Aubrieta blue cascade growing from seeds. Growing aubrieta from seeds and transplanting into open ground. Features of growing by seedling method

Aubrieta - herbaceous plant, characterized by attractive colors that serve as a harmonious decoration for any area.

Aubrieta perennial: description

A continuous carpet of aubrieta flowers (pale blue, pink, lilac, white), forming dense thickets with their short shoots, will become an important element in decoration vertical garden or designing an alpine slide or flower bed.

The green leaves of the plant are oval in shape, pointed at the edges, and small. In balcony flowerpots, this perennial plant, popularly called windflower, is an expressive addition to the main composition, consisting of large single flowers. The subtle decorative quality of such beauty, created by nature and introducing a touch of tenderness into the surrounding environment, characterizes the small, modest aubriet flower. Growing from seeds - the best way acquire this curiosity on your plot or balcony, which gets along well with all indoor and garden plants.

Characteristic features of the aubriet

Aubrieta, which is not particularly difficult to grow from seeds, is a fairly frost-resistant plant that can tolerate cold winters. The most interesting thing is that in the cold season the flower not only does not change its color, but does not even shed its leaves, standing out as a bright green spot against a snow-white background. In any case, it is better to protect the plant from frost by covering it with fallen leaves of trees. Already in April-May it is covered with attractive bright inflorescences, delighting with their flowering for a month and a half. The fruits are pods with elongated brown seeds.

Surely every lover of beautiful decor will want to have an evergreen carpet on their site, which aubrieta can create. Growing from seeds at home takes a little longer than propagating it by cuttings or dividing the bush. Nevertheless, the seed method is very simple and allows you to grow a plant, so to speak, from scratch. It is enough to purchase seeds of the desired variety or several of its types in total, which will create a beautiful natural picture.

Aubrieta: growing from seeds

When to plant seeds? How to do this correctly? When should we expect germination? Such questions often arise for beginners in floriculture, and experienced gardeners once again try to make sure that the planting dates are correct.

Sowing planting material produced in open ground in spring (May) or autumn (September). You can plant aubrieta indoors, and with the arrival warm days Plant the emerging shoots into the ground. In this case, sowing must be done under film a couple of months before the arrival of warm weather.

The film must be removed when the first shoots of such an attractive plant as aubrieta appear. Growing from seeds (the photo fully conveys the simplicity of this process) is a very popular method, simple and low-labor.

Shaving care

The soil intended for sowing should first be mulched with a sandy mixture, and in order to avoid visual loss of young seedlings among weeds (in open ground), aubrieta seeds should be sown in even beds. The site for future plants should be chosen in a sunny place. The plant can take root in almost any soil, however, preliminary enrichment with lime, chalk or ash will be a good start for aubrieta to feel comfortable on such soil.

Growing from seeds requires timely watering, but without excess. Otherwise, excess moisture will lead to active growth of aubrieta leaves and minimal appearance or complete absence of flowers. Preserving the attractiveness of the plant will be facilitated by the timely removal of faded flower stalks and dried leaves.

Aubrieta, growing from seeds of which is the most in a simple way its reproduction may lose the qualities inherent in a particular variety. This is a disadvantage of the seed method, as well as the long wait for flowers to appear: in the second year after planting.

Cuttings as one of the methods

Gardeners often use the cutting method, which allows special effort get such a beautiful plant as hybrid aubrieta. Growing from seeds is a more time-consuming method, unlike cuttings. In this case, it is necessary to separate sprouts that are not fully ripe from an adult bush. Future flowers should be planted in a greenhouse with a soil mixture of peat and sand. Planting of aubrieta in a permanent place of growth should be done around August, making sure that the young plants have roots.

Feeding the aubrieta

Feeding the plant should be done carefully, because an excess of fertilizers can negatively affect the growth vigor of the plant. It is optimal to apply fertilizing material 2 times a year. This spring period(before flowering) and autumn (after the final pruning of the plant this year). Pruning is done immediately after the end of flowering, almost to the very base. This will give a start to the growth of new, stronger shoots, which after a short time will become covered with the most beautiful flowers various shades. Thus, pruning the aubrieta is aimed at creating its non-stop flowering throughout the summer.

Like any plant, aubrieta is prone to various diseases. Most often it suffers from powdery mildew. When the first signs of the disease appear, the plant should be treated with an aqueous composition of colloidal sulfur. If the drugs used are ineffective, the only correct solution will be to clear the area of the diseased plant: the living carpet, unfortunately, will have to be torn out and destroyed.

