Echinacea is an amazing plant that came to Europe from North America. The beautiful flower contains a huge healing power, thanks to which it is used by folk and traditional medicine to treat various diseases. In addition, the plant is very decorative, unpretentious in cultivation, grows for a long time in one area, so it should be planted in your garden. Read about growing echinacea flowers in this article.
General information
This plant from the Astrov family has five to nine species and many varieties that differ in flower size, petal color and other characteristics. But only purple echinacea received detailed study. Therefore, when it comes to this flower, most often this variety is meant.
Echinacea flower comes from North America. In the wild, the habitats are fields, rocky hills,limestone wastelands, damp soils, dry steppes, light sparse forests, but always these should be open spaces. The indigenous people, the Indians, knew about the healing properties of the plant, so a century ago they cultivated it and began to grow it for medicinal purposes. The perennial echinacea flower came to Europe after the American continent was discovered. In our country, the European part is the place of growth.
Echinacea: description and cultivation
This culture belongs to perennial herbaceous medicinal plants with erect stems. Their height reaches 60-100 cm, sometimes one and a half meters. Branched roots have numerous shoots that go deep into the soil by 25 cm.
Wide leaves form a rosette. In the root zone, they are attached to the stem on long petioles, in the stem zone - on short ones. Flowering continues throughout the summer. The fruits, in the form of tetrahedral achenes, are brown in color and five to six millimeters long. The diameter of the inflorescences-baskets is 10-12 cm. Their location is the tops of the stems. For the purple color of the lovely flowers, this plant is called the "American golden flower" or "evening sun." Attractive inflorescences are a decoration of gardens and excellent honey plants.
Echinacea: growing a perennial flower from seed
This plant is bred in two ways: seed and vegetative. In the second case, the rhizome is subject to division into parts. This can be done with the onset of spring or at the end of autumn. When growing echinacea from seeds, they do not need to be stratified, butshoots do not appear soon, after about 40 days. Germination requires moisture and warmth. Therefore, seeds are not sown immediately in open ground. First, they are placed in a greenhouse, only then the grown seedlings are planted in the garden at a permanent place of growth, otherwise only the formation of a rosette of leaves will occur this year.
For echinacea to bloom in the same summer, seeds for seedlings should be sown in February, at the end of the month, or in March. To do this, nutrient soil is poured into the box and planting material is scattered over its surface. Seeds are deepened a centimeter into the soil and sprinkled on top of the earth. The optimum temperature for their germination is 13°C. Planting seedlings in the soil of the garden plot is carried out in May, in the middle of the month. To do this, choose a place well-lit by the sun.
Vegetative propagation
Echinacea can be propagated by dividing the rhizome. This should be done in early spring, before the leaves begin to bloom and the shoots become woody. In order for parts of the rhizome to take root faster and develop better, they are placed for some time in a solution that stimulates plant growth. During the planting of delenki, special attention is paid to the root collars, they should not be deepened, they should be left at the level of the ground surface.
Meristem method of reproduction
The most common method is to grow echinacea flowers from seeds. However, industrial plant breeding puts forward its own conditions: a huge number of copies of the required varieties are needed. Therefore, nurseries grow Echinacea meristemally. Tiny plants appear in early spring, they are immediately sent for sale.
If you have such a plant in your house, you need to transplant it into another container with nutrient soil, put it in the shade and do not forget to water it. After a month and a half, planted in the garden for permanent growth. Such plants are sometimes placed in open ground immediately after purchase. In this case, they need to be covered with plastic bottles, cutting out the bottom. These will be peculiar greenhouses for tiny flowers.
Landing
Echinacea in one place grows up to five years, so the place for its growth must be chosen carefully. You should know that the shade and even partial shade is not for this flower, in such conditions it will simply die. The site must be sunny. The composition of the soil is not of particular importance for this plant, the main thing is that it should not be sandy. Echinacea flower planting and care after the procedure can be carried out both in autumn and in spring. As for care, it is carried out throughout the growing season.
When planting seedlings grown from seeds, small holes are dug at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. Their depth is five to seven centimeters. Pour compost into each hole and mix it with the soil. If adult seedlings purchased together with pots are planted, the depth of the holes should be greater, about 40 cm. For 1/3 of their volume, the holes are filled with a mixture, which includes equal amounts of garden soil, sand and compost. Plant in a purchased pot firstwell watered, then carefully removed, no need to shake off a lump of earth. Then it is planted in the hole. The planting depth of the Echinacea flower should be the same as in the pot.
