Clematis tsetovody awarded the honorary title of king among the most popular vines. But among the variety of these magnificent plants, there are other varieties - low (not more than 100 cm), not "climbing" on the supports, but at the same time strewn with elegant flowers. He is not inferior in beauty to royal vines. The hero of our article will be bush clematis (or whole-leafed).
Description
The main distinguishing feature of these plants is their winter hardiness, which allows them to grow without shelter, even in the northern regions. Among the bush varieties, forms dominated by four petals, but there are flowers with six petals. They can have a different color - from light blue to deep blue, from pale pink to lilac. No less spectacular and bushes with white flowers. Many varieties differ in very delicate flowers in the form of bells.
Bloom
Clematis bush blooms somewhat earlier than higher vines. From the beginning of June until the first days of September, they delight us with their bright colors. If you cut off the blooming flowers, the bushes drive out the buds. So many flower growers prolong flowering to the cold. If you do not cut it, then at the very end of summer branches of bushes will be decorated with elegant lace from fruits. These are numerous achenes with antennae and fluffs. This beauty will no doubt revitalize and decorate an empty garden.
Bush clematis: planting and care
This plant is unpretentious and very responsive to additional nutrition. This plant prefers well-lit areas, although it feels quite comfortable in partial shade. Planting clematis bush is made in early spring, when the soil warms up, or in late autumn. In a harsh climate with a very frosty winter, you should not risk it - plant a bush in the spring.
First you need to prepare a landing pit. It is filled with a mixture of peat, compost (humus), garden soil and sand in a ratio of 1: 2: 2: 1. To the resulting composition, add 3 cups of ash, 150 g of mineral fertilizers and 200 g of dolomite flour (or wood ash).
In the pit, you need to make a small mound from the soil mixture, and gently straighten the roots of the plant on it, only after that they can be sprinkled with a small amount of soil and moistened. The seedling must be planted so that the growth point is immersed in the soil by about ten centimeters. The pit does not completely fall asleep. During the summer, it is gradually sprinkled, leaving a growth point slightly below ground level.
Thanks to this method of planting, further bush clematis, photos of which can be found in all gardening guides, will develop better. In the first year, the plant must be pinched. This will form the root system and growth points. The next year, the plant will delight you with three to four processes. In addition, in the first year, most of the flowers should be removed so as not to overload the young seedlings.
Pruning
Bush clematis, photos of which you can see in this article, need competent pruning. The beauty of the bush largely depends on this. Shoots are shortened for the first time when landing. The shoots grown from the lower pair of buds in the summer must be nipped. In addition, in the summer, regulatory trimming is necessary.
Clematis Bush: Care
Most gardeners believe that this is an unpretentious plant. However, this does not mean that bush clematis does not need care. Planting and caring for the plant will require the owner to follow certain rules, of course, if he wants to see a beautifully flowering plant on his plot, and not a semi-wild formless shrub.
It is necessary to periodically loosen the soil under the bush, remove weeds. Clematis bush loves that the soil is always slightly moistened, but there should be no excess moisture. Young plants in the first three years in warm weather are watered every other day. If autumn is dry and warm, then watering is carried out according to the same schedule.
Top dressing
We already mentioned that clematis bush loves fertilizers. Feeding is preferably carried out twice a month, preferably with liquid fertilizers. The first time this procedure is carried out in the spring, when shoots are just beginning to grow. Ammonium nitrate (20 grams per bucket of water), mullein (1:10), chicken droppings (1:15) are suitable for this period. Five liters of fertilizer are poured under the bush.
Each subsequent top dressing alternates: if the first was organic fertilizer, then during the second mineral substances should be used. Only during the formation of buds can they be made at the same time. During the growing season, it is useful to water bush clematis with the addition of boric acid (not more than 2 grams per ten liters of water).
In late autumn, it is necessary to start preparing the plant for winter - to make mineral or organic fertilizers (granular superphosphate, calimagnesia, potassium sulfate). This late top dressing is carried out during digging, fertilizer is recommended to be applied to previously watered soil. The best varieties of clematis bush are presented below.
Integrifolia rosea
A rather rare bush clematis with straight, thin and very numerous shoots no more than 40 cm long. The leaves are dense dark green pointed with pronounced veins. The flowers are beautiful pink in diameter up to 7 centimeters. They consist of four oblong, bent petals and numerous, thick, light stamens. This variety blooms very abundantly throughout the summer season.
Closer to autumn, beautiful flat seeds with nice fluffy “tails” appear on the bushes. They make the plant even more attractive. This variety is successfully used for border, mass and single landings, rockeries, rocky slides. He does not need winter shelter.
Hexapetala
Clematis 60 centimeters high. The flowers are in the form of daisies, open, with a diameter of up to five centimeters, the petals are white, collected in numerous inflorescences. It blooms profusely. The variety is unpretentious, grows in any conditions.
Junost
And this is an old, proven, time-tested variety suitable for beginner growers. It is unpretentious, growing fast. The flowers are large (up to 10 cm in diameter) single drooping bell-shaped lilac-lilac. Anthers are pale yellow. The plant blooms very abundantly from late June until frost.