Varieties of aubrieta

Raspberry sea. The name itself speaks about the color of the flowers and the composition they create. Bright and lush flowering will delight others for 2 months. This variety grows well in height, so it can be used to decorate retaining walls and fences.
Red King. The flowers of this variety of aubrieta, whose height is 10 cm, are large - about 5 cm in diameter. Excellent propagation by cuttings.
Cote d'Azur. The flowers will delight you with their incredible blue color for 2 months. The variety is frost-resistant.
Enchanting Morocco. A very decorative and lush variety.
Cascade series. The bushes are lush, with long creeping shoots. Bred specifically for growing on balconies, flower beds and alpine slides. The variety combines purple, pink, red, turquoise shades, enlivening the natural composition with such multifaceted diversity.

Aubrieta as the most beautiful element of the site

Meticulous care and love - those important factors, which the obrieta needs. Growing from seeds, about which most gardeners give positive reviews, is very simple method, which consists only in making the right choice plot, its preparation and the seeding itself.

If the seedlings are successful, the aubrieta will become one of your favorite plants and a permanent resident of the garden plot for many years, delighting those around you with the lush greenery of a continuous carpet and abundant bright flowering.

A creeping evergreen plant is a wonderful decoration for the garden. Many gardeners are interested in the aubriet flower; growing from seeds and when to plant the crop are of interest to many.

This crop is planted in the garden, decorating alleys or flower beds, and it is also an essential element of rock gardens. Aubrieta is distinguished by the fact that it covers the surface of the soil with a colorful flower carpet, delighting its owners with lush flowering.

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Description of culture

Aubrieta grows in the countries of the Mediterranean basin and in the territory of modern Turkey. The plant received its name in honor of the French artist Claude Aubrier.

The height of the crop is only 10-35 cm, but it grows greatly in breadth. If hybrid aubrieta is not restrained by cutting off young shoots, then the plant can cover the entire garden area with its creeping branches and flowers. It feels good on river banks and looks impressive on rocks, creating bright cascades of all shades of blue color. Aubrieta comes in white, pink and even dark burgundy colors.

The elongated leaves tolerate winter cold well and do not freeze in severe frosts. The leaves, green with a gray tint, come with smooth and jagged edges.

It blooms 2 times a year - in April-May and in September. Fruits in the form of pods with seeds are formed on the peduncles. One pod can contain 2000 or more. The seeds are elongated, brown.

Aubrieta is grown from seeds in 2 ways:

sowing in open ground;
growing seedlings.

The 3rd method of propagating a crop is cuttings.

Types of shaving

In nature, there are 12 species of aubrieta, differing in color, fruit shape and pistil structure. Agricultural technology and rules for growing all types of crops are the same.

Species zoned in central Russia:

1 Aubrieta deltoid is the progenitor of all cultivated species. How garden culture used since the beginning of the 18th century. The height of the bushes reaches 15 cm. In its most popular variety, the Bougainville aubriet, the height of the bush does not exceed 20 cm. The deltoid plant has gray-green pubescent leaves with several teeth along the edges and flowers of bright blue and lilac color, collected in racemose inflorescences .
2 From the graceful aubrieta they form a living carpet on stone borders, hilly garden plots. The variety is relatively different large flowers up to 2 cm in diameter. The height of the stems is not higher than 10 cm. Flowering is abundant, lilac flowers with a yellow center, small oblong leaves of pale green color are not visible.
3 Aubrieta Kolumka has thick curving stems and long carved leaves, densely covered with soft hair. On a stem forked at the top there are 2 large flower 4.5 cm in diameter. Their color is lavender and pink.
4 Among the cultivated hybrids, the variety is very popular Giant waterfall. This aubrieta has a cascading small flowers up to 1 cm in diameter and spotted light green leaves with a well-defined white edge. The height of the stems does not exceed 15 cm. The flowers can be painted in all shades of pink, purple and red.
5 You can hide everything that can spoil the appearance and well-groomed garden by shaving a perennial cascade Côte d'Azur. It blooms profusely 2 times a season: in the spring for about 2 months and in the fall from the beginning of September until the first frost. The flowers resemble forest violets in both color and shape. Large leaves of pale green color have a white border along the edge.

Rules for planting aubrieta

Growing aubrieta does not require special skills; the most important condition for success is to choose right place landings.

When choosing a planting site, consider the following:

all types of aubrieta do not like acidified heavy soils with a predominance of clay, the acidity of the soil should be neutral and in the range of 6.0-7.5 pH;
the plant loves the sun and is not afraid of direct sunlight; in the shade the stems stretch out and do not bloom;
aubrieta grows poorly on waterlogged soils;
Before sowing seeds or planting seedlings, the area is carefully weeded from weeds and dug to a depth of 10-15 cm;
the soil is treated with complex fertilizer, wood ash and chalk are mixed into it, lime can be added;
It is better to use a pitchfork for digging - this makes the soil better saturated with oxygen;
sawdust or washed river sand is used for mulching;
The soil is mulched before sowing the seeds and 3 more times before the first frost. The height of the mulch layer is 6 cm;
plantings are characterized by rapid growth, so large areas are selected for shaving.

