A delphinium or hedgehog is a great addition to your garden. Gardeners simply adore him. Candle inflorescences towering above the rest of the species, giving the garden nobility and refinement.
- What loves delphinium, the choice of location and soil
- How to plant a delphinium
- How to water and feed an extraordinary flower
- Delphinium trimming and garter rules
- How to propagate delphinium
- Division of rhizome
- Planting seeds
- What kind of neighbors to choose for delphinium
Flowers of the delphinium perfectly tolerate both drought and frost. Terry buds of interesting shapes and shades will never bore your garden.
Delphinium amazes with a variety of varieties and species, about 400 excellent representatives. The color scheme of the color of this plant is impossibly diverse, but the blue shades are most appreciated in landscape design, for which the hog is certainly rich. Delphinium blooms 2 times a year, which makes it possible to twice enjoy its beauty.
What loves delphinium, the choice of location and soil
Delphinium - a plant, planting and caring for which does not require too much effort. For the successful growth and care of the delphinium, you need to find the right place.This plant loves the sun, but is afraid of blown spaces. Therefore, we choose him a suitable place.
As soon as you plant the delphinium, make sure that the soil is composted or refractory manure, which will provide abundant and rich flowering.
Delphinium perfectly makes the cold season. It can withstand low temperatures, up to -40 ° C. When planting a delphinium you need, first of all, to find the right place. Dig the earth and sprinkle with fertilizer, compost or humus. But all this needs to be done in moderation, since, although unpretentious, it does not respect the acidic soil.
How to plant a delphinium
Delphinium is grown in different ways. Someone plants the seeds immediately (fraught with late flowering and the death of the seeds), and someone first grows a young sprout in trays, and then plants it in the specially prepared soil of the future handsome man.
Boreholes should be 4-5 cm deep. The distance between the flowers must be determined independently, it all depends on the size of the future plant (20-30 cm). The soil that you took out of the pits prepared for young plants can be mixed with peat or rotted humus 1: 2, cover the bottom of the pits with it, and then plant the plants.
How to water and feed an extraordinary flower
To care for a delphinium is simple and pleasant. His unpretentiousness is good in almost all aspects of care.
This plant needs watering, weeding, fertilizers, pruning, installation supports. The flower is experiencing a great winter, so it does not need to be covered or transplanted into tubs. Delphinium begins to bloom in June.
During the drought periods, the burrs need watering, but one should not forget that it does not like stagnant water, so do not overfill it. Watering should be at the root, otherwise, if water gets on the leaves, the plant will burn.
With proper care, the delphinium blooms for up to 50 days. Every time you need to cut the stems that have faded. With regular watering and pruning, you can also admire the flowering delphinium in the fall.
The plant is also periodically prone to various diseases and pests - rotten root collar, powdery mildew, wilt, viral diseases, spider mites, delphinium fly, etc.
The optimal period for the growth of a delphinium is 3 years. Do not leave it longer, since the central core of the bush rots, and the plant loses its flowering.
Delphinium trimming and garter rules
Trimming delphinium is divided into 2 stages:
- In the first stage, when the shoots reach 20-25 cm, it is necessary to break down the weaker and thin shoots, and leave the strongest ones (up to 5). This is done so that the plant does not disperse its resources on all the shoots, because there will not be beautiful flowers for either large or small ones. This is all that, in this case, the care of the delphinium in the spring and in the early summer period requires.
- The second stage is the post-flowering stage. It depends on whether you want to leave the seeds or not. You can simply cut the flower and put it in a vase, or you can leave the sprout until the autumn, so that the fruit is ripe for planting next year.
Delphinium also needs a garter. After you have thinned the shoots and left the strongest, after 1.5-2 weeks, when the growth of the shoots will be close to 0.5 meters, you need to do their garter.
Prepare long stakes in advance and install them around the bog bush. Then tie to each peg on the escape of the plant. Garters need to be made of cloth, as the twine can damage thin stems.
In the autumn, when the leaves of the plant are already dead, shoots should not be cut. They are tubular - and water can get there, leaving a rotten plant for you in the spring.
How to propagate delphinium
The view of the delphiniums is very large and diverse. There are perennial, annual and crossed species. The best and most widespread is considered to be a cross-over or cultural spur. Delphinium is propagated by the traditional and most, as you know, affordable way - to plant a delphinium from seeds, as well as dividing the root itself. Delphinium must be cut half-dissolved, then it will stay in your vase for up to 12 days.
Division of rhizome
At any age the dog doesn’t like this kind of breeding. Even if you share young seedlings, and not an adult plant, some of them are likely to die. When splitting the root, it is necessary to approach work with maximum delicacy. When dividing the rhizomes should not use a shovel and just divide the root in half. The plant will definitely die.
To divide the root, you need to dig it up in early spring or autumn and gently, without damaging the kidneys, divide it with your hands or cut it with a sharp knife. And those places where the plant was harmed, need to be treated with ashes.
Planting seeds
Delphinium is a very interesting plant, its cultivation can begin not only with the division of the rhizome, but also from seeds. Seed propagation is the most affordable way. If you want to plant the seeds of a delphinium, then this must be done in March. The most optimal temperature at which you can plant and germinate delphinium - + 12- +15. In boxes and pots should be sown seeds rarely, at a comfortable distance, as he does not like crowding. No special care for such seedlings, as usual, just need frequent watering.
Plants should be transplanted in June, but this process can be slightly accelerated and transplanted into “nurseries” in May, where you can keep them until next season, and in spring strong healthy individuals can be transplanted to convenient permanent places.
In the first year of seed reproduction, plants bloom poorly. At this time, they increase the rhizome and greens. In the second year, the delphinium will delight you with its color 2 times - in July and August (it all depends on the variety). If you decide not to bother with the seedlings and plant the seeds immediately in the soil, then you should be ready for this. First of all, you need to prepare a place where you will plant the seeds. Fertilizer should be applied to this area, with wood ash, and it can be dug 30 cm deep.
Such seeding is done in the so-called seating ridges, grooves. They should be poured abundantly before planting. In the grooves of the bass seeds need to be planted rarely, with neatly tamped hands. To speed up the process of germination, these ridges need to cover with non-woven material or film. Then after 20 -25 days, when wetting, every 2-3 days, the first shoots of the delphinium will appear. After that, you can remove the shelter.
All summer you should look after young shoots. At the slightest drought - water, often fertilize. And the next year, in the spring, you can be transplanted to permanent places.
What kind of neighbors to choose for delphinium
Delphinium is most often planted in group landings. Since the plant is high, it is mainly in the background. It looks perfect on large flower beds and small decorative ensembles.
Spike is combined with almost all annuals and perennial plants. But there is one important condition - these neighbors can contrast in color, shape, but not in height. They must be either smaller or the same height as the delphinium.
Delphinium is quite unpretentious in the choice of partners, for example, it can be planted next to a oak or dulled sage, they will look great in such a composition.
Also, for the refinement of a flower bed, you can land a litter near a small-grain geranium, it will remarkably emphasize the color of such giants. But more subtle and exclusive combinations you get by dropping the stopper along with fennel, valerian or a feather grass, reed maker, cuff and creopsis. When the delphinium blooms, they will creatively highlight beauty and its grandeur, making it the main participant in the presentation of flowers in your landscape.
