I had trouble finding seeds for the Milady Asters I’ve been growing for the last 7 years. I finally resorted to ordering from a 3rd party seller on Amazon. Those seeds had zero percent germination. I tried seeding and reseeding and even making a third attempt but those seeds were “really most sincerely dead.”
Thankfully I had a few leftovers in my seed packet from two years ago, so I tried those instead. Success! But that meant my plants got a very late start. They only started opening up last week.
Milady asters grow 10-12 inches tall with 3-inch flowers. One benefit of starting late this year is that they are blooming when all my other annuals are looking a little tired (or suffering from diseases).
Milady asters come in purple, pink, violet and white.
They are susceptible to Aster yellows which can cause chlorosis or stunting, but that risk is worth it for those lovely chrysanthemum-like flowers.