Italy and Southern France). It became widespread throughout Europe as a successful decoration for gardens and rock gardens. And the flower is named in honor of the French artist Claude Aubrier, who was fond of botanical illustrations. Let's find out what is good about shaving? Planting and caring for this plant will also not remain out of our area of attention.
What does Aubriet look like?
These plants are characterized as evergreen, perennial and creeping. Their branches do not rise above 10-15 cm above the ground, forming expressive hemispherical curtains. The leaves are small, pubescent, with a serrated or solid edge, resembling an ellipse or an egg in shape, arranged one at a time, alternately. The plant looks spectacular at any time of the year, and even when it does not bloom, it still pleases the owners with green juicy leaves. The flowers are four-petal and small, no more than 1 cm in diameter, forming small racemose inflorescences. The genus includes 12 species of plants, differing in the shade of the petals: there are red, pink, purple, blue, less often white. Here she is so multicolored - shaved. The photos of flowers presented in the article allow you to form your own opinion about this ornamental plant.
Common species in Russia
The most popular is the cultural aubrieta (Aubrieta x cultorum Bergmans), which combines several varieties and forms that differ in the color of the petals. The shoots of the plant do not exceed 20 cm, the leaves are small, with jagged edges, spatulate-oblong. (about 1 cm in diameter), various colors - from purple to dark purple. During flowering (about 40 days, from May to June), the leaves are not even visible under a dense layer of bright inflorescences. The varieties bred at the present time are characterized by larger petals, double branches.
Deltoid Aubrieta (Aubrieta deltoidea) is the ancestor of all hybrid varieties, as it bears fruit. Their purple or purple-blue loose racemose inflorescences delight the eye for 30-35 days, also in May. They are distinguished by more dissected deltoid gray-green leaves with a pair of teeth on each side.
Aubriet flower: choosing a place for planting
What place does this plant prefer? Necessarily sunny, partial shade is allowed only in a hot southern climate, and in a temperate climate it will only do harm: the aubriet will stretch out and stop blooming. The soil should be light, not too fertile. Fertilize it with ash, lime or chalk. Waterlogged clay and oily soil with a high peat content should be avoided. In winter, moisture can be simply destructive for flowers such as shaved. Planting and caring for the plant is carried out in raised areas, well-drained and rocky hills, in the spaces between stones. Watering is required only and then - only in especially dry times. The exceptions are the southern regions, where the summer is very hot.
How to grow a colorful "rug"
Have you decided that your site should be decorated with an Aubriet? Planting and caring for the plant will give you a lot of trouble, remember this. You cannot plant it and stop following the development, otherwise very soon the flower will cease to perform a decorative function. Aubrieta can be propagated in three ways:
- Cuttings. The cut parts of the plants are planted in a greenhouse, in the soil of river sand and peat (in equal amounts). Many species take root in 95% of cases under artificial fog conditions, and some varieties give roots only in 25%. At the end of August, rooted petioles are transplanted to a permanent place so that they take root there before the onset of the first frost. It is recommended to maintain a distance of 10-15 cm between the bushes. It is better to leave the most valuable specimens in a greenhouse until spring. Young plants are frost-resistant only in the first year of life and easily tolerate cold; in the future, it is desirable to carry out cuttings annually.
- Reproduction by seeds. They are sown in ridges in open ground before winter (in September). Be sure to carry out mulching with sand. Flowering occurs in the second year. Indoor reproduction is possible: seeds are sown two months before the expected last frost (from January to April). Vermiculite with seedlings is covered with plastic wrap. When the seedlings emerge, the film is removed and, after the end of frost, is planted in the soil in a permanent place. Note that varietal properties are not preserved during reproduction by seeds.
- Reproduction by dividing the bush. It is produced in rare cases in spring or autumn, if cuttings have not been made or if the bushes need to be urgently moved. The plant reacts extremely painfully to such a procedure.
