Gardeners are well aware of some varieties of loosestrife, the total number of which is more than 200 species. Basically, these are wild plants belonging to the family of Primrose, but quite a lot of decorative varieties.
They are happy to choose to decorate their personal plots for unpretentiousness, lush flowering.
Description of Loosestrife
These plants are relatives of primrose, cyclamen, and lactarius. Most of them are perennials, some species are annual or biennial. The Latin name for these flowers is Lysimachia. Verbeynikov was nicknamed so because of the similarity of leaves with verbose.
Its stems are mostly erect, in some species creeping (ground cover). The shape of the leaves is oval with sharp corners or elongated, the arrangement on the stem is whorled or opposite.
The flowers of many species are bright yellow, collected in inflorescences (in the form of spike-like, corymbose panicles) or single (axillary). There are varieties with white, pink, burgundy, wine colors of the petals. The ripened fruits are boxes of round or oval shape, inside of which there are seeds.
In nature, these plants are most common in East Asia. But also found in Central Asia, the European part of Russia, North America and South Africa.
Popular types and varieties of loosestrife
The most famous of garden ornamental loosers:
View | Description | Leaves | Flowers Flowering period |
Ordinary (Vulgaris) | Straight stems grow up to 1 m. | Oval, opposite each other in several pairs. Form a lush bush. | Bright yellow, with five separate cups, are located on elongated peduncles. |
Spot (Puncktata) | Forms lush bushes, up to 80 cm. | Elongatedly rounded, densely spaced. | Solar, of five petals, similar to bells, are located in inflorescences along the stems. More than a month, begins in late June. |
Dubravny (Nemorum) | Height is up to 30 cm. | Large, wide. | Chicken color, single on high pedicels. Since May for 2 months. |
Purple (Purpurea) | Straight stems 45-90 cm. | Small, lanceolate. | Dark wine-red hues, collected in spike-shaped inflorescences. July to August |
Ciliated (Ciliata) | Grow to 70 cm. | Large lanceolate, up to 12 cm long, beautiful chocolate-purple color. | Small discreet yellow. |
Cage (lily of the valley) (Clethroides) | The stems are straight, strong, pinkish-white rhizomes (like lilies of the valley). | Rounded with pointed tips. | Small snow-white, forming drooping spikelets 20-30 cm high. At the end of July for 20 days. |
Brushstone (Kizlyak) (Thyrsiflora) | Height is up to 60 cm. | Narrow lanceolate, located opposite. | Small yellow ones form an inflorescence similar to cereals, because of strongly protruding stamens they are similar to fluffy balls. In late May and early June. |
Coin (Meadow) (Nummularia) | Creeping shoots, up to 30 cm long, rise up to 5 cm above the surface of the soil. Soil-covering plants, creeping on the ground, let out roots and quickly grow around. The most popular varieties are: Area, Goldilocks. | Emerald color (there is a variety with golden yellow), small, round (resembling coins), the opposite location. | Bright yellow. Blossom in the middle of summer, flowering lasts 20 days. |
Crowded (Congestiflora) | Undersized. Several varieties were bred: Persian carpet (with red veins on the leaves), Persian chocolate (with purple leaves), etc. | Large, bright green. | Sunny, like wax, which differ in abundance. |
Caregiver Care
It is quite simple to grow loosestrights for inexperienced gardeners. These plants are very unpretentious, grow on the most infertile soils, withstand drought and excess moisture.
They prefer moist soil, some varieties can grow even in water. Most species love partial shade.
Only the coin loosestrife is sun-loving (but grows more magnificent in shading) and ciliated, for which sunlight is simply necessary (its leaves in this case acquire a more saturated chocolate shade).
How to keep:
- the planting site should be chosen with closely located groundwater, then the plants will grow well even without watering;
- they can endure a dry period, only they will become worse;
- Despite the unpretentiousness, it is better to prepare loose soil rich in organic matter for loosers;
- fertilizers do not need to be fertilized during the growth period, it is enough to cut off the ground part and fertilize manure in the fall,
- there is no need to shelter for the winter - they have good winter hardiness;
- most loosestrife grows very quickly, and so that they do not drown out other plants, you need to enclose their planting site (with slate, bricks, etc.) with a depth of 20 cm, so that the roots do not grow further, and also remove excess processes in time.
Loosestrife Breeding
There are several ways to plant a loosestrife:
- The seeds. It is rarely used, because other methods are more effective. Planting with seeds is best done in the fall in the ground so that they undergo a natural stratification. For sowing in spring, you need to grow seedlings from them. The seeds aged 4 weeks in the refrigerator for stratification are planted in February-March in boxes with prepared soil from sand, peat, garden soil. After germination, dive into pots. Planted in open ground in early June. Bloom in the second or third year.
- Cuttings. When pruning bushes for thinning is done in autumn or spring, many cuttings remain. It is enough to cut the shoots with a length of 20 cm and place them in water for several days, so that they start the roots. Then you can plant them in open ground.
- Vegetatively. Loosestrife grows very actively, letting out new shoots. Therefore, it will not be difficult to separate the stepsons that have formed with the sprouted roots and to plant them in the ground in a new place.
- Division of rhizomes. The bush can be dug up and divided into several parts using a shovel. The main thing is that each separated part has a sufficiently expanded strong root system. Plants planted in this way to new places are better and faster accepted, flowering occurs earlier than with other planting methods.
Perennial unpretentious loosestrife can grow in one place without transplanting up to 10 years (if they are not thinned out) and up to 15 years (if the extra processes are removed in time and the soil is loosened).
Diseases and Pests
Loosestrife has increased resistance to diseases that affect most plants. The only pest that can damage such plants is aphids. But you can also be saved from it if you use a special drug in time, for example, Aktaru.
Landscape application
Verbeynik is a beautiful perennial tall plant that combines well with astilbe, monarda, and irises. Coin is used as an ampel, groundcover.
They look great on flowerbeds, alpine hills, in other designer compositions.
Benefit and harm of the recruiter
Verbeynik has healing properties:
- antiseptic;
- hemostatic;
- painkillers;
- firming.
This plant has been widely used in folk recipes, homeopathic medicines. Only official medicine still does not produce drugs based on it.
Folk methods of using loosestrife help in the treatment of wounds, treatment of stomatitis, ulcers, thrush, to restore strength after illness, eliminate problems with indigestion, diarrhea. Use decoctions, infusions of flowers and leaves, as well as freshly squeezed juices from this plant.
Verbeynik has vasoconstrictive properties, increases blood coagulation, so it can not be used for a number of diseases.
Contraindications:
- varicose veins;
- thrombosis;
- hypertension;
- atherosclerosis;
- increased blood coagulation;
- dry cough.
A loosestrife planted on a garden plot will be not only an excellent decoration in landscape design, but also a good natural medicine.