Kallikarpa or the beautiful fruit tree is an ornamental shrub that attracts attention with its bright purple-lilac fruits, which is why it got its name. To grow it is very simple and affordable for every amateur gardener.
Plant description
The plant is a deciduous shrub or small tree 1.5-3.5 m tall from the genus Kraslopodlodnikov (Latin Callicarpa), which naturally grows in tropical and subtropical forests (North and South America, Japan, Madagascar, Southeast Asia and other). In warm countries, the plant represents evergreen bushes, and in the territory of colder Europe and Russia it becomes deciduous.
Beautiful fruit tree is an ornamental shrub (photo below), which is part of the Yasnotkov family, numbering more than 170 species. This is a perennial plant with a deep, weakly branched root system, straight and spreading stems.
Leaves (A) appear in the first month of spring and have large plates, rounded edges with denticles and sharp ends, painted in light and dark green shades. Flowering begins in the summer (closer to August): numerous small flowers (B) appear on the bush, hidden in the axils of the leaves and collected in paniculate inflorescences. The color of the flowers is pink, lilac, lilac or white, and the yellow stamens are clearly visible in the center.
The shrub acquires the most beautiful appearance in the fall, when the leaves change color to red-yellow and pink, and the ripened round berries (C) in September-October acquire a bright purple, violet or lilac color with a metallic sheen. Original berries do not fall and can stand on the bush all winter, for which the people called the bush "lilac pearls." Small oval seeds (D) can be obtained from the fruits.
The ornamental shrub, the beautiful fruit tree, has good tolerance to pruning and lends itself to shaping, which is why it is very popular when used in the bonsai technique.
Growing, caring and watering
It is not difficult to grow a kallikarpu, because the plant is unpretentious. It loves sunny places with bright or slightly diffused lighting. The shrub does not like the shade: it leaves smaller leaves, growth slows down, and the number of fruits decreases.
He prefers light and fertile soil, good water permeability. The plant is afraid of drafts. On the site, gardeners recommend planting several bushes at once, because the plant forms fruits by cross-pollination.
Young bushes should be watered often, and for adults, watering is carried out only in the dry summer months. To better maintain moisture, the soil around the bush must be mulched with dry grass or humus. Excessive moisture can cause root decay, and its lack reduces winter hardiness.
The influence of diseases and pests is almost not exposed to the fruit-bearing.
Wintering
The plant loves heat, because in nature it grows in tropical forests, so it has low frost resistance. However, the shrub can fully recover from damage from the cold, because it has good endurance. If the plant looks frozen in spring, then do not despair. He needs to trim damaged branches well in early spring, then the kallikarpa will gradually recover and grow.
Due to the reduced winter hardiness, the ornamental shrub needs to be sheltered for the winter, reliably wrapping up the tree branches of the plant. This is especially true for young seedlings. In the open ground, kallikarpu can be grown all year round only in the southern regions. Another way is to land it in a large container, which should be placed indoors for the winter.
Trimming and shaping crown, top dressing
The shrub should be trimmed to form a rounded crown:
- in early spring, before branching, the branches should be shortened, trying to maintain roundness;
- remove drying and weak shoots;
- leave only shoots upward;
- another pruning is carried out in the summer to obtain planting material (cuttings).
The first top dressing is carried out 2-3 weeks after spring trimming with nitrogen-containing fertilizer. In the first summer months, the beautiful fruit should be fed complex fertilizers every 2 weeks, and then phosphorus-potash fertilizers (until October).
Breeding
Kallikarpu can be easily propagated with green cuttings that are cut in the spring, or semi-lignified summer. Also use seeds and cuttings. Reproduction of the ornamental shrub of the beautiful fruit seeds by seeds requires their preliminary long-term stratification at temperatures up to +5 ° C for 30-45 days. Seeds should be sown in a box in a sand-peat soil mixture, then covered with glass, making a greenhouse. For germination, the optimum temperature is + 18 ... + 20 ° C. After picking, the sprouts are planted in separate pots.
Ready-made seedlings are available for sale; when you buy them, you should choose with a closed root system. Favorable time for planting is spring or autumn. When planting a plant, you should dig a fairly large hole in the size of the root system, well water the previously fertilized soil. Then move the seedlings using the transfer method, so as not to damage the fragile roots.
Cuttings can be made independently by cutting them from a bush in the middle of summer and planting them in the soil. Rooting takes place within 2 months.
Varieties and varieties
Russian gardeners grow several types of ornamental shrubs, beautiful fruit trees that can tolerate frosts in winter:
- Baudinier giralda Profusion is the most popular species brought from China, up to 2 m high. It is better to plant it in sunny areas, it blooms in July, berries are edible, but bitter, in the suburbs it requires shelter for the winter.
- Forked (violet or 2-forked) has an “Asian” origin. Shrub 0.9-1.2 m high, inedible fruits, prefers to grow in partial shade or in the sun, the soil is neutral or acidic. Covering view.
- Japanese - suitable for growing in a tub in a greenhouse or conservatory, for the winter it should be placed on an unheated veranda or in the basement (can withstand frost to -12 ° C). The plant likes frequent watering, grows well in partial shade on alkaline or acidic soil.
- American - the height of the bush is up to 2 m, grows better in the southern regions, because it freezes in winter, flowering continues from April to July. The berries are sweet, with an astringent taste, you can make jam from them.
Planting in the garden with other plants
Experienced landscape designers advise planting a decorative shrub, beautiful fruit in combination with other plants, leaving it in the background:
- with variegated holly;
- with a lane-shaped maple or wammamelis, which also has colored leaves, which in the autumn months allows you to turn a flower bed into a multi-colored kaleidoscope that pleases the eye;
- with berry bushes (chokeberry, viburnum, skimmy, etc.), which have colored fruits, but other shades;
- with a vineyard, this is a climbing plant that will first go curling along the kallikarp, and then he will need a separate support.
Decoration and bouquets
The ornamental shrub of the beautiful fruit remains bright and noticeable almost all year round: in spring it gradually dresses in soft green tones of leaves, in the summer months it blooms with numerous white and pink flowers, and in autumn its leaves turn pink and small beautifully colored clusters ripen.
Many gardeners prefer to admire the berries of the kallikarp in the cold months, forming winter bouquets from them. Bright violet-lilac fruits stand well, without losing their shape and color. In the bouquet they are combined with lunaria, physalis and forest teasel.