Care features
For many summer residents and lovers of beauty in personal plots, shaving will not cause difficulties. Growing under close supervision is easy too. But there is no need to stop there, the plant needs constant care. Even if the soil on which the aubriet grows is light enough, it is very useful to apply surface sand (mulching) with a layer of 3-5 cm 2-3 times per season. When flowering ends (in May or early June), the plant is pruned to promote rapid, compact growth later on. In this case, in the fall, you will again admire the colorful inflorescences. If the winter is projected to be protracted, with sharp temperature fluctuations, it is worth covering the shave with a dry leaf for this period.
- You should buy seeds in the spring, and when purchasing seedlings, pay attention so that the roots do not sprout from the holes in the bottom of the pot and do not intertwine.
- Manure and mineral nitrogen cannot be used as fertilizers (it reduces winter hardiness).
- Varieties with blue and purple petals are durable, but pink and red-flowered plants do not please the eye for so long.
- A blooming carpet along the edge of the curb or in rock gardens looks just gorgeous. But this is far from the only way to decorate a site with the help of such a plant as aubriet. A cascade of bright inflorescences descending along a fence or a building wall will certainly amaze and admiration!
- Aubrieta goes well with other creeping plants: blue and is planted with yellow rock alyssum, white and Caucasian pink razuha, basic-leaved red soapwort. Pink and red are in harmony with dwarf bearded irises, Douglas phlox or Pozharsky bells.
Connoisseurs of floriculture will certainly find the right approach to the shaved plant. Planting and leaving will not cause them any special inconvenience, and a bright carpet of small flowers will delight the hosts and impress guests.
Aubrieta is a cute herbaceous perennial that can transform your summer cottage in an amazing way. It will cover a rockery or an alpine slide with a colorful carpet, create a bright background for other flowers in a flower bed, and decorate vertical surfaces with a cascade. Good shaving and as a potted houseplant. It can be grown as a balcony crop and gets along without any problems with all the blooming neighbors on the site. The best way to grow a plant is from seeds.
The color of flowers in this highly decorative plant can be very diverse. There are varieties with flowers:
- light blue;
- pale pink;
- purple;
- blue;
- crimson;
- violet;
- lilac;
- purple;
- white.
Aubriet comes from South European and Central Asian countries. This groundcover is suitable for continuous vertical and horizontal garden decoration and is successfully used by landscape designers around the world.
Advice! The plant grown from seeds begins to bloom in May next year. The flowering period is one and a half months. If you cut off the shoots immediately after flowering, it can bloom again. Thus, it is easy to ensure a blooming carpet throughout the summer.
There are about 40 varieties of this plant grown in culture. The most popular of them are five.
| Variety | Picture | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Plants 10 cm long, stems spreading to the sides. Large-flowered - up to 5 cm diameter of flowers of intense pink color. Can be propagated by cuttings and division | ||
| Highly decorative variety. Shoots take root easily. Can be blue and different shades of pink | ||
| It blooms magnificently and for a long time, about two months. Crimson flowers. Used for vertical decoration - grows well on a frame |
||
| Blue and bright blue flowers. The most frost-resistant variety. Blooms twice. Grows well after pruning |
||
| It can be red, pink and turquoise, but the most common colors are lilac and purple. Used for vertical decoration, and also as a pot plant, in balcony boxes and on alpine slides |
Earth, light, water
Aubriet is difficult to attribute to unpretentious flowers. She is demanding at once to three agrotechnical points:
- Soil composition
- Watering regime.
- Lighting.
In addition, the plant is almost impossible to propagate by dividing the bush - it tolerates transplanting very badly and the percentage of survival rate of the division is low. Therefore, the seed method of sowing directly into the soil in a flower bed or alpine hill is optimal.
In order not to risk the loss of seedlings when picking and planting in the ground, when growing seedlings, Aubriet should be sown only in peat tablets. Thus, the plant will not be damaged during transplantation.
When to sow
Aubrieta can be sown in the ground, both in spring and autumn. In the spring it is May. Autumn - October. If the seeds are sown in the spring, seedlings can be expected in 10-15 days. When sowing in autumn, the plant emerges only the next year in spring.
The seeds are immediately sown to a permanent place at suitable intervals. Do not thicken the crops too much - the seedlings will not be able to develop normally, and the feeding area for them will be insufficient. But too rarely, sowing a ground cover is also unnecessary. The optimal distance between the bushes, depending on the variety, is 15-20 cm.
