Alyssum: growing from seeds, when to plant seedlings

Content

1 Characteristics of flowers
- 1.1 Variety selection
2 Planting lobularia
3 Flower care
4 Conclusion

In the world of flowers, there are commercially viable varieties that are in demand always and everywhere and are in consistently high demand among flower growers and landscape designers. Alyssum is just such a flower - a ground cover plant with very abundant flowering and unpretentious character. The shades of alyssum can be very diverse; its bushes are compact and capable of growing quickly, covering a large area of land; another advantage of this plant is the honey aroma that envelops the bushes. There is nothing difficult in growing alyssum, because the plant adapts perfectly to almost any climate.

How to grow alyssum from seeds, when to plant its seedlings in the ground and other planting methods will be discussed in this article.

Characteristics of flowers

In nature, a plant called alyssum grows in Asia, northern Africa and Europe. The flower belongs to the Cruciferous (or Cabbage) family and has about a hundred varieties.

Important! Popularly, alyssum is often called alyssum or sea lobularia.

Characteristic features of lobularia:

low-growing ground cover plant;
Alyssums grow only from 8 to 40 cm in height;
shoots are highly branched, semi-lignified at the base;
leaves are small, obovate, slightly pubescent;
inflorescences are small, collected in racemes;
the color of the flowers can be any (white, yellow, pink, red, lilac or purple);
Alyssum begins to bloom at the end of May and ends in late autumn;
fruit - a pod with seeds, the germination of which remains for three years;
the plant is a honey plant, so it attracts bees and other insects well;
in nature, lobularia is a perennial; at home, this plant can be grown both as an annual and as a perennial crop;
the flower tolerates low temperatures well (up to -1 degree);
some varieties of alyssum can overwinter in a flowerbed even without shelter, while the flowers retain their greenery all year round.

Advice! Alyssums are planted in flower beds, borders and discounts, they look great in flowerpots and boxes. A popular practice among people is to sow lobularia in flower beds with bulbous flowers to fill empty space.

Variety selection

In the flower beds of the country you can find both the original varieties of alyssum (growing in nature) and those that were bred by breeders. Plants with perennial and annual life cycles are also cultivated on equal terms. Photos of flowers and their brief description will help you understand the varieties:

Snow Carpet - an annual variety of ground cover alyssum, reaches a height of 8 cm. The bushes are spreading, compact, covered with a large number of green leaves and snow-white small flowers.
Aphrodite - also an annual low-growing lobularia, growing up to ten centimeters in height. Flower color can be red, purple or pink.
Golden Wave - a plant with a perennial life cycle.They are compact bushes up to 20 cm high, strewn with silvery leaves that are covered with fine fluff. This variety blooms in bright yellow. Blooms in the second year after planting.
Purple Queen is an annual. The leaves of this alyssum are long, silvery-green. The inflorescences along the edge are colored in a rich purple hue, while the inside is lighter or white.
Palette - another low-growing annual that reproduces by seeds. It grows up to 15 cm, has inflorescences of various shades (yellow, cream, lilac, pink, brown).

Attention! Absolutely all varieties of alyssum are extremely unpretentious and can be propagated by seeds. It is necessary to choose plants taking into account the height and lushness of the bush, as well as paying attention to the shade of the inflorescences.

Planting lobularia

Growing alyssum from seeds is possible in several ways: seedlings, sowing in the ground, planting before winter. With each method, you must first determine when to sow the seeds. It is equally important to choose a suitable site, because although the flower is unpretentious in care, it makes its own demands on the composition of the soil and the planting site.

Selecting a location

In principle, lobularia is capable of growing on a wide variety of soils and in almost any climatic conditions. But the florist must understand that the flowering of the bushes will be more abundant and luxuriant if the flower is planted in a suitable place.

Alyssums prefer sunny areas of the garden, illuminated by warm rays most of the daylight hours. Partial shade is also suitable for this plant, but one of the lobularia’s color cushions may turn out to be looser than the rest.

Flowers tolerate low temperatures well, so they are not afraid of lowlands and areas with drafts and strong winds.Alyssum is not afraid of dry air either; it can be planted next to stones, on a hill.

Important! In any case, the area with lobularia should be well ventilated - this plant does not like stagnant air.

The soil under alyssum must also meet certain criteria:

be light;
fertile;
moderately nutritious;
allow air and water to pass through well (have drainage);
have neutral acidity.

If a gardener has chosen one of the varieties of Pyrenean alyssum for planting in his own garden, he needs to take care of a large amount of calcium in the soil - this is the only way the plant will bloom profusely.

Sowing seedlings

The seedling method of propagating lobularia is considered the most reliable. It is with the help of seedlings that it is more convenient to form a flower bed, distribute bushes throughout the area, and fill the spaces between other flowers with alyssum.