Propagation by seeds and cuttings

Aubrieta seeds are sown in open ground in mid-May or September-October. More often, aubrieta is planted as seedlings. Seeds are sown in February, seedlings appear after 2-3 weeks, seedlings are kept indoors for at least a month.

Rules for growing seedlings:

1 Temperature in the room +18…+21°С.
2 Sow seeds in soil for flower crops. They are not deepened, but filled on top thin layer river sand. You can sow seeds in vermiculite.
3 The soil is sprayed with a spray bottle.
4 Before the first shoots appear, the crops are covered with plastic wrap.
5 After a month, the sprouts are transplanted into separate pots. The plants are first hardened off by removing the film for a while.
6 Seedlings are planted in open ground at a stable above-zero temperature, when the threat of frost on the soil has passed.

With proper care, plants grown from seeds and seedlings will bloom the next year.

Planting aubrieta in open ground

Before sowing seeds in open ground, you need to prepare the place.

The soil is dug up, loosened with a rake, moistened with a watering can, and seeds are sown in rows or randomly, in a continuous bed. The crops are mulched with sand, which is moistened.

Planting seedlings has its own specifics:

1 Containers with seedlings are soaked in water until air bubbles appear on its surface. This trick makes it easier to transfer the seedlings from the container to the holes and prevents damage.
2 Holes are dug along the length of the roots of the seedlings. The sprouts should be at a distance of 5 cm from each other. A hole is dug twice as wide as an earthen clod of seedlings if the plant is planted on open area. In rock gardens, aubrieta easily grows in narrow crevices of stones.
3 The soil under the bushes is mulched with sand and watered with a watering can.

Summer cuttings of aubrieta

Another way to propagate aubrieta is by cuttings. In mid-summer the plants are pruned. The resulting cuttings are used as planting material. Peduncles and pods are first cut off from them. The prepared material is planted in a greenhouse.

The soil mixture consists of equal parts of peat and sand. Grown seedlings are planted in a permanent place in open ground at the end of August. Before the first frost, young plants acquire strong roots and can bloom in the spring.

In the northern regions, the cuttings are kept in a greenhouse until spring so that the sprouts do not freeze.

Theoretically, aubrieta can be planted by dividing the bush. But in fact, this method is not used, since the plant reacts very painfully to any transplant. When dividing a bush, it gets sick for a long time, and then most often dies.

Conclusion

Mature plants only need watering on very hot days. The rest of the time, all types of obrieta are not watered. Plants do not like wet soils; they stop flowering there and grow leaves.

Feeding of aubrieta is carried out 2 times a season: in the spring before the formation of buds, and in the summer after pruning. Fertilizing can be introduced when the seedlings have 2 pairs of leaves.

To obtain autumn flowering, the crop is pruned in the summer. Faded stems are cut off close to the ground. The soil is fertilized and mulched.

In winter, the obrieta rests. In places with severe frosts, plantings are covered with dry leaves.

Aubrieta (aubrecia, aubrieta) is an incredibly beautiful representative of the flora kingdom. Its dense thickets look like bright purple waterfalls of flowers densely covering the delicate greenery. It would seem that such a beauty should have an obstinate character, but this is not so: growing aubrieta is not at all difficult. In addition, the crop is perennial and does not require grueling annual planting.

Aubrieta has long been loved by flower growers and has firmly taken root in European gardens. The history of cultivation of aubrieta is more than 300 years. You can still find varieties of aubrieta on sale that were bred back in the 19th century.

Aubrieta is a typical ground cover, perfectly adapted for life in mountainous areas. Low bushes creeping along the ground are densely covered with racemose inflorescences of small four-petal flowers in pink, blue and lilac shades. The shape of the leaves can also be very different: lanceolate, spatulate or elliptical.

Aubrieta blooms from April to June, but with proper care you can achieve re-blooming at the end of summer. Since aubrieta does not shed its leaves for the winter, it retains its decorative properties. all year round. At the same time, the plant has an unusual feature: if in summer the foliage has a bluish color, then in winter it becomes emerald green.

According to the botanical classification, aubrieta (lat. Aubrieta) is evergreen perennial from the cabbage or cruciferous family (lat. Brassicaceae). Aubrieta came to our latitudes from southwestern Europe and Central Asia. In the 18th century this species was discovered and described famous traveler and naturalist M. Adadson. The flower received its name in honor of the florist artist K. Aubrie, and in our country this beautiful and delicate plant was undeservedly called a windbag.