The soil
It is very important to find the most suitable site for the plant. Aubrieta looks spectacular anywhere, but it will not grow well everywhere. She needs to provide a light nutritious soil with an alkaline reaction. Acidic soils are categorically unsuitable for the plant. Shave heavy clay soils are also contraindicated, but the plant likes sandy loam.
Advice! Aubrieta is a very light-loving plant. Sowing it in the shade does not make sense, since the leaves will stretch out, flowering will be scarce and the expected decorative effect will not work.
Before sifting, the soil must be prepared.
- Remove stones and weeds.
- Dig a shovel cut to a depth (10-15 cm).
- Apply humus and wood ash if sowing occurs in autumn.
- Apply mineral complex and wood ash during spring sowing.
- Add chalk or lime (the plant needs calcium for successful development).
- Loosen the fertilized soil so that there are no lumps and the structure is homogeneous.
- Moisten the area.
- Prepare a soil mixture of peat and sand for backfilling the seeds.
Sowing
Aubriet seeds are not very large, flat, brown in color. Before sowing, especially in open ground, they must be prepared and disinfected. Preparation can be carried out by soaking the seeds in a growth stimulator (epin, heteroauxin), dissolved in warm water, proportions and time - according to the instructions. Disinfection can be carried out dry, dusting with fungicide, or traditionally keeping the seeds for one hour in a solution of potassium permanganate.
When sowing, the seeds are laid out on a prepared moistened area, at a predetermined interval. The crops are sprinkled with a mixture of peat from the sands in equal proportions, watered with "rain" from a watering can.
Advice! Aubriet in rockery looks very nice. You can fill the seeds between large stones (just place fertile soil there beforehand). Aubriet shoots falling from stones look mesmerizing .
Growing aubriets for seedlings
Many do not want to wait a year before receiving flowering plants, preferring to grow aubriet seedlings. This can be done without loss if you do not subject the plants to a pick and plant them in the ground without removing them from the glass. Peat tablets and pots will help you grow seedlings at home. In this case, you can sow seeds starting in February. Plants are planted in the ground in April.
Aubrieta grown by seedlings will bloom in June. A week after germination, the seedlings should be fed with a mineral complex for flower seedlings, and in the future, fertilizing should be carried out every 10 days.
Video - How to grow aubrieta from seeds
Plant care
The flowerbed, where the aubriet flaunts, must be loosened monthly, weeded out all the weeds, water the plants with sprinkling or drip irrigation.
This groundcover is very fond of fertilizers, therefore, it needs fertilizing at all stages of growth: from the very first - two weeks after germination, to the last - before the second autumn flowering. If not fed, the plants will not bloom as abundantly as they would like. When feeding Arieta, a standard complex of minerals (nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium) is used.
At the stage of the beginning of growth, you need to apply top dressing with a high nitrogen content, then switch to food with a high phosphorus content, at the stage of the beginning of flowering, the plant most of all needs potassium.
It is necessary to feed the plant on fertile soils at least three times every two months. If the soil is not very nutritious, you will need to feed it every two weeks. Also, once every two weeks, you need to fertilize plants in rockeries and on alpine slides and cascading varieties intended for vertical decoration.
Advice! In addition to mineral complexes, twice a month (at different times, between the main dressings), young plants can be additionally fertilized with sodium humate.
Three times during the growing season, the soil under the shave must be mulched with fine sand. After cutting off the faded shoots, it is good to mulch the ground with a mixture of sand and peat.
Frequent watering is not required. Waterlogging of the soil will lead to the forcing of leaves to the detriment of flowering. However, in the heat, it is necessary to water the flower, at least twice a week.
Pruning can be done at the end of each mass bloom. You need to cut off without sparing the stems to the very base. The plant will immediately release shoots that will bloom again.
In order for this ground cover plant to be blooming and healthy, it must be treated with colloidal sulfur from powdery mildew, which is often the case with Arietta. Also, against pests, you can treat it with insecticides.
An undeniable advantage
In addition to long, abundant, beautiful flowering, this plant has another important advantage - it is not afraid of even severe cold weather. Aubrieta does not shed foliage in winter, and freezes only at very low temperatures, below 30 degrees of frost. Therefore, decorativeness is preserved all year round for many years.
