Fans of gardening and gardeners are well aware of this beauty with such a soft and fluid name - "ordinary aquilegia." “Yes, we don’t remember something,” you say. Like many garden flowers, this beauty has its own folk name - "catchment". Well, remember? This is aquilegia. The cultivation and care of the hostess of many country lawns will be discussed below, and now let's talk about where this cutie came from with clover leaves and flyer flowers.
Mountain guest
This pretty grass came to our lawns from the lowlands of the Alps, from the mountainous landscapes of the Kuril Islands and the Sakhalin Ridge. Wild watersheds grow in northern Japan. In general, by its origin it is a mountain flower, but not as inaccessible as edelweiss. And, I will tell you a secret, more beautiful than the hero of numerous legends and myths. Due to their love of the mountains, the wild species of this plant do not take root in our flower beds. In contrast, hybrid aquilegia is very unpretentious. Growing and caring for it does not require special skills and conditions. She is ready to delight us with her bluish foliage and unusual flowers from April to September. It is during this period that the catchment grows and blooms. True, not very long - flowering lasts only two months - June and July.
Aquilegia flowers are double and simple up to 10 cm in diameter; they are distinguished by huge variability in color - from snow-white and golden yellow to bright pink and bright blue. The color of the sepals (outer petals) very often dramatically differs from the color of the corolla (inner petals with spurs).
Aquilegia reproduction
Aquilegia can propagate both by seed and by dividing the bush. A plant is a juvenile. Therefore, after 3-4 years, the bushes should be renewed by dividing or replaced by young ones grown from seeds that can be sown in spring or autumn. It depends on how long you have outlined this procedure, how it should be carried out. If spring sowing is planned, then the seeds need to be prepared - they should have a cool rest in the refrigerator at a temperature of 5-7 ° C for a month. In scientific terms, stratify. Without this procedure, germination can be an order of magnitude lower. Aquilegia shrubs should be divided in the spring after the appearance of the first shoots. They have enough time to acclimatize and bloom in the prescribed summer period.
Preferences and ailments of flowerbed beauty
Like all cultivated plants, aquilegia care and cultivation prefers timely. Shrubs of the catchment will feel bad in the hot sun without cover, but partial shade somewhere under a tree with periodic glimpses of sunlight will be very happy. Watering should be sufficient. In case of dry and hot weather, watering this cutie must be plentiful. With insufficient moisture, the bushes lose their appearance and fade very quickly. It is necessary to feed the catchment, like all plants, 2-3 times per season, preferably with organic fertilizer. Mineral is bred in a mild consistency. 10 liters water only 2 tablespoons of fertilizer for flowering plants or one tablespoon of urea and potassium sulfate.
Varietal forms of a plant such as aquilegia, cultivation and care require a little special. This feature is to prevent cross-pollination of different species among themselves. Otherwise, hybrid forms degenerate. Therefore, it is necessary to cut the flower stalks after flowering. And if there is a goal to get seeds, pollination must be done artificially - using a brush. Treated flowers should be tied with a
gauze bandage in order to avoid pollination with bees or wind.
Aquilegia is not very capricious , the cultivation and care of which even a beginner gardener can do. But there is one point that must be taken into account. The catchment is very easily affected by aphids. Therefore, it is better to take preventive measures in the form of preventive spraying with insecticidal preparations than to gasp and gasp later, trying to save this beauty from the invasion of harmful insects.