Aquilegia has flowers of an unusual shape. They bloom in a lush multi-colored hat over a bush when there is a shortage of other flowering plants in the garden. This herbaceous perennial belongs to the family Ranunculaceae. In the natural environment, it can be found in the temperate and subtropical climate of the Northern Hemisphere. The people also know the plant under the names "eagle", "elf's shoes" and "catchment". The plant was so liked by the breeders that they developed many decorative varieties with a wide variety of colors. This allows you to create a truly fabulous flower garden in any garden. Knowing the basic secrets of leaving, it is not at all difficult to achieve regular and lush flowering of aquilegia.
Botanical Description
Aquilegia is a herbaceous perennial. It has a branched rhizome, which consists of cord-shaped processes. It grows far in breadth and inland. Due to the structural features of the root system, adult bushes are practically not transplantable. The height of the flowering plant is 50-80 cm. At its base is a dense rosette of leaves. The lower leaves have long petioles and a double or triple dissected leaf plate with rounded lobes. The leaf length is only 5 cm and the width is 2-3 cm. Dark green leaves are covered with a waxy coating, so the water does not moisten them, but collects in large drops. Stem leaves have a triple shape and sit tightly on the shoot.
In the first year of life, a thick basal rosette of leaves forms above the ground. They remain even in winter under snow, but die off in spring. Young leaves are replacing them, and long peduncles grow from the center of the curtain. A smooth stem is rarely covered with lanceolate, triple leaves. At the tip of each shoot, a single drooping flower blooms. On one plant they can be up to 12 pieces. The buds open in turn from the beginning of June. Each flower lives for about a week, and then it is replaced by the next.
The catchment flower consists of five funnel-shaped petals, on the back of which are small spurs. The back side of the corolla is decorated with lanceolate bracts with pointed edges. Often, petals and bracts are painted in contrasting tones, which makes flowering even more attractive. The color of the corollas can be white, yellow, pink, scarlet, lilac, raspberry, blue and black-violet. In the center is a rather massive column densely covered with short stamens.
After pollination of flowers, fruits are formed - leafy leaves with small black seeds. They retain viability for 1-2 years. It is important to be careful, because the seeds of aquilegia are poisonous.
Plant species
In the genus of aquilegia, 102 species are registered.
Aquilegia (catchment) Siberian. The plant is used in folk medicine as a tonic and choleretic agent. Erect, almost bare stem grows 25-70 cm in height. At the base is a dense dark green foliage. Large lilac-violet or blue flowers reach a diameter of 5-10 cm. Petals end with thick spurs about 2 cm long. Flowering occurs from May to September.
The aquilegia is hybrid. The variety combines many interspecific hybrids. Their height can be 50-100 cm. Large flowers have a bright color. Most of them include Spurs. Popular varieties:
- Aquilegia Barlow black - a plant 60-80 cm tall is covered with terry dark purple flowers, almost without spurs;
- Winky - a low plant with a dense basal rosette of leaves and dense inflorescences on long, straight peduncles;
- Star - on a bush 60-80 cm tall, flowers bloom 10 cm in diameter with blue, red, blue, white or pink petals and a light core;
- Tower - a plant with double, rose-like flowers;
- Biedermeier - bushes 25-30 cm high are suitable for pot cultivation, terry flowers with a diameter of 3-5 cm bloom above them;
- The cameo is a dwarf variety 10-15 cm tall that blooms very early with colorful buds.
Aquilegia vulgaris. The plant, widespread in Europe, grows by 30-70 cm. Twice ternate petiolate leaves are located at the base and rarely throughout the stem. Blue, pink and purple flowers bloom in early summer. They are 4-5 cm in diameter and have thick spurs with a hook. The species is able to tolerate frosts down to -35 ° C.
Terry aquilegia. This species was bred artificially by breeders and is distinguished by particularly beautiful and lush flowers. On shoots up to 100 cm long, there are single erect or drooping corollas. In flowers with a diameter of up to 10 cm, narrow petals are arranged in several rows. Often their color changes from edge to base.
Seed cultivation
Seed propagation of aquilegia is the most simple and effective. To collect seeds, they are still not ripe, leaflets beginning to grow are cut and dried in the room. When pressed on ripe fruit, the seeds immediately spill out into the bowl. It’s better to sow them immediately, before winter in the open ground. If you need to sow aquilegia in the spring, then the seeds are stored in a paper bag in a refrigerator or other cool place. Autumn seedlings sprout together and develop better. The smallest seeds are distributed in the holes to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. A distance of 5-10 cm is maintained between young plants, and adult specimens need about 40 cm of free space.