Aubrieta belongs to luxurious plants, the care of which gives some trouble, but the result and the decorative effect that this flower produces on the site is worth the effort.
Aubrieta (aubretia) is an evergreen herb from the Cruciferous family. She adorns gardens and rock gardens throughout the European continent, but South America and Central Asia are considered to be her homeland.
Under natural conditions, the plant is most often found in rocky areas and along river banks. Lush flowering bushes cover the ground with a solid carpet, therefore, shaved, like Arabis, are planted to decorate personal plots. In addition, the plant is an excellent neighbor for other green "pets" in indoor conditions. And such a "beauty" will turn an ordinary balcony into a fabulous corner, forming a gorgeous flower cascade.
Aubrieta is similar to Arabis, but the plants differ in the size of the pistils, in the latter it is much shorter and thicker. Despite its "southern" origin, aubretia is a frost-hardy plant. When winter comes, it does not shed its leaves, even the color remains the same... In April-May, the bushes begin to bloom violently, which lasts up to 50 days. In the fall, the process of flowering is repeated at the Arietta.
The palette of shades of plant petals is quite diverse, they can be: pink, reddish, purple, blue and light blue (variety cascade blue), lilac, white, purple. Miniature leaves are elliptical or ovoid in shape, their edges can be either serrated or whole. Small flowers consist of four petals, like arabis, cluster-shaped inflorescences.
Growing conditions
It is easy to grow shaved, like Arabis, both outdoors and at home. In the first case, it is better to plant from mid-May, when there will be no cold weather. The main condition when choosing a suitable site is the maximum sun, then the bushes will delight you with an abundance of bright colors. The soil for planting needs loose and permeable, chalk, lime or ash must be present. Supersaturated and peaty soils are not the best option for a plant. Aubriet bushes are so viable that they can easily grow in the cracks between stone steps and concrete structures. Therefore, the soil for growing is very poor in terms of the amount of nutrients.
Planting a plant
Aubrieta, like arabis, is quite plastic, so they plant it in the desired order according to the plan of the flower bed. The plant should be deepened into the ground taking into account the dimensions of the rhizome, but the interval between seedlings should be about 5 cm. If the plant was in a plastic or ceramic container, then lower it into water before planting in the ground. When bubbles begin to form on the surface, carefully remove the seedling from the pot with a lump of soil and plant it in a hole, the width of which should be 2 times the diameter of the dish. Then the soil should be compacted and covered with sand. The optimum thickness of the sandy layer is 4-5 cm. At the end, water with a small amount of liquid.
Garden plant care
Aubriet, unpretentious, but landing and leaving contain several main rules. When grown outdoors, the plant is watered once immediately after planting, then water is added in small doses if necessary. Excessive moisture in the earth negatively affects the flowers, they fall off and look scanty. Aubretia loves dry soils more, although severe drying also harms beautiful bushes, therefore, on hot summer days, Aubreti needs to be watered. Sand mulching is a mandatory procedure for a plant; it is performed in June, and then at the end of August.
Aubretia is a perennial, like arabis, so at the end of summer flowering, bushes need pruning. In the fall, the aubriet begins to bloom again, but after this process it is undesirable to cut the bush, although many gardeners do otherwise. The next pruning should be done at the beginning of the spring period. In winter, the leaves of the plant do not fall off, but if the frosts are very severe, then this can happen. To avoid dropping the green mass, it is recommended to sprinkle the bushes with straw, although dry leaves are also suitable.
Perennial obrieta does not like abundant feeding, therefore, the soil should be fertilized very carefully.
When is the best time to feed the plant? Complex fertilizers are applied 2 times a year: with the arrival of heat before the appearance of inflorescences and in the fall after the last pruning. Complex fertilizers are taken as top dressing.
Diseases and harmful insects
Diseases and pests rarely affect flowering bushes. However, sometimes the aubriet becomes infected with powdery mildew. This disease is characterized by the presence of white bloom on the leaves and flowers. The affected areas turn black and wither, and the overall growth of the bush is inhibited. Fungal disease is treated with a special drug - colloidal sulfur.
