Content
Planting and caring for dicentra is a question of keen interest to lovers of bright perennials. A beautiful pink flower, shaped like a heart, can become a noticeable element of any flower bed, but it must be grown according to all the rules of care.
Features of growing dicentra
Dicentra is presented in a huge variety of species and varieties on the horticultural market. Varieties of perennials differ from each other mainly in shades of color, but the features of planting and caring for dicentra remain approximately the same.
- The perennial does not tolerate dry air well, but loves shaded places. Therefore, dicentra can be planted in the country in areas where other sun-loving perennials would not grow well - this allows you to decorate unoccupied space with bright flowers.
- Dicentra, planted in the shade, blooms quite late, but at the same time it is distinguished by its bright color and long flowering duration. Therefore, the garden in which dicentra is planted pleases the eye with multi-colored shades until mid-summer.
- Different varieties of dicentra may bear white, yellow, pink, purple or red flowers. Not only do perennial varieties combine well with each other, dicentra is suitable for joint planting with other flowering plants and for subsequent care. This allows you to create beautiful and intricate flower beds.
Planting dicentra requires increased care and knowledge of agricultural technology from the gardener. But caring for an established flower is quite simple. An important advantage of dicentra is that the perennial tolerates winter cold well; unlike many flowers, it has a high level of frost resistance and requires minimal shelter during winter care.
How to plant dicentra correctly
There are several ways to plant a perennial plant. Growing dicentra from seeds at home is popular. Although the effectiveness of this method is lower than that of cuttings or dividing a bush, when planting a plant for the first time there is often no other choice but to use the seed method.
Growing dicentra from seeds
The first stage of seed planting is the proper preparation of planting material. In order to increase germination, the seeds are first stratified, that is, they are subjected to long-term processing under low temperature conditions, which increases their endurance.
- For stratification, the seeds are washed, mixed in a small container with loose sand or moist soil and, covered, placed in the refrigerator for 3 months.
- From time to time, the seeds need to be checked and, if necessary, the soil should be re-moistened.
- You need to start stratification at the beginning of winter, then already in March the seeds will be ready for planting.
In March, stratified seeds are sown in prepared soil for dicentra in seedling boxes. The soil for the plant is selected as standard - light, quite nutritious and loose. Turf soil, sand and peat are ideal as soil mixtures.
The first seedlings will appear within about a month. Caring for dicentra seeds is quite simple; the sprouts need moderate watering as the soil dries out. Also, in the room with the sprouts, you need to maintain the temperature around 25 degrees and avoid drafts, although regular ventilation of the center is necessary. The place for the plant should be sunny, but not in direct rays.
Around the end of April, the sprouts will become so strong that they can be picked - only the strongest seedlings are left. After this, the sprouts are planted in open, warmed soil. If there is a sudden cold snap in May, the perennial sprouts will definitely need to be covered in the garden bed with film or other material. This care will prevent the flowers from freezing.
When to plant dicentra in open ground
It is necessary to plant a perennial plant in the soil in late April or early May. It is important to wait until the last return frosts have passed and the soil has warmed up in depth.Young perennials do not tolerate cold well and may die in a new place before they take root properly.
Dicentra is also allowed to be planted in the fall, but no later than September. Before the onset of the first cold weather, the roots of the plant must properly develop and strengthen in the soil.
Where to plant dicentra
Dicentra tolerates both sunny and shaded areas well. However, it is best to plant and care for dicentra in the Moscow region in places with sufficient light but good natural shading. This way the dicentra will delight you with rapid flowering, but will not be harmed by direct rays of the sun. The plant can be planted in the shade of small garden shrubs, so the perennial will not only receive comfortable conditions for it, but will also effectively shade the greenery of tall plants.
From a soil point of view, the perennial is undemanding. Optimal for it is moderately moist, nutritious soil with high looseness and good drainage. The plant prefers soil with a weak acidity level.
Preparing the landing site
The site for planting perennials must be prepared in advance - several months before planting the dicentra in the ground. If planting is scheduled for spring, then the site is prepared and fertilizers are applied in the fall; if in the fall, then in the spring.
The soil in the selected area is properly dug up to a depth of 30 cm and 3 kg of humus is laid per meter of space. It is also necessary to add complex mineral substances to the soil - within a few months, the fertilizers will be properly absorbed into the soil and create the necessary microflora in it.
Rules for planting in open ground
Immediately before planting a perennial, holes in the ground are prepared for it - the depth and diameter should be at least 40 cm, and the distance between individual plants should be around half a meter.