First of all, you need to decide when to plant alyssum seedlings. Considering that six to eight weeks pass from the moment the seeds germinate until the lobularia begins to bloom, and the alyssum flowerbed should be covered with a dense carpet already in June, then the best time for sowing the seeds will be the end of March.

Advice! It is recommended to sow alyssum seeds for seedlings in the last ten days of March or in the first half of April.

The plant is not afraid of the cold, so seedlings can be planted in a permanent place in early May. This will give the lobularia enough time to grow and cover the ground with a fluffy mat.

The rules for growing alissum seedlings are as follows:

Choose a shallow container with drainage holes (plastic food containers with clear lids work well).
The substrate for seedlings should be light, nutritious and neutral (ideally slightly alkaline). The soil should be very loose so that the roots of the seedlings are well ventilated and moisture does not stagnate around them.
Alyssum seeds are very small. They need to be distributed with great care, as evenly as possible, over the moist soil. After this, it is enough to lightly press the seeds to the ground. It is better not to sprinkle them with soil, since the seeds need bright light for good germination.
Sowing in early spring will require additional illumination of alyssum seedlings with fluorescent lamps.
Immediately after planting, cover the container with a transparent lid or film and put it in a warm place. After 4-5 days, the seeds should hatch, and after a week, friendly shoots with the first cotyledon leaves will appear. At this time, the shelter is removed.
Seedlings should be watered moderately; in the phase of a real pair of leaves, alyssum is fed with a mineral complex. When the seedlings have 3-4 true leaves, the flowers are planted in separate pots or cups.

Alyssum is transferred to the ground in May, when the temperature normalizes and the soil warms up well. The seedlings are transferred together with a lump of earth into pre-prepared holes. The distance between bushes depends on the type of flower, and is usually 20-35 cm.

Planting in the ground for the summer

Planting seedlings is not the only way to propagate flowers. It is quite possible to plant alyssum directly in the ground, but such plants will bloom a month and a half later - around mid-July.

Lobularia seeds can be sown from mid-April to the first days of May. The area should be well lit and the soil should be warm. First, the soil in the flower bed is loosened, if necessary, mineral fertilizers are added and liming is carried out.

The seeds are placed in small holes no more than one and a half centimeters deep. Sprinkle the seeds on top with dry soil and carefully water the plantings. When the shoots appear, they need to be thinned out, removing weaker shoots and evenly distributing the flowers throughout the flower bed.

Attention! If you do not thin out the alyssum, it can easily get a fungal infection - the plant should be well ventilated.

Now the flower garden only needs to be watered occasionally, loosen the soil and monitor the condition of the lobularia.

Sowing before winter

Lobularia seeds tolerate low temperatures well, so this flower can be sown before winter. Usually, alissum is sowed in November, when consistently cold weather has established itself (so that the seeds do not begin to germinate).

The planting process itself is no different from the summer one. During the winter, the seeds have time to harden and become stratified in natural conditions, so they produce strong, healthy seedlings in the spring.

Important! If the shoots appear too early in the spring, you need to cover the alyssum with film so that the flowers do not freeze.

Lobularia is so resilient that it reproduces well by self-sowing. For pre-winter sowing to produce good seedlings, all you need is loose soil, moderate watering and sunlight.

Flower care

Alyssum is one of those plants that can grow without outside help. But in order for the flowering to be lush and the mat to be uniform, you need to take care of the flower garden. Caring for lobularia is as follows:

Moderate watering as needed. You need to water the flowers when the soil is dry at a depth of three centimeters. The plant especially needs moisture during the flowering period. But excess water will also harm lobularia - the bushes can rot and deteriorate.
Perennial varieties of alyssum are fed only once a year - in the spring.Flowers with an annual cycle need to be fed four times a season, using a mineral complex with an emphasis on potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.
It is recommended to trim the lobularia by 3-5 cm and completely cut off the elongated dry inflorescences - this stimulates the formation of new flowers. Perennial bushes are pruned to a third of their height immediately after flowering to stimulate the formation of flower buds for the next season.
The pests of alyssum are the same as those of ordinary garden cabbage, because they belong to the same genus. You can fight insects and diseases with folk remedies, such as Bordeaux mixture, or use chemicals.

Advice! Alyssum seeds are obtained from faded buds. To do this, dry inflorescences are rubbed in your hands over a clean sheet of paper. It is better to do this in the fall.

Conclusion

Alyssum has proven itself to be an unpretentious and very resistant plant. A thick carpet with delicate flowers looks good in any flower beds, flowerpots or flowerpots. Lobularia is often used in pairs with primroses: when tulips and crocuses fade, alyssum comes on the scene, decorating the flower garden until late autumn.

Growing lobularia from seeds is not at all difficult: you can sow the seeds for seedlings or directly into the ground.