Alpine edelweiss: cultivation and care

A modest and unpretentious edelweiss is able to decorate with its unusual appearance even the most pretentious Alpine hill. In Latin, its name sounds like a "lion's paw". This is due to the original shape of the pubescent flower. One of the many varieties of plants of this genus is the Edelweiss Alpine, the photo of which you see below. It is very decorative, but not so complicated in growing and grooming.

Description of the plant

As it is easy to guess from the name, this species grows in the subalpine and alpine zones of Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia. You can meet the plant at a lower altitude relative to sea level. However, in such conditions, he loses his decorative felt covering. Alpine edelweiss grows on naked limestones, gravelly slopes, rocks and cornices.

It is a herbaceous plant with slightly curved stems forming compact shrubs with a height of 20 to 30 cm. In the upper part they sometimes branch. The leaves of the edelweiss of this species are lanceolate, forming a beautiful basal rosette. Flowers of unusual shape (in the form of a paw) are collected in baskets, which form shields. Fruit is the seed. Flowering lasts only two weeks in the middle of summer.

The whole plant is very much pubescent. Alpine edelweiss has a beautiful silvery green hue. In nature, this property serves as a special adaptation to a high-mountainous cold climate with constant fogs. The plant is often depicted on coats of arms, coins, postage stamps. There are even Roman tombstones of the beginning of our millennium with a picture of flowers. Edelweiss is considered a symbol of mountains, inaccessibility, survival.

Use in garden culture

Because of its beauty and originality, edelweiss has been used for a long time by man in gardening. Especially it is actual at creation of rock gardens and slides. He looks good when landing in the foreground in small groups. The high ornamentality of the plant remains even after the end of the flowering period. For a long time, the cut edelweiss can stand in the water. When dried, it does not lose shape and silvery color, so it is often used in winter "dry" bouquets. The best neighbors on the slides and in rock gardens will be miniature (dwarfish) rose bushes, ageratum, aquilegia, violet and alpine aster.

Selection of the place and soil for the plant

It is quite logical that the alpine flower edelweiss prefers well-lit sunny places. The plant is drought-resistant, moreover, it absolutely does not tolerate waterlogging and stagnation of water in the ground. For edelweiss, the most optimal are light, well drained soils.

When planting a plant, it is desirable to add leafy earth, coarse-grained sand or gravel. This will help create conditions that are as close as possible to those in which it grows in the natural environment. Do not use heavy soil, too nutritious substrates with a high content of organic. Together with high humidity it will lead to a loss of the decorative nature of the plant, including a beautiful pubescence, a strong stretching of the shoots.

Edelweiss Alpine: cultivation

The plant belongs to the unpretentious category. However, to grow it in your garden, you will have to make some efforts. At first glance, the flower seems unimpressive. Indeed, if you put him in a company with tall perennials, nothing good will come of it. First, he will not have enough light. Secondly, he simply lost among them. Edelweiss needs to be emphasized by a suitable environment, set aside on a hill with stones, to create a small group of plants - only then he will attract views.

As already mentioned above, the plant does not like excess moisture. Therefore, it is quite natural precipitation. Moreover, if the summer is very rainy, then it should even be sheltered. Only in hot and droughty months, edelweiss must be poured in addition. The second important component of the care of the plant is weeding, loosening (very superficial, so as not to damage the rootlets).

A young alpine edelweiss aged 1-2 years needs easy shelter for the winter. You can use fallen leaves or branches of coniferous plants. In spring, shelter should be removed as early as possible so that shoots are not banned. The plant develops well on soils rich in lime. Therefore, do not forget to periodically feed it with all the necessary microelements during the active vegetation period.

Ways of reproduction of a plant

Edelweiss can be propagated in two ways: vegetative and seminal. And each has its own advantages. During seed reproduction, the initial characteristics of the plant, that is, those that it possessed in the natural growth environment, are lost. This leads to the fact that the appearance of the flower is very different depending on the place of cultivation. Therefore, in order to preserve the characteristics of the variety, use the vegetative method. It's pretty simple and straightforward.

Vegetative alpine edelweiss is propagated in spring or autumn with the help of cuttings or division of the mother bush. In autumn, an adult specimen consists of several annual sockets, which are very tightly intertwined with roots and in fact are independent plants. They are neatly separated and placed in a new place. Bloom young edelweiss will be the next after wintering in the summer. For the cuttings, the tips of the shoots are suitable, but not too old. They easily take root in the spring (May-June), and blossom next summer.

Edelweiss Alpine: from the seeds we grow a flower

In order to grow a flower, you need to go to the store and buy a bag of seeds. The sowing is carried out in February-March in a light nutrient soil. The container with crops is covered with glass to keep humidity and heat and placed in a shaded place. The germination temperature of seeds is 13-15 ° C, the first shoots can be observed after 2-3 weeks. After they become larger, the shelter is removed and the container is transferred to a bright place. Seedlings grow quite slowly. The main thing in this period is not to fill them. Plants that have reached a height of 2 cm, are planted in separate pots.