Content
Cineraria is a plant from the Asteraceae or Asteraceae family. In nature, there are more than 50 species. The exotic plant attracts attention, which is why it is grown by many growers on their plots to improve the design.
Cineraria can be used both for independent planting and for creating background compositions, decorating borders and rock gardens. How the sowing of Cineraria for seedlings is carried out and the features of care will be discussed in the article.
Description
Landscape designers and florists who create interesting compositions on their own in their garden are always attracted by interesting plants. One of them is Cineraria silvery. The homeland of the plant is some regions of the African continent and the island of Madagascar. The groundwort (also called Cineraria) grows in a perennial form, it is an evergreen plant.
Bushes
In floriculture, cultivars are used, created by breeders on the basis of wild relatives. Cineraria silvery is represented by a semi-spreading shrub or herbaceous dwarf shrub up to 30 centimeters high.
Leaves
Leaves collected in a dense rosette are especially attractive. On feathery, strongly dissected leaves, a velvety, pleasant to the touch surface with a clearly visible pile. If you look from afar, it seems that silvery lace has been thrown over the flower beds, or frost has fallen on the leaves. The leaf blades are located on stable petioles.
The peculiarities of the color are already clear from the name, although there are varieties of cineraria, in which greenish specks are visible on the leaves.
There are perennial and annual varieties, but in Russia it is unrealistic to grow them on the street, since their relatives are tropical plants.
Flowers
In indoor floriculture, perennials are grown, which decorate window sills with their unusual leaves. At home, you can use various varieties of cineraria, including flowering ones. In the open field, flowering rarely happens, the inflorescences themselves do not attract attention. After all, the flowers are simple, small, yellowish, inconspicuous, it can be clearly seen in the photo. Most often, the peduncles are cut off so that they do not spoil the design, because it is the delicate, silvery leaves that are the main advantage of cineraria.
Application
Silver Cineraria, Seaside Cineraria, Ragwort, Ashtray - these are all names of the same exotic plant with attractive leaves.
The main purpose of the flower is to decorate flower beds, rockeries, alpine hills. Leaves retain their shape and color well when dried, so they are used as dried flowers.
But it's not just landscape designers who are attracted to Cineraria. This plant is widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of intestines and bronchial asthma.
Cineraria varieties
A trip to a flower shop will allow you to appreciate the assortment of Cineraria varieties: there are a large number of them for every taste. For the first time, you can sow purchased seeds, and then collect them yourself, leaving several baskets on the plants.
And now about the most popular varieties of Cineraria:
Silver dust
This variety is characterized by fast growth. Bushes are compact, low, only 15 or 25 centimeters. Leaves are carved, openwork, grayish-white with slight pubescence. Some seed growers have this variety called Silver Dust.
Cirras
Tall plant, leaves with silver-green teeth. The plates are round, not dissected, but solid, in contrast to other varieties of Cineraria. When growing seedlings, beginner florists can confuse the color of the plates, since at first it is the green color that dominates in them. But as it grows, the leaves turn silvery.
Andromeda
Perhaps the lowest plant among the coastal Cineraria: during the growing season it grows only 15 cm. The leaves are pinnate, strongly separated. The lower part is pubescent, tomentose, silvery. Flowering begins in August, but the flower stalks are so inconspicuous that it is better to remove them.
Candyance
The variety attracts with gray-silvery, pinnately dissected leaves. Plant height is not higher than 35 cm.
Diamond powder
Low Cineraria, its height is a little more than 20 cm. The color of the carved color plates is silvery-ash.
Growing seedlings
As we have already noted, new Cineraria seedlings at home are obtained by growing seedlings from seeds. This operation, as a rule, does not cause any particular difficulties, it is quite affordable for novice florists. Plants grow on any soil, but they reveal all their beauty on light, breathable compounds. It is this kind of soil that is prepared for growing seedlings. To improve the structure of the earth, sand is necessarily added.
Sowing dates
There is no single answer to the question of when to plant seeds for seedlings. The choice of the term will depend on climatic conditions, the characteristics of the spring itself and the selected varieties of Cineraria. Seeds are roughly sown on seedlings in February, March, April, and in the southern regions, where the warm season lasts a long time, even in May.