Indoor flower
Many people know about the healing properties of echinacea, but it is easier for herbal medicine fans to go to the pharmacy for a medicinal collection. That's in vain, this plant can be grown on the windowsill. The home flower echinacea is called "prickly as a hedgehog". Indeed, the large center of the pineal-shaped inflorescences is somewhat reminiscent of an animal that has released its spines. The popular name is "American chamomile".
Gardeners know a flower as a plant that is grown in the open field. But there were enthusiasts and learned how to breed echinacea at home. It turned out to be convenient: both beautiful and profitable. In the wild, the height of the plant reaches one meter or more. In the interior of an apartment, especially a small one, such flowers are too bulky. Therefore, undersized varieties are grown on the windowsill: lilac-purple, red or orange-purple, pale pink.
The technology of sowing seeds is the same as for seedlings. It is described above in the article. When the hatched sprouts get stronger, they are seated in separate flower pots, in which they will grow constantly. Plants do not need special care.
Home conditions
For good growth, pots with seedlings are placed on a sunny windowsill, located in a south or southeast direction in relation to parts of the world. During the warm periodtime the plants need to be taken out to the balcony or veranda. When the end of August comes, the indoor echinacea flower should be brought into the apartment and treated with a strong infusion of garlic.
This is a protective measure against pathogenic microbes and small pests that could affect the plant on the street. In winter, "American chamomile" should grow in a bright, cool room with an air temperature of 12-14 ° C. At this time, watering is reduced, top dressing is completely excluded.
Similar crops
Flowers similar to Echinacea are daisies, gerberas, gazanias, coreopsis, chrysanthemums, pyrethriums and others. They are used in the preparation of bouquet compositions and for growing in flower beds, they are unpretentious in care and frost-resistant. They are distinguished by a long flowering period and beauty. Echinacea and similar flowers bear a great resemblance.
- Daisies with echinacea are similar in the first, purely visual perception, since the inflorescences of these two plants are in the form of baskets, and this is immediately "striking" to the eye. But in fact, the receptacle and middle flowers differ in structure, the extreme ones in color and size. In echinacea, they are large, 10-12 cm in diameter. The petals are long, often hanging down.
- Some varieties of echinacea are similar in appearance to gerberas. In addition, they can stand in the same way cut in water for two weeks or more. You just need to put them in partial shade, in a room without drafts, change the water in the vase every two days, spray it during the day, take it out to a cool roomat night.
- Gatsania, which is called the "African exotic chamomile", looks like echinacea. Only the structure of the petals with bright stripes in the first flower is denser, the height is smaller. On closer examination, you can, of course, find many differences, but we are only talking about external similarities.
Care
Perennial plant unpretentious, does not need additional care. It copes with diseases and pests on its own. Adapts to any conditions: depleted soils, drought, frost. But this does not mean that care is not needed for the echinacea flower. The simplest rules are:
- Protection from weeds. For this purpose, flower beds should be regularly weeded, weeds should be removed by the roots, seeds should not ripen, otherwise after this period the wind will scatter them over the entire planting area. Echinacea after weeding begins to grow and bloom better.
- Growing conditions will be much better if the flowers are watered as needed and fed at least once a season with mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen.
- Faded buds must be removed. To do this, the stem is cut at a level of 20 cm from the soil surface, otherwise flowering will slow down.
- One growing place is used for no more than five years, after which the plants need to be dug up, divided into parts and planted separately in another area.
- Echinacea is a frost-resistant plant, but it is better to prepare for the winter to be safe. To do this, the vegetative part needscut to the very base, spud the bush and sprinkle with mulch. Plants that look weak should be covered with fallen leaves.
Diseases
Echinacea has a strong immune system, so it is rarely exposed to diseases. The danger for her is the prolonged rains that characterize the summer period in many regions. At this time, powdery mildew or rot appears on the plant. In case of detection of these diseases, it is necessary to treat the leaves, flowers and stems with fungicides.
