In the gardens of the northern latitudes, flowers grow rather undemanding to care. Water collector - such a name was received by the people of aquilegia. This is the perfect combination of simplicity and elegance. Another advantage of aquilegia is its flowering at the very beginning of summer, when the rest of the plants are just starting to turn green.
Aquilegia are amazing flowers. This is a lovely perennial plant with a bushy green part and beautiful, oddly shaped flowers. Now scientists have discovered more than 120 of its species growing in the Northern Hemisphere. The water collector reaches 1-1.2 m in height, has three-lobed complex leaves of dark green color and bluish veins on them. Flowers reach 10 cm in diameter, located on a long pedicel. They can be simple or complex and always have spurs.
The structure of a flower is complex:
- The corolla is represented by 3-5 rows of petals of various structures.
- The inner row has underdeveloped petals that make up a single bunch.
- The middle row of 5-6 petals forms an asymmetrical corolla.
- The outer row of petals is similar tofive-pointed star.
- An important feature of aquilegia is the obligatory presence of spurs on the reverse side.
Reproduction
The water collector is a flower that has a multi-color solution in nature, and breeders are working on breeding single-color representatives of this species. Flowering occurs from early June to late July. In place of flowers, leaflets are formed by the end of August.
The seeds are oval, shiny, black, and small in size. How does a water collector reproduce? The flower is often bred by cuttings and dividing the bush. Much less often - seeds.
Aquilegia Landing
The water collector is a flower that prefers autumn planting. This time has a positive effect on friendly shoots in the spring. The plant will bloom in the second year, and a year later it will reach its full development. Seeds are sown in September to a depth of 5-10 mm (watering is not necessary), the planting site is covered with manure for the winter, and in the spring, in April, the shelter is removed and the crops are watered with warm water. Seedlings erupt after 7 days. When the water collector flower reaches 5-7 cm in height, it is transplanted to a permanent place (scheme 60x60). After transplanting young flowers, they must be watered abundantly and protected from the scorching sun in order to prevent the death of plants. Mostly it should be a sunny place, but the water collector is a flower that is quite reconciled with partial shade. Do not plant other varieties of plants next to aquilegia to avoid cross-pollination.
Transplant Care
Soil conditions are not a critical indicator for aquilegia, but it will respond to fertilized soil with abundant flowering and lush vegetation. Aquilegia does not tolerate even a short-term drying of the earth. This can lead to abscission of flowers and buds. Therefore, do not forget about regular abundant watering and top dressing 3-4 times per season. A water collector is a flower that can grow without a transplant for 5-8 years or more. Then the bush needs to be divided or updated. The mesmerizing beauty of aquilegia will lead to the appearance of many varieties of its various colors on your site.
