With blue in the garden, there are always some miracles. It is constantly scarce. It is much easier to achieve an abundance of bright greenery by diluting it with burgundy roses, scarlet asters. White lilies of the valley, red and yellow tulips - they make it so easy to create a colorful flower bed. But if you decide to add blue to it, then problems arise. Delphiniums, bluebells, phloxes and asters - there seems to be a wide choice, and as a result you get different shades, but all are a bit different than you wanted. And practically the only plant that is the color of bright, piercing blue stars is the gentian seven-parted.
General Description
These are amazing flowers that love cold and high. Probably why they got such a wonderful color. Like the sky in the mountains, like a river through transparent ice, blue glasses that are impossible not to notice. If you've been to the mountains, you've probably seen them. Gentian seven-part grows in the vicinityBaikal. Against the backdrop of snow-white glaciers, these amazing flowers raise their heads.
Don't try to dig them up and plant them in the garden. Wild plants are not adapted to life in well-moistened and nutritious soil. Therefore, it is better to buy seeds of adapted plants. Gentian seven-parted today is grown with great success by breeders, so there will be no problems with acquiring seeds or seedlings.
Botanical characteristics
In fact, the plant belongs to a fairly large family with the same name - gentian. Gentian seven-parted is just one of the varieties. The name itself suggests that some parts have a pronounced, bitter taste. This is due to the presence of glycosides in the composition.
There are many species on the territory of Russia. Gentians come in different heights, from miniature ones that do not exceed 10 cm, to very tall ones that reach the height of an adult. The choice of plant depends on the characteristics of your site, the size of the flower bed and the height of other flowers.
An unpretentious guest in your garden
This is exactly the gentian seven-parted. This low plant has about 30 cm in height. It is completely covered with narrow leaves. The flowers are dark blue, deep shade form a large, capitate inflorescence. Flowering continues from mid-June until the arrival of frost. The plant is widely used as an ornamental.
Growing this amazing plant will be a great option for the garden, inwhich has a rockery or rock garden. Gentian seven-part Lagodekhi is a real diamond of the garden, inaccessible and mysterious, rare and beautiful. Many believe that this plant will not overwinter in our gardens. Nothing like that, you just need to know how to care for him.
Some gardeners are giving up on the idea of planting gentian. They believe that planting and caring for these plants is incredibly difficult. It’s just that they don’t grow, they literally need to live in the garden. We hasten to assure you that there are significantly fewer worries with them than with roses, dahlias or gladioli. But they are in almost every garden. Gentian seven-part Lagodekhi is very beautiful and unpretentious. She loves partial shade and fertile land, so she will decorate any front garden.
Reproduction
The easiest way to sow them in the garden. Make a small bed and put the seeds on the surface in the fall, lightly sprinkled with earth. Later, snow will cover them, and they will winter well. You can use an alternative. Seeds are sown in a cup of wet sand and put on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. In January-February, the temperature is raised to +10, maintaining this mode for two weeks. After that, they are again cleaned on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. By the beginning of April, they will be ready for sowing in the ground.
Miniature species can be propagated by cuttings from young rosettes. But it is better not to divide the seven-part gentian. Injury to the root neck can lead to the death of the plant. A very convenient way is cuttings with vegetative shoots that need to be broken out with a heel. Landinggentian seven-part is performed in the spring.
Sprouting seeds
This is the easiest way to grow gentian in your garden. Photos can be found in the online store, and then order the selected bag. Keep in mind that the seeds are very small, open carefully. They need to be stratified for 3 months at a temperature of +7 degrees. Sow freshly harvested seeds. They are mixed with sand and scattered over the surface, slightly pressing against the soil. Larger ones can be lightly sprinkled with earth. But most often this is not required.
Gardening
If you show a little patience, then the seven-part gentian will soon grow on your site. A photo of this plant captivates at first sight, prompting the gardener to find and plant its seeds. This plant is suitable for cultivation in the garden, but at the same time it is difficult to give general recommendations. In any case, you need to choose a place for it that is not too open, light partial shade is preferable.