Decorative types and varieties of aubrieta

Today, botanists count 17 species of aubrieta, many of which are grown as beautiful flowering perennials. In European gardens you can usually find the following:

Aubrieta deltoid(lat. Aubrieta deltoidea). The most common species, known in cultural gardening since the beginning of the 18th century. In Western countries, the plant has several names - lilac bush, pink stone and rainbow stone. It is the progenitor of almost all currently existing varieties and hybrids. The leaves are diamond-shaped and bluish-green in color. The flowers are small, usually pink or purple.

Beautifully flowering varieties are often found on sale, and variegated varieties are also not uncommon:

"Tauricola", "Tauricola Variegata" (Tauricola, Tauricola Variegata) - a low-growing (10 cm) variety with purple flowers and foliage, colored in one or two shades.
"Nana Variegata" (Nana Variegata) is a very low-growing (no more than 5 cm) plant with variegated foliage, decorated with soft lilac flowers.
"Red Carpet" - petals of a rich wine-burgundy hue.

Aubrieta hybrid (cultivated)(Latin: Aubrieta x cultorum) - this is how various artificially bred garden varieties of aubrieta are usually called. The species is distinguished by neat, serrated leaves. small flowers of various shades, simple, double or semi-double, cover the bushes so thickly that during the flowering period, plants of this species resemble bright lilac or pink clouds.

Among the many varieties, the following can be distinguished:

"Argenteovariegata" (Argenteovariegata) is a plant with small bicolor foliage, which is crowned with four-petalled lilac-pink flowers. The variety has been awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain.
“Cascade” (Cascade) - a series of differently colored varieties: “Red Cascade”, “Blue Cascade”, “Purple Cascade”, “Rose Cascade”. A beautiful perennial that forms dense thickets and is distinguished by bright flowering.
"Snow Maiden" (Snow Maiden) is a white-flowered variety.

"Joy" (Joy) - low growing plant with bright lilac flowers.
"Blue Beauty" is a beautiful semi-double variety with lilac-blue flowers.
“Royal Mixed” (Royal Mix), “Monarch Mixed” (Monarch Mix) - a multi-colored mixture.
"Bressingham Red" (Bressingham Red) - a variety with bright red-pink flowers.

"Elsa Lancaster" (Elsa Lancaster) - large purple flowers.
"Carnival" - bright lilac flowers against a background of dense greenery.
'Kitte Purple' is a plant with deep pink flowers and silver-green leaves.

Aubrieta is a flower valued by breeders. Therefore, every year more and more new hybrids appear, pleasing the eye with a variety of colors of both flowers and leaves.

Aubrieta graceful(lat. Aubrieta gracilis). The stems of the plant are very weak, creeping along the ground. The variety has lanceolate leaves and small flowers.

Aubrieta graying(lat. Aubrieta canescens). A heat-loving species, distinguished by fleecy silver-green foliage and shoots, on the tops of which there are light lilac flowers.

Aubrieta skarda(lat. Aubrieta scardica). A variety with soft, pubescent light green leaves and small pale flowers.

Aubrieta columnar(lat. Aubrieta columnae). Plants of this species have powerful, thick stems. The carved foliage is covered with soft pile. The flowers are very large, usually red or pink.

Aubrieta in landscape design

Aubrieta is ideal for decorating flower borders bordering garden paths or flower beds. Despite the fact that aubrieta gets along with any plants, it is extremely rarely used in mixborders: the bushes are too low and are easily lost against the background of taller and branchier neighbors.

However, the culture looks great in single plantings. Creeping bushes form dense, lush clumps reminiscent of a sea of flowers. Like most ground cover plants, aubrieta is used primarily for decorating rockeries or rock gardens. IN natural environment The flower is often found in mountainous areas, so it will feel great in your garden on rocky soil. In such compositions, other ground covers, for example, or Gmelin's alyssum, can make an excellent company for aubrieta. The perennial is also ideal for vertical and cascading gardening. The aubriet falling from the stone fence resembles a living waterfall.

Growing and care

Reproduction and planting

Aubrieta is propagated by seedlings and non-seedlings, as well as by cuttings. Unlike most other perennials, aubrieta bushes are almost never divided. Aubrieta, especially varietal ones, are extremely painful to tolerate any manipulation of the roots, and they may simply not survive their division.

