Planting guide

When to plant china aster

Full, fluffy autumn blooms that make superb cut flowers. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Dec.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Flowers in: 13–17 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Colours: pink, purple, white, red, blue, multi
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means china aster can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant china aster

Sow seed in trays in spring and plant out after frost.
Rotate beds; asters are prone to wilt disease.
Water at the base and stake taller types.
Cut when blooms are about half open.

China aster varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Crego Giant Classictall · 13–17 wksSold by The Seed Collection, Seeds of Plenty
Perfection Mix Classicmixed · 13–17 wksMixed colours
Powderpuffs Mix Classicmixed · 13–17 wksMixed colours
Single Rainbow Mixed Classiccolourful · mixed · 13–17 wksMixed colours
Tall China Mix Classicmixed · tall · 13–17 wksMixed colours
Benary's Princess Blue Classic13–17 wksBlue flowers

Where to buy seeds

Buy on The Seed Collection Buy on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds

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China aster by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Sweet pea · Snapdragon · Larkspur · Stock · Dahlia · Gladiolus

Not sure china aster is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now