Content
Hosta is a plant that is loved by everyone - both beginners and professional designers. It successfully combines versatility, unpretentiousness, a kind of expressive beauty. Hosta Katerina is considered one of the most popular varieties.
Host Katerina can be recognized by a yellow core framed by a blue-green border
Description of hosts Katerina
Hosta is an ornamental deciduous plant. She is rightfully considered the queen of the infield. It got its name in honor of the Austrian botanist Khost. It is also called function. There was also such a German botanist - Funk. Therefore, the hosts have 2 names.
Hosta hybrid Katerina blooms in July-August. The entire warm season, from May to September, retains its decorative properties. Fits perfectly into any landscape design composition. The features of this variety are as follows:
- leaves are dense, blue-green, with a lemon-colored stripe in the center, heart-shaped, the diameter of the rosette of leaves is about 50 cm, a squat bush is formed of medium height, up to 35 cm;
- flowers are light lilac, funnel-shaped, peduncle up to 50 cm high;
- resistant to garden diseases and pests, not damaged by slugs, therefore does not require special treatment;
- seedlings and seeds grow well in moist but well-drained soils;
- can grow without transplanting in one place for about 20 years.
Hosta is known as a shade-loving plant. Grows well in the most shaded areas of the garden or flower garden. But modern breeding has developed varieties that can grow in open areas. Those hosts that have golden, white, yellow colors in their shades, as a rule, are not afraid of the sun's rays.
Host Katerina can also be attributed to such varieties. She loves shade and partial shade, like most of her relatives. But since it is a hybrid variety, it is adapted to the sun's rays and can withstand exposure at midday. But this requires a small openwork partial shade, slightly covering its greenery.
Hosta Katerina is unpretentious and ideal for both experienced and novice gardeners, very resistant to cold weather. It grows at an average rate, it will take several years to form an adult bush. Regions with a humid, cool climate are more suitable for growing. A long absence of sufficient moisture, sunshine and heat is destructive for these plants.
Application in landscape design
Hosta Katerina pleases with her lush greenery, peculiar color, original bush shape. The leaves of the plant in the hands of an experienced florist are a great addition to any bouquet. It goes well in compositions with roses, carnations, ornamental herbs.
Hosta Katerina looks great on the banks of ponds, artificial garden ponds, in flower beds with rocky hills. This plant does not like any straight geometric lines and should not be planted along roads, preferably in a circle, for example, along the banks of artificial reservoirs. The host is often planted under the crowns of trees because of the light openwork partial shade created by the foliage.
Hosta Katerina can be planted along rocky paths, she serves as an excellent decoration for any garden
Breeding methods
Until the hosta grows, weeds are regularly removed around it and the soil is loosened. After 3-4 years, when the bush grows and becomes quite spreading, the need for this will disappear.But a new problem will arise. An adult hosta loses its attractiveness and therefore it is better to plant it.
Dividing the bush
Hosta Katerina is practically not afraid of a transplant. Propagated mainly by dividing the bush. If you dig up the mother plant in early spring (April-May, at +15 and above), chop the rhizomes in half, plant them immediately, then they will take root perfectly and quickly within 3-5 days, without losing either their strength or color.
You can correctly transplant hosts Katerina as follows:
- even before digging the hosta from the old place, you must immediately prepare the planting holes and fill them with water, it is better to do this in 2-3 hours and pour about a bucket of water into each one, let it gradually be absorbed;
- dig out the mother hosta, deepening the shovel further from the center of the bush in order to remove as much lump as possible from the ground and damage the root system as little as possible;
- cut the hosta in half with one sharp push of the foot on the shovel - it is important that the blade goes straight to the ground in one motion, the rhizomes of the hosta are easy to cut and usually there are no difficulties;
- lower the resulting halves of the bush into prepared holes filled with water, put at the same level from the ground as the mother plant, not lower and not higher;
- sprinkle with earth and level it, once again water it additionally, pour dry earth on top so that a crust does not form on the surface.
It is important to divide the hosta bush with a well-sharpened and disinfected tool.
Cuttings
Sometimes, when processing a bush, individual shoots break off, which have almost no roots, but there is only a small "patch". Such a cutting, if planted somewhere separately in a greenhouse or in the shade under cover, may well take root in a few weeks.
Seed propagation
Most often used for breeding purposes. Freshly harvested seeds are planted in the ground ahead of winter. Or they are artificially kept at low temperatures for 3-4 months. In the winter, the planted seeds are spent in the ground, in a state of sleep. During this time, their hard outer shell softens and cracks. The seeds are stimulated to grow, resulting in surface rupture. Seedlings that appear in the spring usually develop slowly. Decorative properties appear only at 4-5 years of age.
