Content
Gardeners are always pleased to deal with such a perennial as Caucasian Arabis. This is explained by long and spectacular flowering, ease of care and ease of propagation and replanting. In addition, not only flowers, but even leaves, exquisitely sparkling with their silvery tint, have decorative properties.
Because of the small notches on the leaves, Arabis is popularly called “rezukha”; in addition, there is another nickname, not confirmed by science, - sunbeam
Description of the Caucasian Arabis
The name makes it clear that the homeland of the Caucasian rhizome is the Caucasus. In addition, the culture is also found on the mountain slopes of Crimea, Central Asia and the Mediterranean. These areas are rocky and arid. That is why the plant is not picky about soil and easily tolerates drought. Caucasian Arabis (Arabis Caucasica) belongs to the cruciferous family.
Caucasian Arabis is a cushion-shaped plant that reaches a height of 30 cm, some subspecies are even smaller (15-20 cm). The leaves are green, with a silvery tint, slightly pubescent. The shape is narrow, oblong, and also has a serrated edge. Shoots creeping, rooting.
The flowers are small, simple or double, the inflorescences are racemose. The range of shades is varied: the most common are white and pink Arabis flowers. White with a yellow border, yellow, and purple varieties have also been bred. They emit a pleasant sweet smell that attracts bees. The root system consists of many small roots lying superficially.
Breeders have developed several hybrid varieties, each of which enjoys popular love and wide popularity.
Variety Plena
The most popular variety of Caucasian rhizome is Plena. This is a low-growing herbaceous plant up to 25 cm high with white or pink small double flowers with a diameter of 1.5 cm. Plena blooms profusely, occurring from May to June. It tolerates drought well and does not tolerate stagnation of water in the soil.
Until the plant has gained strength, it should be protected from weeds and other unfavorable conditions
Variety Little Treasure Deep Rose
Caucasian Arabis Little Treasure Deep Rose is distinguished by its short stature - its height is only 15 cm. The buds are of a rich pink-lilac tone, bloom from the beginning of June. Budding continues for about 1.5 months. This variety loves sunny, well-ventilated areas. It will also be able to grow in partial shade, but the flowering will not be as abundant. Caucasian Arabis Little Treasure Deep Rose is used to decorate mixborders, alpine slides and ridges.
To prolong the flowering of the crop, faded flowers should be removed.
Kompinki variety
The ground cover variety of Caucasian Arabis Compinkie is characterized by small powdery pink flowers, its shoots are up to 20 cm. The bush is spreading, flowering profusely, occurs from May to June.
Despite the large number of varieties of Caucasian Arabis found in the natural environment, only 7-10 units are suitable for ornamental cultivation, among which are Kompinkas
Variety Snowfox
Caucasian Arabis Snowfix instantly fills the empty space around itself. Its snow-white flowers are collected in racemes up to 8 cm long. This is one of the tallest varieties among the Caucasian Arabis - reaches 30 cm. The leaves are small, oblong and jagged, gray-green, slightly pubescent.
The SnowFox variety blooms in late spring or early summer.
Application in landscape design
The main landscape advantage of the Caucasian Arabis is its ability to cover areas of land with a continuous flower carpet. Thanks to this feature, rezuha is planted when decorating stone gardens, borders, flowerpots, alpine slides, ridges, terraced slopes, and filling the free space between trees or shrubs.
The contrast between a solid floral snow-white wall and large red flowers will become a bright accent in the landscape composition
An interesting option is the vertical cultivation of Caucasian Arabis. Hanging compositions, like simply tall flower beds in which the flower cover hangs freely, look very impressive.
It is important to trim the plant in time, as the shoots may grow too long and pull the roots out of the ground.
The example photo below shows a combination of Caucasian Arabis of different colors:
The larger the area a floral carpet made of Caucasian Arabis occupies, the more impressive the composition looks.
In addition to the combination of several shades of Caucasian rhizome, this crop looks harmonious with daisies, phlox, aubrieta, other creeping early flowering plants, as well as roses.
Features of reproduction
Reproduction of the Caucasian Arabis is possible in the following ways:
- Sowing seeds.
- By cuttings. Cut off a shoot up to 10 cm long, free it from the lower sheets and place it directly into the ground. Rooting occurs approximately on day 20, after which the seedling should be moved to a permanent location.
- Dividing the bush. Dig up a bush, divide it, plant it in different areas. You can also not dig up the entire bush, but only the necessary part.Important! It should be divided into only 2-3 parts, since the seedlings may not be accepted.
- By layering. To do this, pinch the shoot from above and root it in moist soil. After 20 days, cut off the rooted shoot and transplant it to the chosen location.
