Aconite is a poisonous perennial herb from the Ranunculaceae family. Due to the similarity of flowers with a knight's helmet, its second name appeared - "wrestler". The first mention of an unusual plant that has become a symbol of cold and crime can be found in ancient Greek and Scandinavian myths.

Aconite: description, varieties and varieties

This is a tall plant with erect (up to 1.5 m), sometimes curly (up to 4 m) shoots, which are covered with alternately arranged leaf plates of a palm-split or dissected shape. The root system is represented by two types - tuberoid or rod. During flowering, which has been observed for a long time from the beginning of summer to October, flowers of various colors bloom, collected in racemose blossoms. The people often call the plant “wolf aconite” because of its toxicity.

The genus includes more than 300 species, of which the most spectacular are grown in culture:

  • Aconite napellus. A popular species, the height of which can vary from 30 to 130 cm. A plant with glossy seven-part leaves of dark green color blooms in summer when blue or blue inflorescences blooming, consisting of flowers with a diameter of 4 cm, average flowering time is a month.In culture, a flower has been grown since the 16th century and is known to many as the pharmacy aconite, from which the alkaloid aconitin is obtained, which is used in the treatment of rheumatic and neuralgic disorders. Hoody species is winter-hardy and does not need shelter. Popular varieties: Bressineham Spire, Newry Blue, Carneum, Eleonora.
  • Northern aconite - herbaceous plants of this species are distinguished by a height of up to 2 m and long inflorescences of a racemose shape up to half a meter long. Flowering occurs in the second half of summer, when purple flowers bloom with a grayish tint. Upright fleecy shoots are covered with palm-separated leafy green plates.
  • Aconite curly. A species with a thin twisted stalk, the length of which can reach 4 m. The shoot is covered with petiolate leaves of a dissected shape, with the help of which the plant relies on neighboring cultures. Blue flowers are collected in inflorescences up to 1 m tall. The flowering phase is observed in late summer - early autumn.

Important! Despite the toxicity of the plant, it found its application in medicine due to the alkaloids contained in it. For example, according to the well-known doctor Shtork, aconite is a potential antitumor agent.

Planting in open ground

Unpretentious aconite for full development, accompanied by abundant and prolonged flowering, needs a competent planting.

Selection of varieties and seedlings of aconite

The preparatory phase, during which the grower:

  • Chooses a variety depending on the future planting location. It is important to consider the area that you plan to highlight the flower, as well as to represent the composition itself, which will help determine the color.
  • Inspects the planting material at a specialized point of sale for visible damage and signs of disease, insects.

Site and soil preparation

When choosing a place, preference should be given to shaded areas located on hills, where groundwater lies deep enough.

Aconite can grow on almost any soil except rocky and heavy. But in order to create comfortable conditions for the plant, it is better to choose fertile soils with a loose structure.

If the proposed site does not have such parameters, then it is worthwhile to prepare the beds in advance: make a compost with a small amount of sand and mineral fertilizers for digging.

Landing technology

The procedure is as follows:

  1. On a loosened area, holes are dug with sizes slightly larger than the size of the root system of seedlings.
  2. Sand ramen is added to each well.
  3. Next, planting material is lowered into it. If necessary, a support is installed. After that, everything is covered with the extracted earth.
  4. The seedling is watered.
  5. The trunk circle is mulched with sawdust.

How to care for aconite?

Each grower wants to grow healthy plants that will bloom magnificently. In moving towards this goal, one should not forget about the need to carry out basic agricultural technical care measures.

Watering aconite

Despite the drought tolerance of the culture, it is not necessary to test its extreme capabilities. In hot periods, watering should be regular and plentiful.

Fertilizer and fertilizing

Representatives of the genus do not need frequent feeding.

For good growth and beautiful flowering, it is enough to apply fertilizer twice a season:

  • in early spring, the soil is enriched with humus containing a large amount of nitrogen and acting as a cultivator;
  • before flowering, bushes are fed with phosphorus-potash fertilizers.

Loosening and weeding the soil

So that after watering an airtight crust does not form, the earth should be systematically loosened with the simultaneous removal of weeds. To save time on these procedures will allow the mulching of the trunk circle, which also will retain moisture.

How to deal with diseases and pests?

Poisonous aconite is quite resistant to damage by harmful organisms.But sometimes during the inspection can be noted:

  • Powdery Mildew Fungal disease, the cause of which is waterlogging of the soil or a high occurrence of groundwater, leading to constant dampness. At the first manifestations of the disease, to stop its development, the affected shoots are removed, and the plantings are sprayed with fungicide.
  • Aphid, spider mite. Dangerous insects, which in addition to causing direct harm to the plant, can be carriers of viral diseases. To cope with pest attacks is quite simple, if you resort to a chemical method of protection - insecticidal treatments.

Breeding methods

Among the methods of reproduction, both seed and vegetative ones are distinguished.

Seed way

The most time-consuming method, which is most often used by breeders to breed new forms and varieties.

However, if the grower decided to grow aconite from seeds, then he should adhere to the following scheme:

  1. For stratification, seeds are sown in open ground before winter.
  2. After emergence, in spring, seedlings are covered with a film.
  3. Covering material is periodically removed for moisturizing and airing.
  4. With a very dense sowing after the formation of 3 leaves, seedlings dive.
  5. Plants are planted in a permanent place by autumn.
  6. The first flowering with this method of reproduction is noted no earlier than after 2 years.

Cuttings

The procedure is carried out in May, according to this algorithm:

  1. Cuttings are cut from shoots with a heel of 10 cm in length.
  2. Planting material is aged in a growth stimulator, after which it is planted in the ground and covered with banks.
  3. After rooting, new plants are seated at permanent places of growth.

Bush division

Aconite is a plant that requires rejuvenation every 4 years.

For this:

  1. The extracted root is divided by a sharp tool into parts, each of which must have at least 2 kidneys and part of the root system.
  2. Delenki immediately landed in prepared holes with a deepening of the root neck of 2 cm.

The combination of aconite with other plants

To create beautiful flower arrangements in combination with aconite, it is recommended to plant such crops:

  • bushy peony with large inflorescences;
  • tall delphinium and iris;
  • lush flowering astilbe.

Landscape design

When decorating a personal plot, landscape designers do not forget about this spectacular culture, using it, depending on the variety, as follows:

  • In group plantings, tall varieties of aconite are an excellent background crop for stunted plants.
  • Varieties with climbing shoots resembling winding creepers are used for decorating gazebos, outbuildings and various fences.
  • Aconites are also often found in mixborders and flower beds.

Thus, to grow healthy aconite, represented by many shapes, sizes and colors, is quite simple. But when choosing this poisonous plant as a decoration for a personal plot, one should not forget about the harm that it can cause in contact with children or pets.

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