The most dangerous enemy of aubretia is aphids. These pests can carry viral diseases; to combat them, it is necessary to treat the plant with special agents: Fufanon, Karbofos or Biotlin.
How the plant reproduces
Reproduction of bushes occurs through cuttings and seeds. In this case, you can initially grow seedlings, and then transplant them into the ground. But more often they prefer to sow aubretia, like arabis, directly on a flower bed. Before sowing, dig up the soil with a layer of 15-20 cm, then clean it of debris and add ash and chalk (lime). Aubriet seeds should be sown not infrequently, but not too thickly. The seed is not deepened into the ground, but simply sprinkled on top with a sandy layer up to 5 cm. Then the sand is watered a little with a watering can. If sown in the spring, the shoots will sprout in 2-3 weeks, and if in the fall, the shoots will appear only in the next spring season.
Also, the plant propagates by cuttings. After summer flowering, pruning is performed, and after it, many removed stems remain, which can become cuttings. These plant residues are planted in a greenhouse, suitable soil - peat and sand in a 1: 1 ratio. At the end of summer, the seedlings should form roots, then they are moved to a permanent place. Usually "young growth" has time to gain strength before winter, but if the climate in your area is very harsh, leave the plants in the greenhouse until warm.
Reproduction by dividing a bush for a plant is very painful. Most easily, aubretia transfers this procedure to the autumn and spring periods. The bush is dug up and divided into parts, each component must have strong shoots and rhizomes. Then the particles are seated in the holes. But the process of rehabilitation after such a forced injury is difficult for the Aubriet, so it is better to propagate the plant with seeds or cuttings.
Aubrieta: growing from seed
A flowering bush can be easily grown from seeds by purchasing a bag of seeds of the required variety from the store. But growing a plant at home with this method, you can lose the best parenting qualities. And one more disadvantage of such bushes - they begin to bloom in the second year after germination.
The seedling method of reproduction of aubretia is considered the most reliable. At the end of winter, they take seeds of a certain type and plant them in separate peat tablets or in special pots with peat and humus. Then, together with these containers, the seedlings are planted in the ground. On the surface of the moistened soil, put a few aubrieta seeds, sprinkle them with a sandy layer up to 5 cm, then slightly moisten the sand with a sprayer. The container is covered with glass or foil, and then placed in a warm place. At a temperature of 19-22 ° C, the seed germinates best.
Crops are ventilated every day, watering is done if necessary. The sprouts hatch after about 21-30 days, after which the greenhouse is removed from the pot. If the seedlings grow reluctantly, then 10-14 days before planting, the soil is fertilized with a weak solution of complex mineral fertilizing. Shave does not like picking, so it is advisable to plant the seed of the plant immediately in separate containers.
Plant varieties
In its natural environment, this plant includes 12 species, some of them are cultivated. The most popular among gardeners are the following varieties:
- deltoid aubriet (flowers are lilac or bluish, leaves are gray-green with several teeth at the edges) - Royal Violet, Red Carpet, etc.;
- aubrieta cultural or hybrid (bred on the basis of the previous variety, tolerates snowy winter well, has miniature elongated leaves with notches, all kinds of flower shades) - Enchanting Morocco, Gloriosa, Carnival, etc.;
- cascading (blooms in spring, petals are bluish, blue, lilac or pink-red, ideal for decorating a balcony) - cascade blue, cascade purple, etc.
Pay more attention and time to your green "pet", then you will be proud of the result!
Gardeners give this plant different characteristics, sometimes completely contradicting each other. For example, some talk about the whimsicality of Aubriets, others deny the presence of such a quality, citing, as proof, the ability of a flower to grow on the poorest soils. In any case, both camps agree that growing aubriets from seeds is the best and surest way to get this amazing flower waterfall on your site.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the colored fluffy carpet, densely covering the flower bed, the rabatka, surprisingly falling vertically, forming original "living pillows".
Aubrieta is the brightest representative of the original plants, suitable for landscape designs of any style. Small, densely spaced flowers of the plant will add originality and uniqueness to the spring garden. And even if the same plant is planted by a neighbor, the plots will never look the same - the habitat differs in colors, varieties and reacts very sensitively with its appearance to the agricultural technology applied to it.