A drainage layer of crushed stone or other material is poured onto the bottom of the prepared holes; special attention should be paid to this stage of planting and care if the soil at the planting site is highly moist. Fertile soil mixed with compost is poured over the drainage layer, up to half the hole. When planting dicentra in the ground in the spring, the sprouts are lowered into the hole and covered completely with soil. The initial care of planted plants is to water them and lightly press the soil around them.
How dicentra rises
Since dicentra seeds germinate with difficulty, preferentially in gardening they are first planted in a seedling box and then in open ground - this allows for a slight increase in germination. In this case, the first shoots of the planted dicentra appear approximately within a month after planting.
However, sometimes you can plant dicentra with seeds directly in open ground. Planting is usually done in the fall, in September; in this case, the seeds will sprout in 30 days, after which the sprouts will need to be thinned out. Immediately after diving, the young dicentra is mulched and then covered with film or fallen leaves. Under shelter, the seedlings wait out the winter, and with the onset of spring they begin to actively grow, although some of the plantings may die during the winter period.
Dicentra care
Planting dicentra with seeds is considered the most difficult stage of growing a plant. But in order for a perennial to delight with beautiful and abundant flowering, as in the photo of planting and caring for a perennial dicentra, you need to properly care for the plant.
How to water
According to the rules of care, the flower requires moderate moisture; it is important not to allow the soil to dry out or become waterlogged. Therefore, water the dicentra after planting as the soil dries out - the soil should always remain slightly moist. The perennial does not react well to hard water; before watering, the moisture must be settled so that it becomes softer.
It is important to remember that dicentra roots require access to oxygen for normal development. After each watering during the care process, it is recommended to loosen the soil around the flower a little, and at the same time promptly remove weeds from the soil. During periods of drought, watering and loosening are carried out more often, but without excessive zeal; if the water begins to stagnate in the ground, the root system of the plant will begin to rot.
How to feed the dicentra
For abundant flowering, the perennial plant must be fertilized regularly after planting. Care consists of annually adding nitrogen fertilizer to the soil for the dicentra in the spring - this promotes the abundant development of the green part of the plant.
During the flowering period, dicentra requires superphosphate, and in the fall it is recommended to fertilize the soil with organic matter, spill it with mullein infusion and mulch it generously with humus. It is enough to fertilize each type once per season; this amount of fertilizer will be sufficient for the dicentra and will contribute to its healthy and rapid growth.
Trimming
The flowering perennial does not need strong formation. The stems of the dicentra naturally bend to the ground thanks to the large buds; there is also no need to tie them up during the care process, although it is advisable to plant the flower in a place sheltered from strong winds.
The perennial needs minimal pruning only to maintain beautiful flowering. It is very simple to do - you need to promptly tear off the wilted buds from the plant in order to free up space and resources for the growth of new flowers.
Dicentra transplant
The perennial root system is prone to rapid growth, and at a certain stage, rotting processes may begin in the tangled roots. Therefore, from time to time the dicentra needs to be replanted; the rules of care recommend doing this approximately once every few years.
- Transplantation must be carried out in April or early May; it is also practiced to transplant dicentra in the fall after flowering has ended.
- The perennial flower is carefully dug out of the ground, trying to injure the roots as little as possible, and left in the air for a short time so that the roots dry out.
- After this, the overgrown perennial is divided into several parts with healthy roots, making sure that several shoots remain on each part. The cut areas can be sprinkled with ash to prevent infection.
- The dicentra sections are planted in new holes and watered, and then the soil at the roots is lightly mulched.
You can plant dicentra with rhizomes individually, or you can form small groups from the perennial for subsequent care. In the latter case, 2-3 parts, separated from the main plant, are planted in the hole at once.
Preparing for winter
Dicentra is a fairly cold-resistant plant, but in the winter season the ground part of the flower freezes completely.Therefore, in autumn, it is customary to cut off the leaves and stem of a perennial almost flush with the soil, at a height of 3 cm from the surface. There is no point in preserving the above-ground parts; in any case, they will not survive the winter.
Caring for dicentra in the fall and preparing for winter consists of building a shelter for the flower before the onset of cold weather, completely covering the remaining stumps of the plant with a peat layer of about 5 cm. If you make the layer thinner, the ground may freeze too much. At the same time, it is also not recommended to cover the flower with peat more abundantly, otherwise the roots will begin to rot, which will lead to their rotting.
With the onset of spring, the layer of covering material is removed; this must be done immediately after a stable thaw has established. Otherwise, under the shelter in warming conditions, excessive humidity may develop, which will harm the health of the plant.
Protection from diseases and pests
Planting and caring for Heartbroken dicentra includes mandatory protection of the plant from diseases and pests. In general, the perennial is highly resistant to diseases, but some of them remain dangerous.