Before spring sowing, seeds must be stratified. They are mixed with a small amount of wet sand or peaty sand and kept for a month at a temperature of 0 ... + 5 ° C. This can be achieved in the refrigerator, or on a cold balcony, covering the pot with a snow cap. After stratification, the bowl is transferred to a warm room and a week later the aquilegia will please the first shoots. Plants should be watered with great care. With stagnation of water, the fungus can destroy all plantings. When 3 real leaves grow on seedlings, it is dived in separate pots. At the end of May, aquilegia is planted in open ground. When transplanting, it is important to save the earthen clod, otherwise the catchment will die or will be sick for a long time. Flowering is expected next year after planting.
Vegetative propagation
To preserve the varietal characteristics of valuable varieties, aquilegia is propagated vegetatively by dividing the bush or rooting the cuttings. These methods are not as effective as sowing seeds, and require a lot of effort.
Bushes are separated in early spring or late autumn. First you need to dig an adult plant with a large lump of earth. The rhizome is soaked in water to free from soil. It is important to keep small roots. After that, the root is cut into several parts. Each dividend should have 2-3 kidneys. The slice is sprinkled with crushed charcoal and plants are planted in a new place. The hole should be deep enough, and the soil should be loose, then the rhizome will fit correctly.
In spring, you can propagate the aquilegia with cuttings. To do this, cut shoots with 2-3 leaves. Rooting is done in wet sand, under a hood. Before planting, the slice is treated with root. It is necessary to ventilate the plant daily and spray the soil with water. Rooting takes about a month.
Care Rules
Despite all the charm of aquilegia, it is absolutely not whimsical. Caring for her in the garden or indoors is quite simple.
Lighting. The catchment develops best in partial shade or in diffused light. If direct sunlight is constantly falling on the bushes, the flowers become smaller, and the shoots are shorter.
The soil. Light, well-drained soil is used for planting. It is not necessary to choose soils with high fertility rates, but stagnation of water is contraindicated for plants.
Transplant and rejuvenation. You can transplant flowers under the age of 2 years, later there is a high probability of damage to the root system. If it is really necessary, the plant is dug up with a lump of earth 40 × 40 cm. After 5-7 years, the bush begins to grow. The annual application of fresh soil helps to slow down this process. Once a decade, old catchment bushes are recommended to be replaced with new ones.
Watering. It is necessary to water aquilegia moderately and in small portions. Between watering the surface of the earth should dry out. So that after irrigation, air can penetrate to the roots, it is recommended to periodically loosen the soil and weed weeds.
Fertilizer. Before the first aquilegia planting, the soil is dug along with humus to a depth of 20 cm. In May and June, a full portion of mineral or organic fertilizing is applied under the bush.
Pruning. Aquilegia looks tidier if you cut away faded peduncles. This can also prevent self-seeding. Leaves for the winter are not removed. The plant normally tolerates even severe frosts. Only a few heat-loving varieties can freeze in harsh, snowless winters.
The disease. Dense curtains interfere with normal ventilation, so powdery mildew, gray rot, spotting, rust and other fungal diseases can develop in the aquilegia thickets. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to maintain a distance between the bushes and observe a moderate watering regime. The affected plants must be destroyed, and the soil and the remaining shoots should be treated with fungicides. You can also spray with drugs containing sulfur.
Pests. In a hot summer, aphids, nematodes, spider mites, scoops settle on shoots and leaves. From parasites, insecticides are treated ("Aktara", "Karbofos", "Aktellik"). The fight against nematodes is much more difficult. These miniature worms breed in the roots and penetrate the stems of plants. In case of severe infection, it is recommended to change the site and completely destroy the old plantings.
Garden use
In landscape design, aquilegia is used in single or group plantings, as well as in a mixed flower garden. It is non-aggressive to neighbors, and when cutting wilted peduncles, it does not spread through the garden. Juicy greenery of the catchment in early spring will tint the primroses and hide the bare soil. Low-growing varieties are good surrounded by saxifrage, carnations and gentians. They can be used in rock gardens. Higher plants are planted near bells, lupins, cereals, poppies.
When composing the composition, you should pay attention to the color of the flowers. You can paint a vivid picture in the garden with the help of aquilegia alone or use various plants. In this case, one must remember that the catchment is easily pollinated and forms new varieties.
Aquilegia flowers and leaves can be used to create dry flower arrangements. They retain bright colors for a long time.
