Aubrieta, also known as aubration, is a plant belonging to the Cabbage family. It differs from many garden flowers in that it remains green all year round. In spring and summer, aubration transforms any area with colorful flowering.
Varieties and types of Aubrieta flower
Aubrieta is an evergreen plant, which is a stunted shrub. From the side it seems that the carpet covers the garden. The leaves have a different shape, resemble a lancet or ellipse. Their color is usually gray-green. The flowers are small, consist of four petals, in diameter do not exceed 1 cm. They can be ordinary, terry or semi-double, differ in shades.
Appearance
Among the many varieties and types of plants, the most popular are distinguished:
- Deltoid Shade. Blue or purple flowers appear in May and throughout the month delight the eyes of gardeners. This is the most common type of plant, which laid the foundation for almost all existing varieties. Due to the color of the flowers, it is known as the "lilac bush". Leaves are characterized by a deltoid shape, they have denticles along the edges, usually one or two. The shrub itself grows in height no more than 15 cm.
- Hybrid Aubriet or Cultural. It blooms in spring, as if welcoming the appearance of sunny and warm days. Hybrid plants include artificially bred plants. Their flowers have a variety of shades, can be red, white, purple, pink, purple. For example, the variety Audrey has several forms, there are buds of raspberry color or dark purple. Flowers grow so densely resembling soaring clouds, the names Giant Falls, Cote d'Azur speak for themselves. Some varieties have foliage combining two shades.
- The graying hair. Its leaves are distinguished by a silver color, the flowers are usually light lilac.
- Aubrieta Colon-shaped. Its stems are dense, thick, with fluffy pile on the leaves. The flowers are also quite large, differ from other varieties and species. Usually they are pink or red.
- Aubrieta Campbell has large lilac flowers of various shades. They appear in May and persist for more than a month.
Awesome Campbell
Planting a plant
Seeds need to be planted for shaving. They are either immediately placed in the ground, or in special containers, waiting for the seedlings to appear. In the latter case, young shoots grow at home. They gain strength before landing in open ground. The main thing is to use suitable soil when sowing.
Seed planting
When growing aubration from seeds, they are planted when the night frosts are definitely not back. This is usually May. You can also start the procedure in September.
Note! Autumn time is considered more preferable for planting. This is due to the large number of weeds in the summer. They will interfere with the growth of the bush.
So that next year the garden will bloom in the garden, seed cultivation should be carried out based on the recommendations:
- Seeds treated with potassium permanganate, which will disinfect them. Then leave them in a growth stimulator for 10-12 hours.
- Prepare a landing site by digging and loosening the ground. With a large amount of clay, pour sand. Get rid of stones so that the soil is homogeneous.
- Water the earth and make grooves leaving 15 cm between them.
- Put seeds, cover with sand and moisten the soil.
- Cover with foil until shoots appear. This usually happens after 2-3 weeks.
Planting seedlings
Aubrieta perennial seedlings planted in February. Seeds must be pre-treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. This is an excellent antiseptic that eliminates bacteria and fungi.
Abundant flowering plants
Evergreen obrietta, how to grow from seeds, step by step instructions:
- Prepare individual containers. It is better not to use drawers for seedlings, so as not to injure the roots of the plant in the future. They are fragile and try to avoid any manipulations with them.
- Fill the container with soil, mixing garden soil with sand in equal proportions.
- Lay the seeds, sprinkle them with sand and moisten a little.
- Cover with foil and put in a warm place. The temperature at home should not fall below +18 ℃.
- Ventilate and moisten the seedlings daily when the soil dries.
- Transplanted into open ground in May, when the weather will be stably warm. Loosen and moisten the soil in advance. So that young plants are easily removed from containers, you need to put them for some time in warm water. So the earthen lump is easier to move away from the walls and will not have to injure the root system.
Correct planting of the shave is the key to its growth and abundant flowering. Sow in a suitable soil and do not forget about the rules of moistening.
Watering and loosening the soil
Watering the plant should be moderate. Be sure to monitor if the soil has dried out. Otherwise, the roots of the shade will rot and perish.
Note! If the street is too hot and has not rained for a long time, the number of watering is increased. But in any case, the procedure should not be carried out more often than twice a week.
The soil needs to be loosened periodically, while sand is added to the upper soil layer. It is also necessary to get rid of weeds. Their growth adversely affects the development of obriet.
Breeding methods
Most often, shaving is propagated by seeds or cuttings. The division of the bush is rarely chosen, the roots of the plant are so fragile that you should not touch them once again.
Cuttings usually remain after regular pruning of the bush. Shoots without flowers are placed in a mixture of sand and peat. It is necessary to create greenhouse conditions for them, and after rooting, transfer them to the open ground. Usually a transplant is planned for late summer or early fall.
Fertilizers and fertilizers
Fertilizing is necessary when the plants have already grown, before the flowering period begins. Feeding is also recommended after trimming. Only nitrogen-containing preparations will not damage young flowers. They help build green mass.