Sowing methods
Cineraria is not just an exotic plant; different methods can be used for its seed reproduction:
- The soil in the container is moistened, compacted a little. Seeds are scattered on this surface without embedding them in the ground. You just need to lightly swat the seeds so that they "catch" on the soil.
- Sow seeds in a nursery on moist soil, sprinkle with sand on top.
- Sow Cineraria on the ground, cover with thin paper, for example, with a napkin. The hatched plants will be able to get through it.
From time to time, the shelter is raised to ventilate the plantings. Water as necessary, gently so as not to wash or deepen the seeds. This procedure can be simplified by placing a drain on the bottom of the perforated container. Then the container is simply lowered into a stand with water to moisten the soil. The containers are exposed in a warm, well-lit place.
Although the process of growing Cineraria seedlings is simple, the video will be useful for novice florists:
Today, many flower growers and gardeners grow seedlings in a snail and are wondering if this method is suitable for Cineraria. This should be an individual decision, because many annual flowers are quite successfully obtained from seeds in this way.
Convenience of the snail in obtaining a large number of sprouts with a minimum amount of space. In addition, when picking seedlings, the root system is less damaged.
Seedling care
As a rule, the maximum germination period for seeds of Cineraria silvery is two weeks. But germination can occur earlier if the seed is fresh. When half of the sprouts appear, the covering material is removed and Cineraria is provided with good lighting.
Sometimes the seedlings do not grow well, in this case it is necessary to feed them with fertilizers for flowers. It is used strictly according to the instructions.Shallow loosening of the soil also helps to accelerate growth, increasing air access to the root system.
Water the plants sparingly and only with warm water. Like all Astro, Cineraria does not tolerate too wet soil.
Transfer
The pick is carried out at the stage of the appearance of a silvery leaf. Seedlings can be transplanted not only into plastic cups, but also so-called diapers. This is, in fact, a pot made of a piece of cellophane. It is convenient to plant seedlings from them in a permanent place: the roots are not damaged.
For diving, take the same fertile soil as when sowing seeds, which is well moistened. The plants in the nursery also need to be watered to make it easier to select them. Long roots are slightly trimmed with scissors, and they themselves are placed in the hole.
After transplanting, the soil is compressed to provide better adhesion to the ground and expel air from under the roots. Light watering is required. If there are many seedlings, some of them can be transplanted into the container again at some distance.
The rules for picking the groundwort:
Plant care in soil
Cineraria silvery is planted in open ground after the establishment of positive temperatures. The fact is that young seedlings are afraid of frost, although in autumn adult plants survive them well and do not lose their decorative effect.
The plant survival rate is high, there is practically no waste. It is better to grow Cineraria in an open, sunny place, although a light shade is not an obstacle.
It is necessary to plant the bushes in fertile soil at a distance of 20-25 cm, so that during growth they do not interfere with each other. In the future, silvery flowers form a continuous line.
Plant care is not burdensome:
- watering as needed;
- weeding and loosening of the soil;
- mulching with fresh cut grass or rotted sawdust;
- fertilizing with mineral or organic fertilizers every week (fertilizers with a high nitrogen content are not recommended);
- pruning seedlings is an important procedure that allows you to give Cineraria more decorativeness;
- removal of peduncles is a necessary measure, it will help to avoid drying out of the lower layer of leaves.
As for diseases, fortunately, the plant rarely gets sick, and harmful insects do not like it. It is the high immunity of Cineraria, its decorativeness that attracts landscape designers.
Instead of a conclusion
If you liked the description and photo of the decorative representative of the Astrovs, but you are afraid that there will be nowhere to plant seedlings, we will delight you. This is the plant for which you can always find a place. After all, Cineraria can be grown not only in flower beds, but also in pots, between decorative conifers, in hanging pots and even on the balcony - it will be appropriate everywhere.
There are a lot of options for using a plant in landscape design, we will present some of them. And you will only have to dream.
If you love water, but there is no way to build some kind of reservoir on the site, make it from openwork Cineraria, as in the photo below. Look, here it is, a stream running down the steps of the stairs.
The ground plant gets along well with a variety of garden plants, which allows you to create real patterns from flowers.
Cineraria is a great option for decorating flower beds. It is most often used for bordering flower beds and discounts.
Growing Cineraria as a potted crop has its advantages. With the onset of cold weather, you can move them indoors and continue to enjoy the openwork plants in winter.
