Levy is rarely seen in our gardens. Although her flowers are so beautiful that it is difficult to take their eyes off them. Their color scheme is different and most likely resembles the artist’s palette, where colors shimmer from white to pink, sparkle with orange, yellow and red, combined with delicate veins of light shades.
View Features
This unusual flower, belonging to the Purslane family, is found in nature only in the mountains of North America. That's why with us it takes root well mainly on the alpine hills. Few gardeners are familiar with levisia, the planting and care of which require special attention.
Despite the fact that levizia itself is stunted (no higher than 30 cm), its flowers are very large and seem simply huge compared to the size of the whole plant. Some species have a branched peduncle, strewn with smaller flowers, others are covered with large, located less often. The third has a tall stalk, but there are those where it is absent at all. But in any case, the blooming levisia will not leave anyone indifferent.
Growing conditions
This gentle beauty does not apply to lovers of bright sunlight, she prefers partial penumbra. The soil should be acidified and well-drained, resembling the natural conditions of the rocks, where levizia grows. Levizia care and cultivation are successful if timely fertilizing in the form of a solution of fermented manure is introduced into the soil.
Outdoor cultivation
Gardeners-collectors have long known that the most remarkable decoration of the rockery is levisia. Growing and caring in this case is quite simple, because on an alpine hill the plant can provide optimal conditions. The main thing for landing is to use the east or southwest slope.
For levisia, a well-acidified soil is suitable, in which there is an admixture of humus, sand, peat, and necessarily crushed stone. Indeed, good drainage is the main condition for normal growth.
Water falling on the lower leaves during watering or during rain should drain well and go into the soil. That is why, protecting the lower parts of the plant from decay, the flower outlet is covered with pebbles, and thus the leaves do not touch the ground.
The main difficulty is to constantly maintain the desired acidic soil environment, which needs levisia. Planting and care in the future are greatly simplified if the plant is immediately planted in pots, where the optimal substrate has already been selected, and placed directly among the stones on the hill, providing a slight slope.
Breeding in pots
As mentioned above, with this method of cultivation it is easier to create good conditions for the growth of levisia. The main thing is to adhere to certain rules:
- pots are chosen not very large with a bottom in which there is a hole;
- install drainage at the bottom. Expanded clay, gravel of a large fraction, brick chips or other small pebbles are suitable for it;
- the rest of the pot is filled with a substrate, which includes earth, sand and compost, taken in equal parts;
- pots are kept outdoors during the summer, providing moderate soil moisture;
- with the onset of cold weather they are brought into a bright and cool room where they spend the whole winter.
Breeding
How is levizia propagated? Planting and care, growing Levizia from seeds - all these are the stages of one process, as a result of which beautiful flower arrangements appear, giving the garden a unique character. That is why, those who are faced with the charm of this flower, try to propagate their favorite species. You can do this with seeds and offspring (side outlets).
Seeds ripened in autumn can be immediately planted in open ground, or you can do this in spring by planting seedlings in early March. Stratification helps good germination. For this, seeds sown in moist soil are covered with a film and put away in the refrigerator for 30 days. When the due date expires, they are transferred to a warmer and brighter place. Dive seedlings in pots should be when two young leaves grow on young plants.
Propagate plants using side outlets can be regardless of the time of year. They should be carefully cut with a sharp knife from an adult plant, not being afraid that the levisia will suffer. Landing and caring for outlets are as follows:
- a slice on the mother plant is dried and disinfected with ash, preventing rot;
- sockets are planted in a container and placed in a cold place with diffused light;
- moisture is not recommended on the leaves of young plants;
- after the roots appear and get stronger, shoots can be planted in the flower garden.
If you show enough zeal and patience in growing such a sissy, the work will be rewarded with exuberant flowering, and levizia, planting and care of which, in general, is not complicated, will become a worthy decoration of the flower garden.