Lilac, violet, pink, crimson, purple, white, blue - Aubrietta is beautiful in any of these shades. Blossoming, as a rule, is abundant, looks harmoniously in any floral ensemble, but the most advantageous is in the alpine slides (she seemed to be born in order to revive the stones) and as the front border of the garden.
The flowering period is April-May. It never blooms for more than two weeks, but before and after the aubriet bloom, it is able to decorate the garden like a green plant.
Its leaves also have one interesting feature: they are grayish-green in the dry season, they acquire a bright emerald green after rain.
"Difficult" seedlings
Probably, Aubriet should be classified as a whimsical vegetation, since it is almost impossible to "get" high-quality seedlings from its seeds. From amateurs, even those with rich experience in flower cultivation, not everyone succeeds in this. Therefore, advice to those who decide to acquire a plant for the first time: only growing aubriets from seeds will give a guaranteed positive result.
The problem of the seedling method can be found directly in the plant: aubrieta reacts very negatively to transplantation. It is so bad that the transplanting process itself is fraught with a mortal threat to the flower.
True, some gardeners got used to growing seedlings, planting seedlings in a separate container, or using peat tablets for germination, from which it is not necessary to remove the young plants, which means that the seedling will not be disturbed during transplantation.
Seeds - in open ground
Growing obriety from seeds (see the photo in the body of the article) presupposes a long-term cycle of plant development, the first year of which is devoted to germination and strengthening of seedlings. That is, the forces for flowering after active growth from the soil, the formation of stems and leaves, the aubriet simply will not remain.
Amazing inflorescences should be expected only in the second year after sowing.
Florists distinguish two periods for the process of planting seeds in the ground: spring (April, May) and autumn (September). Planting is carried out immediately in open ground, using sand mulching and the addition of lime mortar - otherwise the work will turn out to be Sisyphean.
A prerequisite for sowing is the presence of prepared beds, free from weeds and well loosened. From small seeds, Aubriets will make their way into the light of thin and fragile shoots, so it is very important that they are not covered with weeds ahead of time, which both grow faster and develop more actively on any soil and in any conditions.
Selection of the right soil
Obrietia (the second name of the plant) prefers light rocky soils, it is very difficult for it to grow on heavy loamy soils, it will develop slowly and is unlikely to be able to please you with all the strength of its blooming soul.
Distance between seeds
Since you hope to get a sprawling, lush plant as a result, provide room for its development from the moment the seeds are planted - place them at a distance of up to 10 cm.This way they will not get confused and interfere with each other. Do not worry about the density of the "carpet" - if properly cared for, the shave will take its place, not yielding a single millimeter to the weeds, and leaving no gaps.
Sowing preparation
This topic: shaving, growing from seeds, reviews of experienced gardeners can be presented as proof of the simplicity of the procedure. Each of them will confirm that the preparation for sowing plays a greater role than the sowing itself.
The main preparatory stages of floriculture gurus are as follows:
- cleaning the site from weeds and other impurities that can subsequently damage the shoots of obrietia;
- processing and loosening of soil (simply dig up);
- adding lime, chalk or ash to the seed pits;
- watering.
Waiting for shoots
After sowing, the first shoots of aubriet appear in two to three weeks.
Cuttings
In addition to growing aubriets with seeds, there is another effective way to propagate this plant - cuttings.
The technique is simple:
- Separate semi-mature shoots from the parent bush.
- Remove the lower leaves and roots from the sprouts.
- Place the sprout in the rooting mixture for two to three weeks (the root must be re-grown).
- The next step is to place the plant in a peat mixture (peat + sand).
- Plant the cuttings in open ground no earlier than August, keeping a distance of up to 15 cm.
Caring for the "capricious lady"
The first condition for the abundant flowering of the obriety is the right place for it. And this task is not an easy one: Aubriet does not like a lot of sun, a lot of shade, and in some cases, does not react very well even to partial shade (in the morning, when the sun is not yet active, the plant perceives partial shade as a cold, dark and uncomfortable zone) ...
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