Content
Viola Swiss Giants is an unpretentious biennial that attracts attention in any flower bed with large, bright inflorescences. Ideal for decorating suburban areas, parks, terraces and balconies. In order for the plant, which is popularly called pansies, to bloom long and profusely in the summer months, it is important to sow seeds and grow seedlings correctly in the spring.
Viola description Swiss giants
The Viola genus includes almost 500 species of perennial, biennial and annual plants. One of the popular varieties is called Swiss Giants. It belongs to Wittrock's violas. The variety fully justifies its name "giants" with lush inflorescences, contrasting with the small size of the bushes.
The plant is herbaceous, compact. Its height reaches 15–35 cm. Leafy viola bushes Swiss giants are distinguished by their unpretentiousness. They tolerate a drop in temperature well, while requiring regular and abundant watering. They can grow in open spaces where there is a lot of sunlight, or in partial shade. In the latter case, flowering is less abundant.
Viola Swiss Giants prefers moist, loamy, fertile soil. Plants planted on dry sandy soils produce small flowers. In areas where water often stagnates, they rot.
Flowering features
The flowers of the Swiss Giants variety are large, of various bright colors: white, yellow, red, blue, purple, lilac, burgundy. The diameter of the inflorescences can reach 8-10 cm. The peculiarity is the different color of the center of the flower and the main shade of the petals. Photo of viola Swiss giants show the presence of a dark "eye" in the center and a "butterfly" border located at the edges of the petals.
Application in design
Violas Swiss giants are a prime example of ornamental plants that go well with other perennials. Expressive compositions are made up of pansies, planted in a flower bed in large quantities. They create a beautiful carpet of multicolored petals and green foliage. To make it more effective, you can dilute the planting of tricolor violets with early flowering crops, for example, crocuses or spines.
Viola Swiss Giants is used in landscape design to create alpine slides, flower beds, curb plantings. The best companions for this culture are daisies, forget-me-nots, tulips. To emphasize the beauty and richness of the color of pansies, they are planted against the background of dwarf conifers and ornamental shrubs.
Due to its unpretentiousness, this species is often used as a pot culture. Violas are easy to grow on terraces, window sills, in beds, on balconies.
Breeding features
Viola reproduces in several ways:
- Cuttings. This method is suitable for the cultivation of valuable varieties, allows you to rejuvenate the plants.
- Seeds. The Swiss Giants variety shows a germination rate of over 80%. For plants to bloom in the year of planting, seeds are planted in seedling containers in early spring. The buds bloom in June. When grown as a biennial, the seeds are sown after ripening, flowering begins next year.
Growing seedlings
It is not difficult to grow seedlings of viola Swiss giants from seeds, since the variety is unpretentious. The best time for sowing is early spring. The seeds are grown as follows:
- Prepare containers for seedlings, fill them with fresh loose soil.
- Planting material is sown, lightly sprinkled with earth.
- The containers are covered with glass or foil to create a greenhouse, placed in a room where the temperature is maintained from +20 to +25 degrees.
- The shelter is removed several times a day to ventilate the planting.
- The soil is moistened as it dries.
- The first shoots usually appear after 7-15 days.
- The shelter is removed, as the sprouts need good lighting. Containers with seedlings are placed near the window.
- After the appearance of 1-2 pairs of true leaves, the plants are planted in separate pots, deepening to the cotyledonous leaves.
Seedling substrate can be purchased in stores, or prepared independently from peat, humus and garden soil enriched with nutrients. They must be mixed in equal parts.
After the appearance of several true leaves, the viola is pinched so that the plants grow well
Landing in the ground
Viola seedlings are planted in the ground by the Swiss giants after the end of the spring frost, in May. The culture feels comfortable in well-lit areas, protected from the sun at midday, under sparse tree crowns.
Viola seeds can also be sown in the ground. Planting is carried out in late spring or with the onset of June. They do it as follows:
- In the ground, grooves are marked at a distance of 20 cm from each other. Their depth should be small, about 1 cm.
- Seeds are lightly sprinkled.
- The soil is well spilled.
- When the first true leaves appear, they are pinched.
Follow-up care
Viola Swiss giants - biennial plant. But with the wrong care, it gives buds and flowers within one season. Despite the unpretentiousness of the culture, certain agrotechnical operations should be performed regularly. Abundant flowering can be achieved by the following measures:
- frequent loosening of the soil (the root system of the flower is shallow and needs oxygen);
- weeding;
- regular watering, viola refers to moisture-loving crops;
- removal of dried inflorescences and seed pods, which must be carried out once a week so that the plant does not deplete and continues to bloom;
- fertilization once a month for feeding adult specimens and once every 10 days for seedlings (liquid complex mineral compositions, superphosphate or ammonium nitrate are preferred);
- shelter for the winter with spruce branches, foliage or straw.
Despite the winter hardiness of the variety, it must be covered in order to preserve the root system.
Pests and diseases
Viola Swiss Giants is not a disease-prone cultivar. Most often, it shows sensitivity to the fungus, the most common diseases are powdery mildew and black leg. The reasons for their development, as a rule, are associated with violations of agricultural technology.
Disease | Causes and signs | Treatment methods |
Powdery mildew | It appears as a white or grayish bloom covering the stems, leaves and buds of the viola. It occurs due to the introduction of exclusively nitrogenous fertilizers, or in dry hot weather with abundant morning dew. | Spray the affected bushes of the Swiss giants with Fundazol, a soapy solution with soda ash. Carry out processing twice with an interval of 14 days. |
Gray rot, black leg | It develops under inappropriate growing conditions: temperature, moisture in the soil and air. | Diseased plants cannot be saved; they must be removed to prevent further contamination of healthy plants.Sprinkle the soil with Fundazol. |
Spotting | It is manifested by the fact that the leaves of the viola begin to dry out, and she herself becomes lethargic, weak. | Destroy and burn the affected bushes of the Swiss giants. Spray neighboring plants with Bordeaux liquid for preventive purposes. This procedure should be carried out three times with a break of 2 weeks. |
Insects that pose a danger to viola Swiss giants - clover owl, aphids, violet mother-of-pearl. They eat up the foliage of plants. For pest control, chlorophos or tobacco infusion is used.
Conclusion
Viola Swiss giants - an unpretentious inhabitant of parks, suburban areas, terraces, balconies. Observing the elementary rules of agricultural technology when growing, you can enjoy bright, multicolored compositions throughout the summer months.
