Verbena was first discovered in South America. It is a heat-loving plant, therefore, in Russia it is considered an annual. Most often used for decorative purposes. Verbena is considered the guardian of the hearth and financial well-being.
Plant description
The most popular is Argentinean verbena, or as it is also called Bonar, or Buenos Aires. Inflorescences of the bush resemble fluffy clouds, and in its latitudes it is cultivated as a perennial flower. If you grow verbena by the method of planting, then the height can be more than one and a half meters.
Verbena Buenos Aires
It goes well with decorative conifers, herbs and other tall perennials. Although the plant reaches a great height, it is not necessary to tie it up. When flowering at the top, small purple umbrellas open, from which lilac flowers appear.
Types of Verbena
The most popular verbena in Russia was the Bonar Purple Rain. Unpretentiousness of this species became the main reason why gardeners chose it from the whole abundance. Other plants of the family are known that can be used for growing in Russian latitudes:
- hybrid. It includes Cardinal red-flowered, light purple Julia, large-flowered Pink Fairy;
- Lailek and Financial varieties, capable of attracting bees to the plot with their aroma;
- hard verbena with stems creeping on the ground. Her most famous variety is Polaris, which has beautiful blue flowers.
For your information! All types of verbena grown by the seedling method tolerate colds and even slight frosts quite well.
Verbena Botanical Description
The main botanical characteristics:
- powerful and branched root system;
- stems are mostly upright and branching closer to the apex. Possess fleecy skin of green color;
- shoots of the plant grow from 0.2 to 1.5 m. Short-leaved leaves grow on the entire surface;
- leaflets have an oval shape with serrated or dissected edges. The leaves are characterized by the presence of a rough pile and a swollen surface around the veins.
Inflorescences can have from 30 to 50 buds, which begin to bloom in mid-June. The corollas can reach up to 25 mm. The flowers are red, pink, yellow, white, blue and lilac in color. Varieties are known in which the petals can be of two colors or in one corolla there are flowers of different colors.
Verbena flowering stretches to the onset of cold weather. After pollination, small nuts appear, which subsequently break up into four parts and thin seeds appear.
The use of colors in landscaping
All varieties of plants are widely used to decorate garden plots. For example, undersized varieties can be used to create natural borders. When combined with camellias, you can get decorative areas that are excellent in beauty. You can simply decorate your front garden with verbena. A wide selection of flowers allows you to combine it with any other plants.
Landscape
If ampelous varieties are planted in pots and properly looked after, then in the future you can get a beautiful decoration of a balcony or terrace. Verbena with creeping stems will look good in hanging flower pots.
Verbena bonar: growing from seeds
The most common way to grow a flower is by seedling from seeds. If all the recommendations and tips for germination are observed correctly, then you get beautiful, tall plants that are planted in open ground closer to mid-May.
Note! So that as many sprouts as possible appear from the seeds, it is better to prepare them in advance. To do this, they are placed at the end of February, previously wrapped in a damp handkerchief, in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Then a substrate is made for planting. You can buy special soil or make a mixture of sand and peat yourself.
After that, the seeds are taken out of the refrigerator, evenly scattered over the prepared mixture and sprinkled with a thin layer of earth. Everything is well sprayed with water from the spray gun, then covered with clear glass or plastic wrap. The container moves to a warm place. Seed germination will have to wait a few weeks, as they are stiff. The top layer is periodically sprayed with water, but it is worth remembering that excess moisture can lead to rotting and death of seeds.
Seedlings
As soon as the first sprouts appear, the glass or film is removed, and the container is placed in a lit place. So that all the seedlings evenly receive sunlight, the container is periodically rotated. Leaflets appear after about 30 days, and then the plants are transplanted into separate cups so that the root system has more space. The soil used is the same as when planting seeds, only ash or humus is still added.
After transplanting, the plants should be kept in the shade for several days. In order to prepare the verbena for outdoor conditions, after a week the sprouts are taken out to the balcony or the veranda.
Note! So that the flower turns out to be three-dimensional, after the third pair of leaves appears, the upper part is carefully cut.
Landing in open ground is performed no earlier than mid-May, depending on the local climate.
Landing at a permanent place
Although verbena is quite unpretentious, it should be planted in a well-lit place. In the shade, the flowers will appear later and will have a pale color. The bush can be transplanted into the pot much earlier and regularly transferred to the most lighted areas.
Verbena does not like stagnation of moisture at the roots, therefore, when transplanted into open ground, a drainage layer of expanded clay or crushed stone is arranged in the holes. Otherwise, the root system will rot. To obtain beautiful and voluminous bushes, plants are transplanted in 5-7 pcs. in one hole with a distance between them of at least 30 cm.
Verbena Care
Despite the unpretentiousness, verbena needs basic care. The first year, the earth around it should be loosened regularly. The need for this will disappear when the stems and root system grow. Instead of weeding the soil, you can simply sprinkle with sawdust or a decorative sliver. Watering the verbena should be regular, increasing during flowering and reducing the volume of water by autumn.
Verbena
Organic fertilizers are recommended to be added together with watering no more than three times per season. If you feed more often, then the flowering will be bad. To give the bushes the desired shape, as well as to improve the quality of flowering, the verbena should be cut from the right sides. Obsolete buds can be collected and folded in the shade to get seeds for seedlings.
With proper care, verbena will have airy shapes, bright colors and will make the garden area much more comfortable.
