In nature, you can find a huge number of unusually beautiful plants - deciduous, decorative or flowering. And many are easy to grow near the house, you just need to find planting material and find information about the characteristics of the plant.
In practice, almost everyone can plant and grow in their flowerbed unusual, outwardly attractive flowers. For example, an excellent flower for your site is gentian, planting and care of which will not cause big problems.
Gentian genus includes more than 700 different plants. Among them there are perennial and one-year cultures, basically they differ only in appearance, perfectly develop in the garden without protective structures. Their inflorescences are piercing blue, magically attracting the eye.
Gentian breeding
Among gentians there are both annual and perennial varieties. This herbaceous plant can be very small (6-10 cm) and quite large (0.70-1 m). Corolla of flowers in the form of a funnel, bell or tubular, is folded or smooth. All types of gentians reproduce by seed, for some species vegetative propagation is possible. The division of the bush is carried out in early spring, during a transplant.
When breeding gentians, the most difficult task is to grow them in the first year. Her seeds are very small and, as a result, small and weak seedlings appear, which develop very slowly.
Plant seeds are sown in the fall on a flower bed for natural stratification. They will germinate in 7 months, and in a year should bloom.
Gentian can be grown in seedlings, it is only necessary to stratify the seeds. To do this, they are placed in a damp cloth and transferred to a refrigerator, where they stand for 20-25 days. After keeping the seeds at a low temperature, they are sown and boxes are transferred to the balcony. You will have to wait for the first seedlings for about two months, after which the seedlings are transferred to a light and dark place where they keep seedlings until May.
Soil mix
The soil for planting seedlings is prepared in advance, you can mix such a mixture - 2 fractions of sifted leafy soil with parts of poorly ripened leaves, 2 fractions of coarse-grained sand, 1 proportion of frayed dry sphagnum moss, which must be moistened before use, can be mixed. 50 g of dolomite flour and wood ash are added to the mixture per 1 kg of the mixture. Some gardeners come up with their own earth mixes.
Before use, the soil is steamed, for this you can use the bag for baking, moist soil is poured into it, the bag is closed and put in the microwave for 10 minutes until it is completely warmed up.
When the soil cools down, they fill the seedling tanks. You can use small pots or plastic cuvettes with holes for this. Fine gravel or washed coarse sand is poured to the bottom to create drainage. Fill the container with soil, compact it and sow (rarely) seeds mixed with sand, sprinkle 1 cm of it on top of a sheet of soil on top, compact the soil again, moisten it and cover it with a plastic bag or a lid.
Important! Do not allow the soil to dry out in pots, water it is necessary when the top layer dries up, you can not moisten the sown seeds much, otherwise they can rot.
Depending on the germination of seeds and species, seedlings appear after 10-30 days. Or (without stratification) sprout in a year. After 2 real leaves are formed on the seedlings, they must be cut into separate pots, providing more area for the plants. If you dive plants immediately in a separate bowl, then it is later easier to transplant them into a flower bed. All this applies to perennial varieties of gentian, annual plants are simply sown immediately to a permanent place.
Note - not every type of gentian is able to germinate without stratification in the year of sowing. In many species, seedlings appear only when winter sowing seeds with high germination. The natural stratification is carried out as follows - the seeds are sown in a permanent place at the end of September or at the beginning of October; in winter, a light shelter is made for crops. It is important that it protects the seeds from leaching when the snow melts, and allows air to pass through to them.
For planting this crop choose a sunny place with a small partial shade, the soil is preferably well-drained, loamy. For some gentians it is necessary to add lime when planting. Flowering plants look great among small stones in elevated areas, in rockeries. Seedlings, depending on the variety, bloom for 2-3 years.
Common types of gentians
Low varieties
Gentian is seven-parted - blooms in August, the flower is bright or dark blue, reaches a size of 3.5 cm. A common and beautiful variety that has given rise to many hybrids.
Gentian cross-leaved - 15-25 cm high. The flower 3-3.5 cm blue, in thick whorls, blooms from June.
Gentian ordinary - 15-30 cm high, bluish-violet flowers, blooms since July.
Gentian stemless - 8-10 cm tall, well suited for rock gardens, blooms in late May.
Tall species
Yellow gentian - up to 1 m high, looks attractive as single plants and as part of plant groups, the inflorescences are yellow, large.
Gentian gentian - grows up to 70 cm, flowers are evenly spaced along the entire height, bell-shaped, blooms in June.
Plant care
Gentian by its nature is not very capricious and does not present any particular requirements. It is only necessary to ensure regular watering for the plants, ideally, the soil should never dry out. It is very important to ensure reliable watering during the formation and growth of buds. After heavy rains or heavy watering, it is imperative to loosen the soil, which will saturate it with air and allow excess moisture to escape.
Please note! Stagnation of moisture and excessive moisture can cause great harm to the gentian, because of this the roots of the plant begin to rot, the flowers of course in this situation either do not appear or die. In order for the plant bushes to look good, you need to pick off dried leaves and faded buds. Tall gentian species should be trimmed regularly.
These plants practically do not suffer from the invasion of pests and are almost not afraid of diseases of garden plants. He can suffer only in adverse conditions and when deviating from the requirements of the rules for the care of the gentian. If fungal diseases are detected, the diseased plant must be destroyed (burned).
In winter, the gentians do not need to be covered, they perfectly withstand low temperatures and are not afraid even of a strong wind. But if there is little snow, it is nice to cover the plants with spruce branches.
Gentian due to its unpretentiousness and beauty is a wonderful decoration for the garden. It is only necessary to choose a suitable place for it and to properly care for the plant.
