Verbena in the garden - the perfect complement to any landscape design. Bright flowers, rich color leaves - all this verbena. The plant comes from tropical regions of America, a representative of the Verben family, which has more than 200 species of various flowers. Different people call Verbena differently: "Hercules' grass", "Venus veins" or "Mercury's blood".
Sowing Verbena seeds on seedlings
Vervain multiplication can be done in several ways: seed or grafting. The flower is becoming very popular in gardening, and to know how to plant a vervain for seedlings is very important.
Seeds of verbena, depending on the species, can be wrapped up with a thick shell, which significantly slows down the process of their germination.
You can collect the seeds of the verbena, after the flower has blossomed, use the extracted seed or buy seeds.
Did you know?If you decide to use your seeds, remember that the varietal characteristics may be lost, and if you decide to use the purchased ones, make sure that they do not have the F1 sign, as hybrid varieties usually indicate.
So, before planting the seeds, you need to stratify them in order to improve the quality of seedlings.
Seed stratification - a very simple procedure involves the treatment of seed with cold. Stratify seeds in the refrigerator, in the department for vegetables. They are laid out on a damp cloth, covered with another piece of damp cloth, wrapped in polyethylene or placed in a container and placed in the refrigerator for several days.
After the seeds are stratified, they can be sown either in open ground immediately (seedless), or planted as seedlings.
It is best to sow seeds for seedlings in March (second decade). They are placed in shallow containers with humus, perlite or sand: the soil should not be too fertilized. Seeds are sown without digging into the ground. The container with the sown material needs to be covered with a transparent lid, for this purpose polyethylene or glass is suitable.
You will notice the first shoots in a couple of days. After that, the container must be moved to a cooler place and very well illuminated. After 2-3 mature leaves appear, the cover is removed.
Important! In the period when the seeds only germinate, the film (glass) must be constantly removed for ventilation, and watering at this time is best done with a spray bottle.
After removing the shelter, young vervain can be planted in separate pots, deepening the seedlings to cotyledon leaves. After 2 weeks, carry out the first feeding, and you can plant a plant in a new place. In the northern strip, verbena is grown as an annual.
Planting seedlings in open ground
After the warm weather is established, and there are no frosts anymore, the vervain can be planted in open ground. In the middle zone landing is carried out in the middle of May. Place for vervain better to choose a well-lit and protected from cold winds and drafts.
If the plant will get direct sunlight - not terrible, verbena perfectly cope with it. The soil for vervain will suit any, however it should be loose and, preferably, loamy. A layer of drainage will not be superfluous, which will prevent stagnation of water, and you should not use soil with a high content of humus.
Did you know? If the soil is "sour", it can be mixed with ash or dolomite flour, and this will reduce the acidity.
The verbena landing algorithm itself is very simple:
- Make shallow holes in the ground.
- Place a small layer of drainage material in the well.
- Pour 2 glasses of water into each well (assuming the soil is dry)
- Place the verbena with the earthy ball into the hole.
- Sprinkle with earth on top.
- Lightly tamp the ground around the bush.
Verbena combination with other plants
Verbena flower beds - The perfect solution for those who want to decorate their garden. Given the fact that verbena has thousands of color options, it can be combined with almost all garden flowers, or it can be used to decorate a lawn where it will stand out with a bright color spot.
Verbena goes well with chamomiles, together they form a sweet and fragrant composition. In combination with the marigolds, the composition will be childishly touching. An impressive ensemble is verbena with roses.
It also looks beautiful with such simple and familiar plants as rudbeckia, kosma, and delphinium. Together they form a composition with a very exotic appearance. Verbena can grow not only in a bed, but also in pots, and it looks very good in them.
Care tips for verbena
By itself, the process of caring for verbena is simple, however, it is necessary to carry out it in a complex. Verbena requires abundant watering, but does not tolerate stagnant water. It needs to be watered especially carefully during the period of active growth and to reduce the dose of water in the second half of summer.
Important! If you notice that the soil has begun to dry out, it is necessary to loosen the soil.
If your vervain grows in group planting, you only need to remove weeds before the bushes grow, but if you grow verbena alone, you need to clear it of weeds for the whole season. There is one secret: if you mulch the soil with foliage or any other material, you do not need to weed the flower.
Feeding vervain need to carry out comprehensively. Organic fertilizers are allowed to be applied only once, because otherwise the earth may be overloaded with nitrogenous substances. There are no restrictions for making complex mineral fertilizers, and they can be applied 1-2 times a month. Especially good effect on the growth of "Agricolor".
Care is also to rid the plant of dried inflorescences. If you properly cared for verbena, it will delight you not only with beautiful flowering, but also with a pleasant aroma.
Collecting and storing seeds
Verbena is usually used in our locality as an annual plant, and after flowering it is cut, and the ground where the flower has grown is dug up. DTo collect seeds from your own plants, it is necessary to use inflorescences when most flower boxes start to dry.
Did you know? You can determine the readiness of the seeds by color: the box will turn brown.
The inflorescence selected for “procuring” the seeds must be placed on a flat, flat surface and dried. During the drying period, the material must be turned over so that the raw materials do not start to become raw.
When the inflorescence dries, the seeds need to be extracted from the nuts and poured into a paper bag. Do not forget to sign it, specifying the date of collection and grade. If you have decided to plant verbena on your own, do not forget that domestic seeds lose their varietal characteristics and may differ from the "parents".
How to use vervain in landscape design
Verbena in landscape design is becoming increasingly popular. It looks very nice in the plantings, which among designers have the name “bouquet effect” - it looks especially attractive with large flowers of roses and scrubs. In landscape design, the flower is used both in group and in single plantings.
It looks especially beautiful when used for the decoration of alpine slides and rabatok. Verbena is distinguished from other plants with small flowers and is well suited for decorating alleys in parks and squares.
Verbena resistance to diseases and pests
Verbena - plant resistant to diseases and pests, and is affected by them very rarely.
Important! Most diseases in verbena appear due to improper care, so the rules for watering, loosening and dressing should be followed.
With excess watering, verbena can suffer from powdery mildew, blackleg and other fungal diseases. To deal with such problems, you can use various fungicides, spray a plant with a solution of potassium permanganate or pour water with ashes.
Also on the flower can "pounce" ticks or aphids. This problem is solved with the help of insecticides. It is better to prevent diseases, because the fight against them does not always end in favor of the owner of the flower.
Verbena is an excellent plant, easy to breed and does not require special care. Growing this flower does not require much effort, and therefore even a novice will cope with it. Verbena will delight you with its color and aroma, if you add a piece of your soul to its care.