For the Caucasian Arabis, as options for propagation by layering, the removal of branches into grooves with an arch and the layout of branches as
Growing Caucasian Arabis from seeds
Growing any variety of Caucasian Arabis from seeds, be it Kompinky or Little Treasure Deep Rose, is approximately the same. When planning your landscape, it is important to consider that flowering occurs only the next year after planting.
Terms and rules of sowing
Caucasian Arabis seeds can be planted first in peat pots, or directly in open ground. In the first case, the seeds are planted from September to April. The material is deepened into containers with prepared soil and sprinkled with a little sand.Next, pour water and place in a cool place (approximate temperature +5 ° C). The seedlings are moved into open ground in April.
Seeds are also planted directly in open ground in April. The material is placed in moist soil to a depth of 1 cm and irrigated.
Seedling care
For faster growth, the place should be covered with plastic wrap, creating a greenhouse effect. The first shoots appear after 2-3 weeks. After the seedlings germinate, the protective film can be removed.
Seedlings planted in peat containers do not require stratification.
Planting and care
Growing and caring for Caucasian Arabis is so simple that any novice gardener can handle it. Since the root system of the seedling is poorly developed, it should be transplanted to a permanent place with the lump of earth in which it grew.
At first, until the plant gets stronger, you should definitely weed the weeds and loosen the soil. If the shoots grow too quickly, they need to be shortened.
Recommended timing
After both the root system and foliage of the seedlings have become stronger, they can be transplanted to a permanent location. During this time, their height will be about 15 cm. This happens at the end of May. Arabis should be replanted on a cloudy day so that it has time to adapt to the new location.
Site selection and soil preparation
The Caucasian moth prefers sunny areas with deep groundwater. Sandy or rocky soil is favorable for abundant flowering. Clay soil is completely unsuitable, planting in lowlands. The soil should have good oxygen permeability and be loose. The pH level is slightly acidic or neutral.If the soil is not loose enough, you can add sand, pine needles, and fine gravel to it.
Before planting, you should dig up the soil well, removing the roots of perennial weeds from it.
After the plant has grown stronger, there is no need to remove weeds, since Arabis in the garden displaces all other inhabitants
Landing algorithm
Planting the Caucasian Arabis occurs in the following stages:
- Preparing the hole. If groundwater lies too close to the surface of the earth, drainage must be laid at the bottom of the hole. It can be broken brick or expanded clay, or other small stones. The distance between the holes should not exceed 30 cm.
- Place a little soil fertilized with dolomite flour and chalk on the drainage.
- Moisten the soil in which the seedlings grow.
- Carefully dig up the seedling and place it in the prepared hole.
- Sprinkle the remaining soil on top and water.
Watering and fertilizing schedule
With regular precipitation, you don’t have to worry about watering the Caucasian Arabis. Only in case of prolonged drought the plant requires watering once a week. The exception is the spring period, when the rezuha needs strength to grow. During this period, watering is increased to 1 time every 4 days.
Arabis also does not need regular feeding. As an exception, you can fertilize the plant with mineral compounds before flowering.
Trimming and pinching
Since the crop grows quickly, shoots that are too long should be trimmed to maintain a neat shape. In addition, in order to prolong flowering, it is necessary to trim off faded flowers of the Caucasian Arabis.
Care after flowering, collecting seeds
Subsequent care after budding consists only of taking care that the plant does not dry out or spread out too much.
When planning to collect Caucasian Arabis seeds, the gardener should note the most powerful inflorescences. The material is collected after the first frost, always on a non-rainy day. It is important to do this on time, this affects germination. The inflorescences should be cut off along with the shoot and dried in a dry, ventilated place. The seeds are removed from a completely dry flower and placed in a dark envelope or box until sowing time.
Wintering
Although Caucasian Arabis tolerates low temperatures well, the lack of snow cover can destroy the roots. For the winter, the plant is cut to 4 cm. In addition, a shelter made of agrofibre, supported by metal arches, is created for it. An alternative solution is to sprinkle with pine needles, sawdust, and spruce branches.
Diseases and pests
Pests avoid the Caucasian Arabis. Of the diseases, only one is characteristic of him - the mosaic virus. Its sign is an abundance of light spots in the form of a mosaic on the leaves. Unfortunately, this disease has no cure. Therefore, the only solution is to remove the entire plant, which must subsequently be burned.
It is possible to avoid infection with the mosaic virus only by pre-treatment of seeds and preventive spraying with insecticides.
Conclusion
Caucasian Arabis is famous, first of all, for its unpretentiousness. The plant tolerates winter well, does not require frequent watering, loves open sunny areas, and is unpretentious to the soil. It is for these properties that gardeners love arabis: with little attention it gives spectacular fragrant results.
