Callistephus chinensis Garden Hit Blue Tipped White

This Garden Hit Blue Tipped White China Aster or Callistephus chinensis variety offers an unusual coloration, with light blue semi-double flowers punctuated with white at the tip of each petal. Carried by vigorous and sturdy stems, they are perfect for bouquets and last a long time in vases. This plant forms erect clumps, its vegetation is quite resistant to fusarium. This annual flower is easy to grow and bloom. Sow under glass or directly in open ground. They appreciate full sun, fertile and well-drained soil.

The China Aster, also known as Queen Marguerite, is a Chinese annual plant of the Asteraceae family, with a very ancient culture that has produced and still produces many interesting varieties for flower beds and cut flowers. The plants of the Garden Hit Blue Tipped White variety reach a height of 60 cm (23.6 in) in a few months and are well-branched, with very sturdy stems carrying oval and toothed bright green leaves. The flowering takes place from June to September, in 4 to 6 cm (2.4 in) diameter heads, semi-double, in light blue to mauve more or less marked with white, around a golden center.

The China Aster is a flagship plant for flower beds. Its flowers create somewhat naive but unforgettable scenes. Somewhat out of fashion, they remain highly decorative plants, planted in large clumps in flower beds, as their flowers are perfect for rustic bouquets, and the plants bloom for months if care is taken to remove faded flowers. Even just for bouquets, sow them in the vegetable garden to get a profusion of flowers in late summer. Among the wide range of varieties, there are flowers of various shapes resembling chrysanthemums, with very slender and sometimes even ruffled petals, in pompons, or simple like those of the species. They come in many shades, ranging from white to yellow, through all shades of pink and purple. Dwarf cultivars will be perfect for border decoration and will thrive in balcony planters, while tall varieties with very double flowers, like the Garden Hit Blue Tipped White selection, will enliven the back of flower beds.