Seedling

They usually start growing seedlings in mid-February. Before sowing, the seeds are disinfected by soaking them for an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. A young aubrieta will feel more comfortable not in seedling boxes, but in separate containers. This will not only protect the delicate roots of the plants, but will also allow you to avoid unnecessary picking. The soil for seedlings is prepared by mixing garden soil and sand in equal proportions. Also, many gardeners prefer to grow aubrieta in peat-humus pots.

The seeds are laid on the surface of the soil, sprinkled with sand or vermiculite and lightly sprinkled with water. After this, the containers with aubrieta are covered with polyethylene and placed in a warm, well-lit place. For germination, aubrieta requires a temperature of at least 18°C. Watering should be very careful, just lightly moisten the soil as it dries out. Also, do not forget to ventilate the plantings daily to avoid condensation.

About a week after the first two leaves appear, the seedlings begin to be fed with mineral fertilizers. Feeding should be carried out no more than once every 10-12 days. Intermediate trimming of the shaving is not required.

The seedlings are transferred to open ground in the second half of May, when the threat of return frosts has passed. The selected area is dug up to a depth of 15 cm and weeded. The soil should be well loosened, without stones and hard lumps. In too heavy clay soils, sand must be added. You can also add eggshells or crushed chalk if you wish: the presence of calcium in the soil will have a beneficial effect on the further growth of the aubrieta. If the area is located too low, it is worth raising the flowerbed and laying drainage under it. The depth of the planting holes is determined by the length of the root system, and their width should be twice as large as the width of the containers in which the seedlings grew. Optimal distance between two bushes is about 5-8 cm.

[!] Aubrieta is replanted only with a clod of earth, so as not to damage the roots.

In order to painlessly remove seedlings from pots, briefly immerse containers with seedlings in warm water. Thanks to this simple technique, the soil will easily move away from the walls of the pots. After planting, the soil at the roots is compacted and mulched with a thick layer of sand. Only after this is watering carried out.

Plantings need to be weeded regularly and watered frequently, but you should refrain from fertilizing until the seedlings have settled into their new location. Already in June, the first buds will appear on the bushes.

Planting seeds in open ground

Aubrieta is sown in open ground in May or October. In this case, autumn sowing is considered more preferable. The fact is that young plants are very fragile and can suffer from proximity to aggressive and strong weeds.

When sowing in open ground, in addition to treating with manganese, it is also recommended to soak the seeds for 12-15 hours in any growth stimulant. Preparing the site is almost the same as before planting seedlings, with the exception of one point. At autumn sowing It is necessary to add humus to the ground, and in the spring - any complex mineral fertilizer.

Before sowing, the soil is slightly moistened. The seeds are placed in grooves located at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. More sparse plantings will look untidy, and more frequent plantings will lead to the death of the plants. After sowing, the seeds are sprinkled with sand and gently watered. If you plan to decorate an alpine hill with aubrieta, the seeds can be poured directly into the crevices between the stones.

Aubrieta, sown in spring, will sprout in 10-20 days. Until this point, the plantings should be covered with film. Unfortunately, the bushes will begin to bloom only next year.

Autumn plantings must also be covered with dry peat, spruce branches or foliage for the winter. These crops will sprout after the snow melts and bloom in just a couple of months.

Cuttings

The easiest way to propagate aubrieta is by cuttings. Typically, this procedure is carried out every year at the end of July - beginning of August in case the mother plant does not survive the winter. The fact is that the older the shaving, the more capricious and weaker it becomes.

The root shoots are carefully separated from the parent bush and kept in a root-forming solution for 10-15 days. After this, the cuttings are transferred to a greenhouse with nutritious and well-drained soil. Shoots take root best in a soil mixture prepared from equal parts of sand and peat.

At the end of August - beginning of September, the cuttings are transferred to a permanent place. Make sure that the distance between plantings is at least 15 cm. If the winter is expected to be harsh, it is better to leave the young bushes in the greenhouse until spring.

Location, soil

Aubrieta prefers sunny areas. Even slight shade can cause foliage to stretch and flowering to stop. Good drainage is much more important for this perennial than the nutrient content of the soil. The plant thrives on sandy and even rocky soils. But heavy clay soil can destroy the aubrieta. It is best to plant the plant at higher elevations, where it will receive a sufficient amount sunlight and will not flood in the spring.

[!] Do not forget that aubriet bushes grow in width very quickly, so make sure that the selected area has sufficient area.

The perennial is tolerant of varying soil acidity, but grows especially luxuriantly in slightly alkaline soils.

Watering, fertilizing

If young plants need a lot of moisture, then an adult plant will not benefit from excess water. This can lead not only to poor flowering, but also to rotting of the roots. Therefore, formed bushes are watered drip only when the top layer of soil dries out. The exception is during dry periods, when watering is done at least twice a week. Some gardeners recommend adding sodium humate to water for irrigation, which will ensure the harmonious development of the root system. In addition, do not forget to periodically loosen and mulch the soil with sand, and also get rid of weeds.