The soil must be selected close to the composition on which the species you have chosen lives in nature. For example, a seven-part variety grows on stones, so it needs to create similar conditions in the garden. For this, a mound is made of fertile soil, and after that it is strengthened with stones. Flowers are planted between them. But these plants do not tolerate transplantation well, so it is advisable to select a place for them right away.
Essential lighting
It is very important that they have enough light, otherwise you will neverget such bright whisks as in the photo. Gentian feels great in partial shade, but the lack of light has a bad effect on it. Being deprived of sunlight, the stems are stretched, this affects the decorative effect and the quality of flowering. Like all varieties that bloom in midsummer, they should not be planted in areas that are open to the midday sun. A good option would be to choose a place near water bodies or water collectors.
Despite the fact that they are usually considered as a culture for rock gardens, the classic southern locations are not at all preferred for them. Delicate corollas burn out in the bright sun. In addition, the soil here will dry out very quickly. Therefore, in rockeries, it is best to use them in western exposures. Then the plants will delight you with exquisite flowers.
Preparing a landing site
It is very important to stop using places with heavy, waterlogged soil, lowlands. On average, all gentians prefer soil that is light, nutritious, well-permeable to moisture. Therefore, a planting hole or hill should be created with a good drainage layer.
The seven-part variety needs rocky soil. To do this, a mixture of clay, a small amount of peat, leaf humus and large gravel is made. If you want to create a decorative composition, then the top layer is laid out from large stones and fastened together with a cement composition. Then you get a long-term flower bed.
Planting and care
Gentian seven-separate is very capricious precisely inlanding plan. If you injure the root system, then you will not be destined to see its flowers. Landing is carried out at the end of April or September. In this case, single and growing in a group plants are planted in individual holes. It is not recommended to thicken plantings, the maximum density is about 20 cm per square meter. The minimum distance between plants is two rosette diameters.
Before the direct planting of bushes, it is required to carefully prepare the soil. To do this, it is recommended to dig it twice. In places with insufficient water permeability and friability, lay drainage from large stones and rubble. The diameter of the planting hole should be three times larger than the plant itself. In this case, seedlings can not be buried in the ground. They should remain flush with the garden soil line.
Gentian is planted using fertilizers and substances that the plant needs for growth and development. To do this, bone and horn meal are added to each hole during planting. For this variety, it is recommended to mulch the soil with coarse sand. But for other forms, it is best to use peat, which will provide nutrition and good water permeability.
Wintering
This is the moment that raises the most questions among flower growers. In fact, this plant does not require complex care. Gentian is a hardy crop that survives well in the mountains, in extreme conditions. Therefore, in central Russia, as well as in Siberia, it winters without any shelter. exceptions may behigh rock gardens on which snow does not linger. Without natural shelter, flowers can freeze and come out poorly in spring.
In this case, care must be taken to keep the snow on the artificial hill. To do this, it is necessary to build a semblance of a grid, which is laid out with spruce branches. It will hold the snow well and your plants will be safe.
Make good flowering
Everyone wants their garden to look like a picture or photo. Gentian, the care of which is not too difficult, is quite suitable for the role of both the central and framing plant of the composition. It depends on your preference. With the right selection of growing conditions, all the efforts of the grower come down to banal maintenance watering. This provides light but necessary soil moisture during the dry season. This is mainly important during the flowering and budding period.
For gentian, moisture stagnation is unacceptable. Therefore, with excessive precipitation, it is better to take additional measures to loosen the soil. This is important to speed up its drying.
Pruning and top dressing
For any garden plants, these are topical issues. But gentian is that rare option when you can refuse them without compromising flowering and growth. To maintain the normal nutritional value of the soil, it is enough to update the mulch with peat in early spring with the addition of bone meal and limestone. It should also be noted that the need for mineral and organic fertilizers increases depending on how plentifulgentian blooms. Planting and care (the photo shows how beautiful she is during this period) involves the use of fresh, nutritious soil.
But constant flowering provokes its gradual depletion. And the brighter and more magnificent the corollas, the more nutrients they require. Abundantly flowering gentians on completely impoverished soils with irregular textures can be fed with a weakened dose of mineral fertilizers. Active top dressing does not lead to better growth, but to the death of plants.
