Content
Among the variety of cultivated flowering plants, it is difficult to find something as unpretentious and decorative as lavatera. Bright or soft pastel flowers can be used to create any composition in the garden.
Description
Lavatera three-month old or, as it is also called - garden rose, used to decorate any areas, including shaded ones. Small lavatera bushes look very impressive in composition with tall plants, for example, gladioli or park roses. Lavatera is often used to create country-style flower beds.
The main advantages of Lavatera:
- Highly decorative;
- Abundant and long flowering;
- Weather resistance;
- Undemanding to soil;
- Shade tolerance;
- Drought resistance;
- Resistance to fungal diseases.
Lavatera blooms profusely from early summer until frost. Lavatera flowers are most decorative in August; in hot weather their color becomes more intense.
Characteristic
Annual plant. The flowers are simple, large, funnel-shaped, and have contrasting veining. They can be white, pink, purple.
Lavatera leaves are dark green, carved, pubescent, and remain decorative for a long time.
The bush of tall flowers reaches 1 meter and often needs support.Low-growing varieties have a height of no more than 50 cm and form a compact bush.
Flowers die at temperatures of -5 degrees.
Landing
Any area is suitable for planting lavatera, except for places where water stagnates after heavy rainfall. Lavatera roots cannot tolerate excess moisture. Any soil is also suitable for these flowers, even with high acidity, but lavatera flowers develop best on light, fertilized soil.
If possible, before planting flowers, lavaters dig up the soil, adding humus, sand, ash and a complex of nutrients. Humus must be added at 2 - 3 liters per square meter, sand and ash are added in equal parts, depending on the type of soil. Mineral fertilizers for flowers are applied according to the instructions.
They have good germination, but quickly lose their ability to germinate. It is impossible to obtain vigorous shoots from three-year-old seeds.
The seeds of these flowers can be sown directly into the ground or planted through seedlings. Flowers grown from seedlings bloom much earlier.
Sowing of lavatera seeds begins when the soil temperature warms up to 15 - 18 degrees. As a rule, in most Russian regions this is mid or late April. Make holes in the prepared soil up to 4 cm deep. The distance between the holes should be at least 25 cm; lavatera blooms poorly in thickened plantings. One or two garden rose seeds are sown in each hole; after germination, one of the strongest flowers is left.
After 2 weeks, the first shoots of garden rose flowers appear. They are very sensitive to low temperatures, so it is advisable to cover the flower sprouts at night to avoid freezing.The seedlings of these flowers do not require special care; they only need timely watering and, if necessary, weeding.
They begin to grow lavatera through seedlings in mid-March. It is advisable to plant each seed in a separate glass. Then, during transplantation, the root system is less damaged.
Place 1 – 2 garden rose seeds in a glass with the prepared soil mixture, and moisten the soil with a spray bottle. Planting depth is up to 3 cm. Cups with flower seeds must be covered with transparent material until germination. After the first shoots of the garden rose appear, the cover is removed.
For full development, lavatera seedlings need a lot of light, the air temperature should be about 20 degrees.
Month-old flower seedlings can be planted in open ground when the threat of frost has passed.
Care
Caring for an adult lavatera consists of watering if necessary, weeding and fertilizing.
Lavatera should be watered carefully; even in hot weather, watering once a week is sufficient. The top layer of soil must dry out between waterings.
Weed the lavatera if necessary. To avoid this unpleasant procedure, the soil between the lavatera bushes can be covered with a layer of mulching material. You need a coating that allows air to pass through. The following materials are recommended:
- Black agrofibre;
- Chopped hay;
- Humus;
- Sawdust;
- Mown grass.
It is undesirable to use black film to mulch garden roses; the soil under it does not dry out well, and the roots of the lavatera may rot.
The application of fertilizers for growing garden roses is necessary only for very depleted soils; as a rule, the nutrients added to the plant when planting flowers are enough for the entire season. If no fertilizer was applied when planting a garden rose, you can add complex water-soluble fertilizers when watering.
Adult lavatera is very rarely affected by fungal or bacterial diseases. But occasionally, garden rose plantings can become infected with rust. To cure flowers, it is necessary to remove the affected leaves and treat the flowers with fungicides.
Lavatera varieties
There are many varieties of garden roses. Below is a description and photo of the most popular varieties of garden roses.
Lavatera variety “Pink Beauty”
The variety is tall, can grow up to 90 cm, and is abundantly covered with bright pink buds with contrasting dark veins. Used for group plantings, as a tapeworm, requires garter.
Lavatera variety "Mont Blanc"
The bush is medium, up to 75 cm, abundantly leafy. The flowers are numerous, large, white, without veins. Can be used in group plantings to create a hedge. Does not require a garter.
Lavatera variety "Parade"
The bush is medium-sized, grows up to 75 cm, abundantly covered with medium-sized flowers. Pink buds of various shades can bloom on one bush - from bright pink to almost white, with dark veins. Looks impressive in the foreground of a flower arrangement. Does not require supports.
Lavatera variety "Tanagra"
A low bush, up to 50 cm. The flowers are large, numerous, bright pink.Can be used to create borders, edging tall tapeworms.
Summarize
Planting lavatera and caring for it will not take much effort and time; if you carefully select plants for a flower arrangement, you can decorate your site yourself no worse than professional designers would do.
Reviews