The frequency of fertilizing depends on the degree of fertility of the soil on which the aubrieta grows. If the soil is nutritious, fertilizers are applied no more than 1-2 times a month. And if you have decorated a rocky area with shaving, then you should feed the bushes every two weeks. You can use complete mineral complexes for flowering plants for these purposes. But most lush growth and you will achieve budding if you take into account the needs of the obrieta at one or another stage of development. Young plants need nitrogen to grow green mass, grown bushes must be given phosphorus, and before the start of the growing season, feed the aubriet with fertilizers with a high potassium content.

Remember that fertilizing aubrieta with manure is highly discouraged.

Trimming and shaping

For improvement decorative properties Shab requires pruning several times a season. This procedure must be carried out after the first flowering, thanks to this you can achieve repeated budding in August or September. Please note that the stems are cut almost at the very base. This agrotechnical technique rejuvenates the perennial and allows it to gain new strength. There is no need to prune before wintering, as it can weaken the plant. But in the spring, the aubriet bushes need to be carefully inspected and all damaged areas removed.

Flowering of aubrieta, care after flowering, collecting seeds

This ground cover usually blooms in late May or early June, and the total flowering time is about 45 days.

After flowering, small oblong pods remain on the stems. Each of these fruits contains about two thousand oblong brown seeds. When the pods darken, they will need to be cut and husked. The seeds are wrapped in paper and stored in a cool, dry place. Remember that aubrieta grown from collected seeds may not inherit the characteristics of the parent plant. Varietal purity is guaranteed only by vegetative propagation.

Wintering

Aubrieta tolerates winter well, but in severe frosts it can lose its foliage. To avoid this, be sure to cover the bushes with spruce branches. Also, before the onset of cold weather, it is necessary to mulch the soil at the roots with a mixture of peat and sand.

Pests and diseases

One of the most common diseases affecting aubrieta is powdery mildew. Its main symptom is the appearance of a bluish coating covering the leaves and flowers. You can fight the disease with a solution of colloidal sulfur, but if the infection is severe, the diseased bush will have to be destroyed.

If the watering regime is incorrect, the plant may suffer from root rot or “black leg”. The appearance of this disease can be signaled by slowing growth and wilting of leaves. Unfortunately, in the case of shaving, this disease is incurable. You will have to dig up and dispose of the affected bushes and then till the soil.

Sometimes aubrieta can be attacked by aphids. In this case, any insecticide or a decoction of tomato leaves will help you.

Of course, shaving requires constant care. However, the troubles associated with it will not be too burdensome even for a novice gardener. This exquisite plant will decorate any area and will delight you with its delicate flowers for a long time.

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Aubrieta

The aubrieta plant is one of the most attractive in the Brassica family - it is frost-resistant and remains decorative for several years. One of its features is the green leaves that overwinter under the snow. But above all, it is famous for the abundance and duration of flowering.

Wild representatives of the genus Aubrieta are widespread on the Eurasian continent, including eastern Central Asia. The plant received its name in honor of the French florist artist Claude Aubrier, who specialized in botanical images. Currently, there are 20 types of aubrieta. By their nature, they are all close to field rape.

Thanks to the work of breeders, the flower has found its place in gardens and flower beds in Europe and around the world. Most often they contain Aubrieta deltoid (A. deltoidea) and its varieties, as well as hybrids obtained with its participation. Such plants are usually called Aubrieta cultivated (A. x cultorum). However, in the scientific community, all Aubrieta hybrids are classified as a separate species. Hybrid Aubrieta (A. x hybrida) is one of 20 species of Aubrieta.

Using aubrieta in landscaping

All wild-growing aubrietas have low-growing bushes that form clumps, covered with small greenish-silver pubescent leaves, oblong-oval, sometimes jagged. Their flowers are four-petaled, small (up to a centimeter), but bright and numerous. They are collected in small inflorescences and during flowering almost completely cover the leaves.

Among the cultivated aubriet there are both simple and terry forms of the following colors:
purple;
raspberry;
pink;
blue;
white.

In garden design, growing aubrieta is advisable, first of all, as a ground cover plant, because each of its bushes, with an average height of 10-15 cm, can grow horizontally up to half a meter. As they grow, the shoots easily take root and give birth to new individuals. It is especially important to decorate alpine hills, rockeries, and rocky gardens with shaving. This plant is used to decorate various architectural forms, vertical slopes and walls - it seems that the aubrieta descends along them in a continuous cascade. Aubrieta is planted along garden paths. If the path is paved, then you can leave a window in it and plant aubrieta in it, or sow its seeds in the seams between the slabs. The plant looks good in flowerpots and hanging containers. Varieties with tall (up to 20 cm) shoots are suitable for cutting. It is noteworthy that in winter, under the snow, the leaves of the aubriet remain green. They begin to please the eye immediately after the snow melts.
Thanks to the new varieties and hybrids that have been developed, each site owner can choose a plant according to their taste and desire.

