A plant native to North America is gaining more and more popularity among Russians with cottages and household plots. In the homeland, the bush reaches a height of 2 meters, but the spikelet lyatris, which will be discussed in this article, grows on average up to 60–80 cm in Russia. It attracts an unusual shape in the form of a candle, the brightness and diversity of the color of bell-shaped flowers blooming from above rather than below, like other flowering plants. The culture exudes a delicate but persistent aroma of vanilla with notes of dried grass.
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Liatris spikelet - the nuances of growing
The plant does not have high requirements for care. Indifferent to hot temperatures in the summer heat, tolerates a dry period well. It does not tolerate close occurrence of groundwater and waterlogging of the soil.
In order for a culture to form correctly, a place for it is chosen open and sunny. It is undesirable to have fruit trees or a fence nearby. It is not recommended to plant lyatris in the lowlands, since the accumulation of meltwater in the spring will cause irreparable damage.
He does not like culture heavy clay soils. The soil should be loose and light. Before landing, artificial drainage is created. Coarse river sand, pebbles, sawdust will do.
Care for the spikelet lithatrix includes hilling. The root system, consisting of tubers is superficial, so that it does not become bare, periodic earth refilling is required.
Outdoor landing
To improve soil fertility, when digging, add rotted manure, compost or peat. Enough buckets per 1 sq. Km. m
Planting can be done with seeds in the winter or spring. To be sure of germination, a calibration is done. For this, the seeds are poured with water and mixed, full-bodied ones will sink to the bottom, empty ones will emerge.
Grooves, 1–1.5 cm deep, are evenly filled with planting material, sprinkled with earth on top, watered and mulched with organic matter. The first shoots appear in 2-3 weeks. If there are already adult plants on the site, then an independent discharge of seeds is ensured, which are well established. The disadvantage of this method is the duration of the cultivation. The plant will fully form and bloom in the second or third year.
You can get adult lyatris faster if you plant tubers. Preference should be given to specimens with a diameter of more than 2 cm. The age of the bush from which they are taken should be older than 3 years.
They are buried in a pre-prepared hole by 7–10 cm. For group plantings, a distance between holes of at least 20 cm is maintained. Before backfilling with garden soil, it is recommended to throw a handful of humus on the roots. Then the plantings are abundantly watered and mulched.
Grooming Liatris
Watering should be moderate, if it rains once a week, then this is enough for the normal development of the lyatris. Regular weeding will protect the culture from insect pests, ensure the supply of a sufficient amount of nutrients from the soil.
Mulching the root zone with organics nourishes, does not allow the roots to be exposed, reduces the evaporation of water. The procedure is especially useful in preparing for the winter period, it prevents the tubers from freezing.
In the spring, during the growing season, the lyatris is in dire need of nitrogen. It is introduced during the digging of the earth. Proven nitrogen fertilizers include:
- urea;
- ammonium nitrate;
- ash.
A large amount of the mineral contains peat and mullein infusion.
When blossoming inflorescences, the plant needs superphosphate. Magnificent, long-flowering blooms of lithium, fed with calcium. This requires watering with infusion obtained from 100 g of crushed eggshell and 1.5 l of water left for 10 days.
Potassium sulfate, introduced into the soil during autumn digging, helps to survive the winter.
Preservation of a long decorative culture depends on the time of trimming. It is necessary to remove wilted inflorescences, green leaves will remain until late autumn. Liatris looks great, retains its beauty for a long time after cutting and in dried form.
Preparing for the winter will not take much time. After the leaves fade, the stem is completely cut off, insulated on top with mulch, spruce branches. If winters are harsh, they dig up tubers and send them for storage. A cellar is well suited for these purposes.
Propagation Lyatris
In central Russia, the plant blooms from mid-June to late July, so the seeds have time to fully ripen in autumn. If you do not collect them at the time, then they will spread in an irregular manner throughout the site and take root well in a new place. Therefore, the ripening process should be kept under control.
You can propagate the culture of tubers. For this, a plant older than three years is selected, the root is divided, large strong and undamaged specimens are selected.
Every 3-4 years in spring or autumn, it is recommended that the lithatrix be transplanted. In this case, one large bush is divided into two or three new ones. Each dividend with a basal neck and tubers is planted in a hole, the dimensions of which depend on the volume of the root system. If several shoots are seated nearby, then they must be placed at a distance of 30 cm from each other. The hole is filled with a mixture of earth with organic matter, mulched.
When propagated by tubers and dividers, the bush of a lyatris blooms in the year of planting, does not require special care, and seedlings obtained from seeds need a pick.
Protection against diseases and pests
Tuber-bulbous plants, to which the lyatris belongs, attract the following pests:
- slugs, snails;
- nematodes;
- a bear;
- mice.
Slugs and snails eat all the aboveground parts of the plant at night, hiding in secluded corners during the day. They struggle with them, collecting manually, sprinkling flower beds with tobacco dust, pepper, mustard. Slaked lime, wood ash will create a protective barrier from mollusks. Water, food traps work well.
These protective measures apply to the bear.An effective method of pest control is to fill the detected holes with vegetable oil, water with the addition of liquid soap or washing powder.
Nematodes are worms 1 mm in size that are eaten into the tissues of the bush, eating them and spreading fungal, bacterial diseases. You can get rid of them with the help of a strait of land with hot water, treatment with insecticides.
An effective way to get rid of insects is a deep digging of the soil in autumn and spring, regular mowing of grass from all sides of the site, weeding, maintaining order and cleanliness in the garden.
Use in landscape design
Liatris is popular not only for its unique aroma, unpretentiousness in cultivation, but also for being suitable for creating compositions in landscape design. You can use group plantings of several varieties of different colors, planting in rows or circles.
Single specimens in combination with other flowers look beautiful, including wildflowers and ferns.
Use lyatris in rockeries and to decorate alpine slides. Single plants look spectacular near arbors, ponds, benches.
A tall, bright, unusual form of culture will add exoticism and become an adornment of any country or personal plot.