Much depends on the state of the soil and its characteristics:
- If it is nutritious, then top dressing is carried out rarely, 1-2 times a month are enough. Mineral fertilizers and mixtures containing potassium help the plant most of all. You can purchase special complexes designed for flowering garden plants.
- When a flower grows among stones, you need to shorten the interval between procedures. In this case, when planting, the seeds simply fall asleep between the crevices of the cobblestones.
Aubrietus among stones
Experienced gardeners recommend applying wood ash to the soil, and manure is considered detrimental to the bush. He is able to burn the roots of the plant and lead to its death.
Plant transplant
Aubrieta is an unpretentious plant and taking care of it is not burdensome, but it perceives a transplant extremely painfully. Often after the procedure, the bush dies. Therefore, before growing obriette, you need to determine in advance a place for it, so that later the plant does not have to be disturbed. Even the most experienced gardeners cannot save the life of a garden beauty. The procedure itself is carried out according to the usual rules, a bush is dug up and transferred to a new hole. The land is moistened before planting, and after the flower is in place, sand is poured at the roots.
Obrieta pruning
Pruning should be done several times a year. It is imperative to make it after the first flowering, then by autumn the buds will tie again. You need to remove the stems of the bush almost at the very base, this is what will allow the plant to bloom annually.
Note! Before the Aubrieta leaves for the winter, it is not necessary to trim the shoots. Otherwise, the flower will lose its strength and will not be able to withstand harsh weather conditions.
In the spring, before the growth period, you need to carefully examine the shrub, removing damaged and dried parts.
Pests and diseases
Planting and caring for a shaved perennial does not require much time, because a flowering shrub can not be called moody. Another plus of its cultivation is a rare defeat by diseases and pests.
Sometimes the flower becomes infected with powdery mildew. A whitish coating appears on the leaves and flowers under the action of the fungus. After some time, it acquires a brown hue. As a result, the affected areas blacken, rot and die. The shrub no longer looks attractive, dry ugly leaves and stems appear on the flowering carpet. In addition, the infected plant will most likely not survive the winter. The disease can be stopped, stop its spread. Colloidal sulfur solution treatment will help.
Aphids, an insect, which suck the juice from a plant, cause inconvenience. It not only deprives him of nutrients, but also carries viral diseases. The shrub needs to be treated with special means, for example, “korbafosom”.
Flowering period
Aubrieta usually blooms from spring. The colorful period lasts for a month. Depending on the type of evergreen shrub, flowering begins in mid-spring or closer to summer. Sometimes it happens again, closer to the fall.
During flowering, it is important to maintain moisture at the roots of the plant. To do this, the soil around the sheath is sprinkled with sand. Abundant flowering is excluded if the soil is excessively moistened. Shrub requires a lot of fluid only in dry periods. The rest of the time there is usually enough rainfall.
Important! If the plant is watered too often, the foliage will be dense, and the flowers against its background will be inconspicuous. In the worst case, the roots rot.
At the end of the flowering period, a fruit is formed. It is a pod, and the seeds have an oblong shape.
Winter preparations
Aubrieta is a perennial plant, you do not need to dig it out. It tolerates winter well, but severe frosts can destroy the bush, so it is better to protect it.
Be sure to cover the seeds planted in autumn and young shoots. Saves shaving from death:
- mulching with a mixture of sand and peat;
- dry leaves or spruce branches.
If the winter is snowy, then the bush will not suffer. In dry frosty weather there is a risk that he will die, so it is better to play it safe. Before wintering, leaves do not need to be removed.
Use in landscape design
Aubrieta as a flower in the soil does not fit well with other garden plants. Low bushes look good in single plantings. They fill the territory, resembling a fluffy carpet or a colorful sea. Usually they are used in the design of garden and park areas for the design of alpine slides.
Flower in landscaping
An attractive plant is planted along the paths, creating floral borders that divide the space. For such purposes, the obrietta cascade of seeds is ideally suited, the planting and care of which is no different from other species. There are different varieties that differ in color, for example, Blue Shade, Cascade Red. The main thing is to place the flower in a sunny place or slightly shaded. Otherwise, it will lose its appeal, the petals will not be so bright.
It must be remembered that the cascading aureth blooms a little later than other species. She loves moderate humidity, but is unpretentious to soil acidity. You can place the plant on the fence, going down, it will resemble streams of water, creating a bright waterfall.
In nature, the sheath often grows along the banks of rivers and on rocks, so the shrub will feel great in rocky terrain.
Aubrieta is an evergreen perennial. It is characterized by abundant flowering and easy to breed. Caring for him is a pleasure. As a reward for observing the simple rules of gardeners in the spring, and possibly in the fall, a bright flowering carpet awaits. Aubrietu is difficult to replace in landscape design. Shrub as if created for the alpine hills, because it exists comfortably even among stones.