Varieties of aubrieta

Selection work on the plant has been going on for about two hundred years. The deltoid aubrieta variety “Taurikola”, obtained at the end of the 19th century, is still preserved. It has low, up to 5-6 cm, bushes and lavender-colored flowers 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter.
Now there are varieties with larger semi-double and double flowers, as well as with variegated foliage ( variegated ).
Wanda – variety with purple double flowers;
Doctor Mules - four-petal flowers with a diameter of up to 2.5 cm have a violet-blue color, the height of the bushes is 10 cm, the variety received an award from the Krolev Horticultural Society of Great Britain.
Doctor Mules Variegated - differs from the previous one in variegated foliage (silver green leaves have a whitish-cream edge)
Alba - this variety of deltoid aubrieta has snow-white flowers, the height of the curtains is 10 cm;
Red Carpet is a hybrid of Aubrieta deltoid and Aubrieta pinardii, low 10-centimeter bushes cover red-burgundy large 1.5-centimeter simple flowers;
Campbell - forms 10-centimeter curtains, covered with large, up to one and a half centimeters in diameter, light blue flowers;
Whitevel Jam - large-flowered aubrieta, bush height up to 15 cm;
Double Pink - variety with large pale flowers Pink colour, located in two rows.

Of interest to gardeners are the hybrid aubrieta varieties from the “Alpine Hill” series, which includes:
Cascade blue - low-growing variety 10 - 11 cm high, the bushes are dotted with small leaves, the flowering period begins at the end of spring and continues in the first weeks of summer. When decorating vertical walls, the plant looks like a blue waterfall.
Cascade red - differs from the previous type in dark red flowers, looks great on the front line of landscaping in front of more tall plants. When landscaping horizontal areas, red flowers look like a continuous bright carpet.
This series also includes “Cascade Violet” and “Cascade Mix”, which includes plants with blue, pink, and purple flowers.
The Golden Emperor variety looks attractive, which has purple flowers and leaves with a golden edge.
Recently, heterotic hybrids of the F1 aubriet series Audrey (Audrey) have appeared on sale. They are represented by varieties with different petal colors - red, pink, blue, bright blue, dark blue. All plants are distinguished by abundant and friendly flowering, a uniform shape of upright bushes, the height of which can reach 17 cm. Suitable not only for open ground, but also for pot growing.
After choosing a variety, all that remains is to learn how to grow aubrieta from seeds or cuttings, about planting it in the garden and caring for the plant.

Planting and growing aubrieta

To plant aubrieta on a plot, it is most convenient to grow it from seeds, choosing in the store a bag you like with its image and a description of its characteristics and agricultural technology. It is not worth harvesting seed material yourself, since seedlings obtained from seeds do not retain the characteristics of the mother plant. If aubrieta bushes are already growing on the site, you can propagate it by cuttings or daughter rosettes.

You can grow aubrieta from seeds either by direct sowing in a garden bed or by seedlings.

Seedless growing method

One of the ways to grow without seedlings is to sow aubrieta in open ground in late autumn. For it, choose an area with good lighting and soil that has a fairly light structure and alkaline reaction. If the soil is acidic, then you need to add lime or chalk to it. Sand is added to clay soil. Do not use peat under any circumstances. The site is dug up, the ground is loosened and watered. Planting aubrieta in partial shade, and even more so in the shade, is not permissible. In these cases, flowering may not wait. Places with high soil moisture and spring flooding are also prohibited for growing aubriet. Aubrieta reacts sharply to excess moisture and gets warm, so the plant is planted in places with good drainage, and elevations are encouraged. A painful reaction to excess soil moisture is the most acute problem when growing aubrieta.

The seeds are scattered over the surface, without burying them in the ground, covered with a layer of sand, its thickness should be about three centimeters. It is advisable to lay spruce branches and spunbond on top (remove the cover in the spring). Once installed warm weather, then the seeds will sprout. Since in the first days after germination the seedlings are thin, they need to be watered carefully, and it is better to fence the place itself with wooden sides so as not to lose the crops.

