Flowers of saxifrage: description, planting, care, species and peculiarities of cultivation

Nature is wise and often gives plants truly amazing qualities that enable them to survive in the most difficult conditions. A clear example is the saxifrage - an extensive genus of herbaceous one-, two- or perennial plants of the same family. It unites almost 400 species, common in the vast territories of the temperate latitudes of the European-Asian continent, in Central America and the mountainous tropics of Africa. The name of the genus speaks of the incredible vitality and ability of plants to comfortably use the scanty natural resources. Let's talk about this amazing herb, its species, peculiarities of growing and competent care for it.

Description

Despite the abundance of species, all saxifrage are rhizome herbaceous plants, the height of which varies from 5 to 70 cm, depending on the places of growth, forming soil cover of various densities. Their leaves, different in shape and structure, are collected in a basal rosette. A feature of the genus is the ability of leaves of many species to accumulate lime, causing their color (often along the edge) to acquire a noticeable gray tint. The leaves are surrounded by sturdy peduncles, ending in five-petalled stellate flowers, solitary or collected in touching pellets. The color of the flowers is light, in the color palette there are all shades of white, yellow, pink or purple tones. Flowers of saxifrage delight gardeners from May to August. Fruit - a box with small ripened seeds.

Kinds of rock-heifers, flowers are extremely hardy, diverse. To present their scientific classification does not make sense, just note the fact that there are garden plants that decorate the villa interior throughout the whole season, and room options that successfully fit into a warm home environment.

Features of the plant

Rock-weaving is characterized by an accelerated rhythm of the passage of all phases of development - from the appearance of the first young leaflets to the ripening of the seeds. Flowers of saxifrage are pollinated by insects, which attract nectar. Some species are self-pollinating. More vivid and numerous flowers are obtained by planting several varieties of ground-cover stone-cuttings on the site, stimulating cross-pollination. A similar method is used in the arrangement of rock gardens or when soil is trapped in the trunks of fruit trees. High frost resistance is another excellent quality of the plant.

Flower of saxifrage: planting and care

A lot of representatives of the Kamnelomkov family were introduced into the culture, the bulk of which is made up of decorative species used in the garden and park interior. As a rule, these are ground cover plants, abundant and beautifully flowering. The saxifrage is unpretentious, but to improve the decorativeness of plants it is worth to listen to some rules of agricultural technology, which is necessary for its qualitative development.

Usually, the cultivation of these crops does not cause difficulties, apparently, in plain grass we have a generic memory that adapts it to any conditions of growth. The plant successfully heals on medium-fertile soils, but needs limestone, so when preparing the site for planting the soil is limed. Comfort for the plant will create such additives as gravel, peat, large river sand and quality humus. The composition of the soil does not matter, the flowers of saxifrage (perennial and summer) appear regardless of the soils of which structure they live. They are equally successful in growing on clay, loam and sandy loam.

Planting saxifrage on top of the alpine hill is not worth it, since this arrangement of the plant assumes constant exposure to the sun, and this will lead to a rapid loss of decorativeness. More productive is the decision to plant a crop on a slope or a rocker in shaded places.

Care in the garden

Initially, a mountain plant, saxifrage successfully grows in the crevices of rocks, natural or artificially created. When building alpine hills, the boulders of the stone-cutters are laid out with a rocky component, which contributes to the preservation of moisture and protects the roots from scorching sun rays. When building a rock garden, it is important to remember the need for drainage, since stagnant water is disastrous for the plant - it is easier for it to tolerate short-term drying than constant overmoistening. But in droughty periods, additional watering is necessary for a culture such as saxifrage. A flower garden with regular excessive watering awaits the formation of rot, which it is practically impossible to combat. In such a situation, the degree of moistening is adjusted, and cuttings are cut from the healthy parts of the damaged bush and root them.

Every month the plant is fed with complex mineral fertilizers. The saxifrage is a flower, the care of which is traditional and consists in loosening of the soil and periodic weeding. At the end of flowering, the aerial parts of the plant are cut off, and after a while it again becomes covered with young foliage.

Reproduction

Polluted flowers of saxifrage give a lot of small black seeds, the germination of which is very high - 86%. Sown in a light soil, they germinate in 5-7 days at an air temperature of 18-20 ° C. With the advent of 2-3 leaflets, the seedlings are dived, planted in the open ground in the middle of summer, observing the intervals between the plants of 15-20 cm. The perennial saxifrages blossom already next summer.

Successfully passes and vegetative reproduction - cuttings, layers or division of a rhizome. Sliced in July, cuttings root in boxes, for the winter they arrange in a cool basement, and in spring they are planted in a permanent place. Reproduction by layers is carried out as follows: after flowering, long shoots are pinned to the ground, placing them in prepared grooves. In autumn, the entrenched layers are mulched with humus, and with the arrival of spring it is separated from the mother's bush and planted. Division of the bush is carried out after flowering, separating the young rosettes from the mother plant with a piece of rhizome. They successfully survive and hibernate without shelter.

In one place in the garden, saxifrage grows productive 5-6 years, and then loses compactness and requires renewal of plantings.

Growing of indoor stone floes

Along with the garden forms of stone blocks, there are many crops that are excellently adapted to growing at home.

The most popular species for indoor breeding are:

• The saxifrage is woven (sprouted), grown as an ampel culture. Rosettes, planted in a container, produce stolons on which new rosettes are formed.
• Tricolor.
• Harvest Moon.
• Cotyledon, which is similar to succulent.
• Arendsa (mossy).

Preferences

The flower of saxifrage, planting and care of which in a city apartment is simple, prefers neutral soils, only cotyledon develops well on soils with acid reaction. The plant requires weakly nutrient, humus soil, for example, clayey-sod composition. A pot for saxifrage needs shallow, as the root system of the plant is shallow. At the bottom of the tank lay drainage, which can act as expanded clay, screenings, even pieces of foam.

Propagate saxifrage seeds, rosettes from the mother's bush or cuttings.

Care of domestic species

The saxifrage (the flower of the room) is photophilous, like its garden counterparts, but the lighting must be diffused, the exposure to direct sunlight significantly reduces the decorativeness of the crop. Have containers with plants at the windows of the west or east side. During the whole year the plant is watered moderately and regularly. Useful for the plant spray, especially in the hot season or in dry air in the winter when the radiators are central heating.

Comfortable air temperature for home saxifrage is 20-25 ° C. With the onset of winter, culture enters a period of rest. The temperature in the room should be lowered to 12-15 ° C, the intensity of irrigation should be slightly reduced.

Transplantation and top dressing

Spring transplants are necessary for the plant only when the pot is noticeably small, and the roots are completely covered with an earthen lump. Each time, the flowers of saxifrage are transplanted into a container, the diameter of which is 2-3 cm larger than the previous one. The best material of the container for culture is ceramics.

Feed the saxifrage all year round, even in a calm winter period, otherwise the stems begin to lengthen and lose beauty and decorativeness. In winter, the plant is fertilized with solutions of floral fertilizing every month, and from the beginning of spring to late autumn - every 2 weeks. The culture is afraid of overfeeding, so dissolve the drug in a double water norm, recommended in the annotation. Note that nitrogen fertilizers do not use, because they stimulate the build-up of green mass to the detriment of flowering.