Healing properties
Echinacea flower is a popular medicinal plant with centuries of history. It has been used in folk medicine since ancient times. So, in America, the roots were considered the best remedy for snake bites, striking with their poison, they treated blood poisoning. Self-prepared tinctures, decoctions, ointments were used for all kinds of ulcers, tumors, infected wounds, colds, animal bites. Already at the end of the 17th century in the USA, this plant was included in the official pharmacology. In European countries, scientists describe two types of this plant: purple and narrow-leaved echinacea.
For about three decades, the study of medicinal plants began to be engaged in many countries of the world. It turns out that treatment with any traditional methods along with echinacea becomes much more effective. Currently, extracts based on roots and herbaceous parts of the plant, including flowering inflorescences, are used to prepare 240 different preparations. The echinacea flower is an ingredient in patented AIDS remedies. Preparations containing thisplants have a stimulating effect on human immunity.
In our country, based on the flower of Echinacea purpurea, the immunostimulating agent "Estifan" was produced, which has been approved for use since 1995. Today, pharmacies sell medicines from foreign manufacturers with echinacea in their composition: "Golden Root", "Active Day" and many other. You can buy lollipops, carbonated sweetened water, tea.
Echinacea is recommended by medical experts for diseases such as bronchitis and meningitis, otitis media and stomatitis, burns, blood poisoning and gum disease. The plant is used to treat eczema and psoriasis, purulent ulcers and boils, gangrene, herpes and more.
Echinacea is useful as an adjuvant in the treatment of diseases of oncology, the lymphatic system, and the thyroid gland. It is used for exhaustion of the body, depression, fatigue. Helps with rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes. It is used to treat diseases that have arisen due to exposure to harmful substances on the human body.
It turned out that the echinacea flower not only has antiviral and antibacterial effects, but also, as antibiotics, kills bacteria, viruses and fungi. This plant is like an ambulance for the body, so it is used during the period of mass spread of infections.
Procurement and storage
Plants of two years of life are used as medicinal raw materials. Above-ground part: leaves, stems, flowers are harvested in summer, when mass flowering occurs. At this time the plantsaccumulate a large number of substances that are called biologically active. They need to be cut in the morning, but after the dew has dried.
For winter harvesting, gardeners grow the perennial echinacea flower in their dachas. Bouquets of plants are sent to dry under a canopy or in the attic, as long as they are in the shade. The flowers are dried separately from the leaves and stems. Freshly harvested plants can be preserved for a long time if they are placed in a glass bottle and filled with alcohol containing 70% of the main substance.
Roots are best harvested in autumn, at the end of the growing season. If for some reason it was not possible to do this, they are dug up with the onset of spring, until the leaves have had time to grow. The roots should be washed under running water, remove all diseased or damaged. You can dry in any conditions: in the shade, in the sun, in the oven. In dried raw materials, all the properties that are used for medicinal purposes are preserved for two years.
Echinacea in landscape design
Due to its high decorativeness, the flower is used to decorate territories, namely:
- Is an essential plant for English style gardens.
- Fragrance gardens are indispensable without it.
- Used in borders.
- Flowers adorn the edges of paths in the garden.
- They work well with other perennials and herbs.
- Used in mixed borders, moorish lawns or improvised man-made meadows.
- Echinacea looks goodin pots, containers, hung and placed throughout the garden.
- Planted in group plantings or lonely growing bushes.
- Combined with large ground cover plants.
Healing tinctures
You can cook them yourself at home. All parts of Echinacea have medicinal properties.
- Alcohol tincture for internal use. With its help, the body is strengthened. She prepares easily. It is necessary to pour the root of the plant with alcohol, using a ratio of 1:10, and put it in a warm place for one month, let it brew. Take 20-30 drops three times a day before meals.
- The body strengthens oil tincture. It is prepared as follows: a root weighing 200 g is poured with vegetable oil in the amount of one liter and infused for 40 days. Take for colds, sore throats, flu. Dose and Frequency: One tablespoon after meals three times a day.
- Healing tea. It's easy to prepare. To do this, you need to grind three flower buds and two teaspoons of leaves or the same number of roots. All this is poured into 500 ml of boiling water, infused for 40 minutes and the tea is ready. For preventive purposes, one cup per day is taken. For colds or viral diseases, the norm remains the same, but the number of doses increases up to three times. Tea improves immunity, cleanses the body and slows down aging. It should be taken exactly one month. Then take a break for the same time so that the body itself defends itself.