Hosta Katerina easily tolerates bush division
Landing algorithm
Hosta Katerina rhizomes can be purchased at the store. Usually they sell young roots, with 2-3 buds, and, as a rule, open. Rarely sprinkled with sawdust or peat. Having brought such plants home, they must be planted immediately. How to do it:
- dig a hole and make a mound inside it;
- lower the plant and fan out the roots, smooth around the center;
- sprinkle lightly with earth to only cover the root system;
- pour lightly with water, 1-2 liters will be enough for one young bush;
- after the water is absorbed, cover with a layer of dry earth so that there is no crust.
The plant must be covered with something, shaded so that the earth retains moisture for as long as possible. For this purpose, old boxes are used. Such a shelter will protect the young hosta from animals that can dig out a fresh hole and thereby destroy the bush. Small holes in the drawer will diffuse hot light and create shadow. Such conditions will provide the necessary comfort in the first 10 days, while the roots take root.
Host Katerina is best planted in early spring.The landing site should not be exposed to direct sunlight. It is necessary that at least a slight partial shade is present, created by nearby plants and buildings. Hosta Katerina can grow in almost any soil. But it takes root best of all on well-drained soils with a neutral reaction, where the groundwater is shallow. The least suitable soil can be improved with compost.
Reproduction of hosts Katerina by seeds requires a lot of attention and time
Growing rules
The root system of hosta Katerina is shallow, it forms close to the surface, so the plant can hardly tolerate heat and lack of watering. It is necessary to try to pour water not over the leaves, but under the root, so that spots do not appear on the greens, the wax coating, color and decorative properties do not disappear. One large bush requires about 1 bucket of water. Watering should occur every 1-2 days, with the exception of rainy days. It is better to choose the time either early in the morning or after 7 pm.
Hosta Katerina is very fond of mulching, which allows you to keep enough moisture in the soil. To do this, you can use bark, wood chips, deciduous or coniferous litter, pine nut husks, peat, cut grass and many other natural materials. Mulching helps not only enrich the soil with organic matter, but also improve its structure.
It is necessary to loosen the soil around the bush from April and periodically throughout the season. This will provide oxygen access to the roots of the plant, remove weeds that suck nutrients from the soil. Depending on the age and growth of the plant, loosening is carried out to a depth of 5 cm to 15 cm.
Top dressing
If the plant was planted in fertile soil, then for the first 2-4 years you don't have to worry to feed it with something. But after 5 years, organic fertilizers are used. The soil is mulched, decomposed manure, mowed lawn grass, straw or peat are introduced. If an adult plant begins to bloom worse or turn pale, then granules of a complex mineral fertilizer are added to the soil, which contains potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen. And after that, the plant is watered abundantly at the very root.
If you need to grow a beautifully formed bush with bright decorative properties, you cannot do without regular feeding on nutrient-poor soil. They are carried out 2-4 times per season:
- the first time - when only the planted hosta releases the tips of its future leaves;
- the second time during flowering;
- the third time after flowering.
Preparing for winter
Many may say that it is not necessary to prepare Katerina's hosts for winter, since this is a rather frost-resistant plant, but this is a mistake. After the end of flowering, the peduncles of the hosta Katerina are cut off so that the bush does not waste energy on the formation of seeds, does not become loose. Leaves do not need to be cut off, they will cover the plant roots all winter.
And in September they begin preparations for wintering. And at this time, the hosts can be seated. At the beginning of September, it is necessary to mulch the bush well with grass and, preferably, peat. The compositions must be mixed, and not laid out in separate layers. The mixture should be dominated by peat. In the spring, it will serve as a good fertilizer when the plant needs nitrogen and other substances. You need to mulch before the leaves lay down, that is, before frost.
A withering hosta is no less beautiful than a blooming one
Diseases and pests
Khosta Ekaterina is considered a disease-resistant variety. But she may be susceptible to some diseases characteristic of her type:
- if the hosta has stopped blooming, this means that the landing site was chosen incorrectly;
- with irregular and insufficient watering, the leaves of the plant will dry out or turn yellow;
- decay of the root collar can occur due to fungal infection, the leaves turn white and die off, it is necessary to cut out the damaged area, treat the cut with fungicides, transplant to a new place;
- rodents damage the rhizomes, it is necessary to put poisonous baits.
Hosta Katerina has thick, veined leaves. The slugs, which most hosts suffer from, do not like to feast on this plant variety. Even if they climb a bush, they usually do not gnaw right through it.
Conclusion
Hosta Katerina is a very beautiful ornamental plant. It does not require special care; even a beginner in floriculture can grow it. Can decorate any garden or flower garden, taking its rightful place in it!
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