Princess Mix | seeds | open pollinated | 110 days | annual | multi-colored |
~450 seeds/g.
Annual. Callistephus is from Greek kallos meaning ‘beautiful’ and stephos, ‘crown.’ The common name of aster comes from the Greek astron, meaning ‘star,’ a reference to their shape and bright colors. The China Aster began its journey west around 1730 when a Jesuit missionary noticed it growing in a field near Beijing. Wildly popular by 1883 when Burpee listed 19 different classes of them compared to two each of marigold and zinnia. Good bedding plants or cutflowers.
Culture: Sow indoors at 70–72° in late winter, transplant after danger of frost. Cut stems when 2–4 flowers have opened. Vase life is 5–7 days, longer if you use a floral preservative. Aster Yellows is a serious disease problem. Use floating row covers to keep out leafhoppers, the vector.
All flower seeds are open-pollinated except where noted.
Days in parentheses after a variety indicate days to first bloom.
Almost all the flowers we list are open- pollinated and easy to save seed from. Some types cross readily, but who cares! Save the seeds, plant them, and be surprised.
These flowers are especially easy to save seed from: bachelor’s buttons, calendula, cerinthe, cosmos, love-in-a- mist (nigella), nasturtium, poppy, strawflower, sunflower, sweet pea and tithonia.
For the latest results of our germination tests, please see the germination page.
All of our seeds are non-GMO, and free of neonicotinoids and fungicides. Fedco is one of the original companies to sign the Safe Seed Pledge.
From early May through mid-December, items shipping from our garden seeds warehouse ship twice a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday. For quickest turnaround time order online by noon EDT Monday or Wednesday.