The real miracle growing in the garden is the orchid Venus slipper. In nature, flowers are listed in the Red Books of most states. Growing this moody beauty in the flowerbed is not so easy, but the efforts are worth it. Beautiful delicate flowers bloom in late spring, delighting with the brightness of stains and the unusual shape of inflorescences.

Venus slipper: description of a species from the orchid family

The name Venus slipper of the Orchid family is used for 5 genera of orchids because of the similar shape of the flower. Indoor hygiene contains mainly hybrids of the genus Paphiopedilum. The total number of existing hybrids is impossible to calculate, it is so great.

Among them, American polyploids with a very large flower and one rosette of leaves stand out. They rarely branch and give extra sockets. The slipper blooms for a long time and may have a different color. The flowers are large and bright, lasting 2 or 3 months.

On the flower beds in the garden, a shoe of Cypripedium calceolus is grown. According to the Royal Botanic Gardens, there are more than 50 species of such plants that grow in different countries. The following description of the rules of planting and care is dedicated to them, cypropedia.

How to choose a place and plant a slipper venus?

The soil for the shoes is prepared in advance - they will not grow in the garden chernozem. To do this, mix peat, humus from fallen leaves, coarse sand and dolomite flour or limestone crumb. The ratio of the components is 2: 1: 0.5: 0.5. To disinfect the substrate, use Trichodermin or Baikal-EM.

A flower venus slipper prefers shading, so it is better for him to choose a flower bed on the north side of the house or in a shady garden.

  1. To plant, they dig holes to a depth of about 40 cm, the width corresponding to the size of the rhizome of the plant.
  2. At the bottom, they arrange drainage from pieces of limestone and pour the prepared soil mixture into the wells.
  3. The plant, together with the earthen lump, is moved to the planting hole and covered with earth. The soil cannot be tamped from above.
  4. If the plant needs support, bury a peg next to it.

For planting the shoe in containers, a special soil mixture is prepared.

It consists of:

  • humus leaf;
  • fibrous brown peat;
  • sand;
  • dolomite flour;
  • charcoal up to 5 mm.

The ratio of the components of the mixture is equal, only dolomite flour and charcoal are taken in half. Landing containers should be with a large number of drainage holes, and in volume twice as wide as high.

Growing and caring for flowers in the garden

In early spring, shoes are freed from winter shelter, loosen the soil, weeds are removed and the beds are watered. Cypropedia does not require much attention, but they need moderate, regular watering. Plants are fed in early spring, before flowering and at the end of June. A complex mineral fertilizer for garden flowers is diluted in half the recommended dose or use special feeding for orchids.

Experienced growers are advised not to pick weeds that have accidentally grown next to the shoes, but to cut them to the root so as not to damage the delicate root color system.

For planting on a flowerbed in spring or autumn, it is better to buy adult, already flowering plants in pots. Tsipripediumy well tolerate frost and slight shading.

When grown on a flower bed, flowers are transplanted once every 4 years, it is best to do this in August, after yellowing of the leaves. Mulching plants is undesirable, this can lead to acidification of the soil.

Container crops are transplanted annually in the spring, increasing the size of the landing capacity. Plants begin to bloom in the second decade of May; in summer, flowering ceases.

Wintering plants in the open ground

Perennial cyripediums winter in the open ground. After yellowing and the death of the foliage, it is cut off. Rhizomes are protected from frost by fallen leaves, raking it on ridges, or with a layer of mulch.

 

Containers with flowers hibernate rooted to the ground, with foam insulation at the edges and top. Many hybrid varieties tolerate lower temperatures to -35 ° C.

Reproduction of venus slippers

Tsipripediumy propagate by vegetative division of an adult bush. Adult, 3-year-old plants are planted in early spring or autumn. Landing holes are prepared in advance. The plant venereum slipper is divided by a sharp disinfected tool, the sections are treated with charcoal.

How to deal with diseases and pests?

Most slipper diseases are due to improper care or fit.

Frequent watering is harmful to plants, especially in the evening.

Water entering a leaf outlet can rot if there is cold air at night, so plants are watered only in the morning.

Tsipripediumy can be affected by rot and pests.

  • To combat fungal rot, flowers are treated with fungicides - Fitosporin or Trichodermin.
  • Numerous insects, which are especially active during flowering, are destroyed by biologically active drugs or conventional insecticides and acaricides. You can use Bona-Forte, Bitoxiballicin-P, Fitoverm.
  • The cause of plant damage in the flowerbed may be a violation of the quarantine, the purchase of low-quality seedlings. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the absence of suspicious spots and cobwebs on the purchased specimen and, in any case, treat it with a mixture of fungicide and insecticide for prevention.

Legend of a Venus Shoe

The lower petal of the shoe has a bulging, unusual shape. It is thanks to this structure that the legend of the origin of the flower appeared.

 

There is a tradition that once a beautiful orchid grew thanks to the goddess of love and beauty Venus. The goddess stood up for the mortal, showing love and sympathy for him. For this, she was overthrown from Olympus. Hurrying to return, Venus lost her shoes. In place of her shoe, a flower of amazing beauty grew, which even today resembles an elegant slipper with a bow.

We decorate the open ground with shoes

Tsipripedium is suitable for growing on a shady flower bed and picking neighbors for it is not easy.

Slippers grow well in the same area with ferns, as they have the same soil and lighting requirements for flower beds. You can plant them with hosts and groundcover flowers.

It is interesting:hosta - landing and care in the open ground

It is undesirable to have fast-growing decorative crops and shrubs next to the shoes - they will interfere with orchids to develop. From cipripediums of various colors, you can create a beautiful monopod. But you need to consider that the shoe only blooms 2 weeks a year, and at the end of August its leaves completely dry out. Nearby annuals can increase the decorativeness of flower beds.

The veneren slipper looks large-flowered in a mixborder - a mixed flower garden of elongated shape, where annual and perennial herbaceous plants, small trees grow nearby. The shoe does not like direct sunlight, a slight shading from the tree will be to his advantage. The flower has a superficial root system, which can reach half a meter in diameter, so tight plantings should be avoided.

Beautiful northern orchids cipripediums will become the pearl of the garden. Exotic, delicate flowers will decorate shady flower beds, on which they will not have worthy competitors.

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