Diseases and pests
This plant surprisingly harmoniously enters into any flower bed and, unlike tender, greenhouse seedlings, is very rarely affected by pests and diseases. This usually occurs when the soil becomes waterlogged and the growing conditions are violated. Therefore, you can not be afraid that your alpine slide will become bald and unattractive in one moment.
Snails and slugs can be an exception. These creatures are omnivores, and if they have chosen your flower garden, they will eat everything that comes in their way. You can collect them manually or with the help of special traps. Chemicals also work well against them, but most often there is no need to use heavy artillery.
Fungal infection is another danger that cannot be ruled out. If signs of damage are found, the plant must be completely removed, or still he althy specimens should be transplanted into more suitable conditions for them. Fungal infections are always closely related to the level of humidity. But today there are a number of systemic drugs that will serve as reliable protection even in rainy weather.period.
Varieties
Gentian seven-parted is a common name that combines a lot of variations. In addition, closely related species easily interbreed with each other. Therefore, under this name, you can find plants of different shades of blue and blue, as well as original, two-color varieties.
- Gentian Lagodekhi - dark blue with white. A very interesting view that will become a real decoration of your garden. But if you are waiting for the piercing blue of flowers, then you did not guess a little. This variety has a deep, dark shade with a white center. All in all, a very interesting variety. It can live even on dry soil and with excessively hot sun. Actual for gardeners who do not want to rack their brains and pick up their place for each plant. The plant patiently tolerates a high content of limestone in the soil, as well as low temperatures. Gentian seven-parted var lagodekhiana grows quite large. Flowers are collected in capitate inflorescences. They adorn erect stems covered with lanceolate, sessile leaves. Flowering begins in June and lasts quite a long time. Gentian seven-parted var lagodekhiana is one of the few species that can bloom until frost. To do this, she needs partial shade and sufficient humidity.
- Gentian sevenfold Christie. It is a plant with a rising stem and short side shoots. The flowers are dark blue, in dense inflorescences. Flowering begins in mid-summer. It grows well in partial shade on moisture-intensive, clay soils. The easiest way to grow heryour site is to sow seeds before winter. They will undergo stratification and rise together next year.
The list goes on and on. The genus includes more than 300 varieties. About 90 of them grow in Russia. They are widespread in the Caucasus and Western Siberia. In the meadows and fields, you can find pulmonate and cruciform gentian. In the mountains of Western Europe, stemless and spring varieties can be found. The Alpine belt has its own beauty, it is called cold gentian. All these are perennial plants that delight with bright blue corollas. In the arid and desert regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia, a variety of Olivier is found. Among them there are also species that are famous for their medicinal properties, so it cannot be said that this plant is exclusively decorative.
Gentian in garden design
These extraordinary plants will bring beauty and originality to your garden. They will fill it with deep shades of blue and make it extraordinary. Gentian blooms in July, so for normal growth and development, it requires high humidity. The low variety is good in borders. Their bright blue color is in perfect harmony with white, pink, yellow flowers. They are indispensable in rockeries and on the lower tiers of the alpine slide. Peerless, blue funnel-shaped flowers look harmoniously next to saxifrage and cereals.
Use in traditional medicine
For the first time decoctions and infusions of this plant were used in ancient Rome. They were used as a means totreatment of gastric diseases, as well as plague. In the Middle Ages, gentian was prescribed by doctors for diarrhea and tuberculosis, as an anthelmintic. It was especially popular in the Carpathians, here it was used to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. And today, doctors confirm that the glycosides contained in it contribute to the excitation of appetite. The people used gentian as a tonic, antitussive.
Instead of a conclusion
Gentian is not the most common garden flower. Therefore, if you want to surprise your guests, then try planting it in your flower beds. Delicate, blue bells will be the best decoration from mid-summer until the very frost. They are not suitable for cutting, but look very good surrounded by buttercups, marigolds, and various cereals. The main thing is that large plants do not cover them completely.
Effective are compositions in which gentian is planted in small lakes against the background of other, low plants. Ideal would be any flower beds in its frame. Even after flowering time is over, the dense rosettes still look very pretty.
