Among the many diverse ornamental plants, there are flowers unknown to a wide circle of gardeners or undeservedly forgotten. Such a plant is verbena, the cultivation of which began in ancient times. People have long known about the medicinal properties of the plant, and today it is known to few (verbena is mentioned in the series "The Vampire Diaries" as a means of combating ghouls). Gardeners in the 19th century brought several types of flowers from the subtropics of America.
Today, hybrid verbena is gaining wide popularity , the cultivation of which is becoming the favorite pastime of many gardeners. The culture is the result of a long and complex hybridization. The plant attracts attention with its juicy bright color of flowers, which varies from red to blue and purple. There are other colors and shades, only yellow is missing. You can find two-tone species with white eyes. In some plants, flowers are grouped into a scutellum, which can contain up to 50 units.
During the work with the plant, breeders created various varieties that differ in height, bush structure and size of inflorescences. For many, the question of how to grow verbena half a meter high with a spreading or compact crown is no longer relevant.
Varieties of Canadian and hard verbena are also common. These flowers are actively used in the design of rabatok, flower beds, they perfectly decorate balconies. The Canadian verbena has light raspberry buds, and the hard one has delicate lilac-pink. For composing bouquets, Buenos Aires verbena is perfect, growing it allows you to get plants more than a meter high with the original bluish-purple (amethyst) color of the flowers.
All types of verbena are perennial plants, although they are grown as annuals, because they love heat very much.
Reproduction is carried out by seeds or cuttings. To get a beautiful healthy verbena, seedlings are grown in late February - the first days of March. To do this, the seeds are planted in a prepared substrate for annual plants. Shoots appear slowly and unfriendly, for this they need from 10 to 12 days. To accelerate germination, the seeds are heated under a lamp or in the sun at a temperature of 30 degrees. Boxes with seedlings should be located in a room in which it will not be colder +23 degrees. Since seedlings do not like excess moisture, it is better to spray it a little.
At the next stage, seedlings are dived into separate containers. After they take root, they must be nipped at a height of about 7 cm, this will increase the verbena bushiness. When planting seedlings, an interval of at least 20 centimeters between rows and plants is observed. The plant can also be propagated by the vegetative method - cuttings.
In June, along with many other plants, verbena blooms. Cultivation in this period should take into account all the rules of agricultural technology, and then flowering will continue throughout the summer and autumn. Verbena blooms best in hot, dry weather, although it successfully tolerates cooling to 2-3 degrees.
When growing plants, do not make a large amount of organic matter, especially manure. This causes abundant sprouting of shoots to the detriment of flowering.
The best places for planting are flower beds near the house where the sun is constantly present. Verbena develops well, cultivated on a balcony from the south and southeast. To achieve the best harmony of colors, blue and blue varieties of verbena can be combined with orange or yellow bushes of calendula, marigold, zinnia or dimorphotek, and red with white petunias or snapdragons.
From verbena we get beautiful bouquets that stand in water for a long time. They will not only decorate the house, but also become a wonderful gift.