- In particular, tobacco mosaic poses a threat to dicentra. Symptoms include stripes and spots appearing on the young leaves of the flower.
- With ring spotting, pale elongated rings are formed on mature foliage, shaped like oak leaves.
- Dicentra can also contract mycoplasmosis, as a result the growth of the flower slows down, the peduncles become bent, and the color of the flowers themselves becomes yellow or green.
Dicentra diseases most often occur due to improper care and excess moisture, so to prevent perennials, you need to water them properly, follow the recommended care, and prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged. If the plant is already sick, then the soil around it needs to be shed with fungicidal solutions. Careful sanitary control of the site also helps protect perennials from diseases. It is recommended to promptly pluck and destroy the wilted flowers of the plant, prevent the development of weeds, regularly loosen the soil and remove plant debris from it.
Dicentra demonstrates high resistance to pests. Of the insects on the perennial plant, only the common aphid is found. For the purposes of care and prevention, the leaves of the plant should be periodically inspected for infection, and if aphids are detected, treatment should be carried out with Biotlin or Antitlin.
How to propagate dicentra
The seed method of propagation and cultivation of dicentras is used mainly to plant a perennial in your garden from scratch. But to further increase the plantings of dicentras, it is wiser to use other methods of propagation; they bring more reliable results.
Propagation of dicentra by cuttings
Cuttings are the most basic method of propagating dicentra in the spring on a site.
- Young plant shoots and root shoots up to 15 cm long are used as cuttings; if root shoots are taken for planting, their length can reach up to 20 cm.
- Immediately after cutting, it is advisable to soak the cuttings for about a day in a root-forming solution - the dicentra will germinate without this, but the solution will speed up rooting.
- Dicentra cuttings can be planted directly in the ground in spring or summer, but most often the plant is first placed for care in a greenhouse or seedling box at home. Greenhouse germination conditions allow you to maintain the desired temperature and prevent drafts during the period when the cuttings are especially sensitive to external conditions.
- When growing at home or in a greenhouse, cuttings must be buried in soil suitable for perennials, create a stable temperature of about 25 degrees and regularly moisten the soil over the next 3-4 weeks.
When sprouts appear on the cuttings, caring for the dicentra will need to be continued. The plant is transferred to a permanent place in the ground only the next year, regardless of whether it is a greenhouse or home cutting.
Dicentra propagation by dividing the bush
Planting and caring for a magnificent dicentra include regular replanting and planting of the bush - the dicentra grows quickly, and its roots begin to interfere with the healthy development of the perennial. Simultaneously with replanting, the bush is usually divided, this allows you to rejuvenate the mother plant, make it easier to care for and at the same time increase the planting of dicentra on your site.
- Dividing a bush of a flowering perennial is quite simple - to do this, the plant needs to be completely dug out of the ground and left for a while so that the roots dry out a little and wilt.
- Then the bush is carefully divided with a knife into several so-called divisions, each of them should have 3-4 healthy shoots.
- In the newly selected area, several small holes of a standard size are dug, about 40 cm in diameter and depth; during mass planting, a distance of approximately 50 cm is left between them.
- The segments, or divisions, are planted in holes in a new place, watered and mulched in the same way as when planting a plant in open ground.
What to plant next to the dicentra
The perennial plant looks beautiful in single plantings, but takes on an even more spectacular appearance when combined with other plants. For joint planting with dicentra and further care, other perennials that prefer similar conditions are well suited - fertile soils with low acidity and light shading.
In the flowerbed next to the dicentra you can plant for easy care:
- tulips and irises;
- anemones and corydalis;
- primrose;
- ferns and bergenia;
- hostas and lungworts;
- Heucheras and Brunners.
Tall, spectacular peonies and roses are also suitable for joint planting with perennials and joint care. Dicentra looks good next to astilbe and delphinium, anemone and hellebore. Dicentra can be used for monotonous or multi-colored flower beds; the flower will not get lost in any composition.
What flowers should you not plant dicentra with?
A peculiarity of planting and caring for dicentra is that the plant prefers shaded areas of the garden.This means that it is not recommended to plant perennials next to sun-loving flowers, such as phlox and daisies, lavender and chrysanthemums, monardas and asters.
Perennials that prefer maximum sunlight will not be able to grow safely in places favorable for dicentra; they will not be able to be properly cared for. In turn, the Broken Heart flower, when planted in bright sun, can also grow much worse, despite good care.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for dicentra allows you to decorate your garden with bright, attractive and unusual perennial flowers. The only difficulty when planting a plant is that it is difficult to propagate by seeds, but caring for an adult dicentra is quite simple.