You can sow in the spring, after the soil has thawed and warmed up (seeds germinate at + 16 degrees). Otherwise, growing from seeds is the same. After about 15 - 20 days, shoots should appear from the seeds. It is important to regularly water young plants in the first year and feed them with a full complex two or three times during the summer. mineral fertilizers. After overwintering, the young aubriet flowers will bloom for the first time.

Growing aubrieta from seeds in seedlings

In this case, sowing is carried out in late March - early April. The good thing about this method is that it is possible to grow a flowering plant from almost every seed, since in apartment conditions the seeds are not afraid of open ground weeds, as well as winter damping off or freezing.

Growing aubrieta seedlings is carried out similarly to growing from seeds of most flower and vegetable crops. Seedling boxes, bowls, and any containers filled with soil for cabbage crops are suitable for this. The seeds are laid out on top and sprinkled with sand. Everything is moistened, covered with film, placed in a warm place with a temperature of at least + 15 degrees. When sowing into cells, place 4 seeds in each cell.

After the shoots emerge, the box with the aubrieta is placed in a well-lit, not too hot place - the aubrieta does not like very high temperatures. When three true leaves appear on the plants, you can plant the seedlings in individual cups. At the end of May - beginning of July, holes are made in the prepared bed and seedlings are transferred there. A distance of 15-20 cm is left between plants. More dense planting is carried out in containers. After planting, the seedlings are well watered and the soil around is mulched with coarse sand or small stones.

Reproduction by cuttings

Cuttings are harvested in June; this can be done when pruning after flowering. They are rooted in a greenhouse. This process requires a soil mixture consisting of equal parts of peat and sand. The greenhouse needs to maintain humidity levels. By August, roots appear on the cuttings; they can be transplanted to a permanent place, but it is safer to keep them under cover until the next season. It should be noted that many varietal aubriet plants are quite capricious, so to preserve their qualities, plants should be cut annually. If you leave the plant without such care, in two to three years it may simply disappear.
Among all the ways vegetative propagation Aubrietas take root best in daughter rosettes.

Caring for aubrieta in the garden

Aubrieta blooms for up to one and a half months from May to June. To ensure that the plant remains decorative for as long as possible, faded flowers are removed.

In dry summers with no precipitation, the plant, especially young ones, needs additional watering. It is important not to overdo it with water.

Three times a season it is necessary to add mineral mixtures; aubrieta especially needs calcium. It is advisable to do this in the spring before flowering, in the summer after it ends, in the fall before the onset of cold weather.

After flowering ends, you need to prune the shoots. This will prevent the plant from growing and will keep it compact. After this procedure, the aubrieta will bloom a second time in the fall. If you do not remove the faded inflorescences, fruits are formed - pods up to 2 cm long. The ripening of seeds will require strength from the plant, which will worsen its appearance, and will not always contribute to reproduction, because we often choose hybrid aubrieta for planting in the garden.

Weeding, weed removal, loosening and mulching of the soil are also important for obrieta. And although the plant is considered a winter-hardy ground cover and is recommended for frost resistance zones from the fourth to the ninth, for the winter it is still better to sprinkle it with dry leaves, and remove the cover early in the spring. This is especially important for hybrid varieties.

Among the “enemies” of shaving cabbage flea beetles and aphid , which can gnaw out its castings, shoots, flowers. If not maintained correctly, bushes can be affected by a fungal disease - leaf spot. In all cases, standard control and prevention schemes are used.

If a gardener finds a shaving " mutual language"and organizes for her proper care, then it will decorate the area for many years and delight with a scattering of its bright flowers.

Aubrieta is a perennial evergreen ground cover plant from the Cruciferous family.

Its homeland is Asia Minor and Southern Europe. Because of its high decorative qualities, aubrieta has become popular not only in its native lands, but also in other countries and continents.

Claude Aubriet, a botanist and artist from France, first described 20 species of this beautiful flower. This plant was named after him. Later, the number of aubrieta species decreased to 12. The most popular are 2 types: deltoid and cultural aubrieta.

Aubrieta deltoid has bluish-green deltoid foliage. The flowers are violet or lilac in color. They form loose racemose inflorescences. Aubrieta of this species is the ancestor of all cultivated varieties.

Aubrieta cultivated includes quite a few varieties and hybrids, varying in color, size, shape, fullness of flowers, length of stems and color of foliage. Cuttings of this species root poorly. Most often, varieties are propagated by seeds.

The aubriet grows up to 20, less often 35 centimeters in height, and reaches 1 meter in width. Stems creeping. It has small lanceolate or spatulate drooping leaves. They are located alternately. Their color depends on the time of year and can be bluish-green (summer) or bright green (winter).

This herbaceous plant is densely covered with bright pink, maroon, lilac, crimson, lilac, violet and white four-petaled flowers. There are large-flowered, double and semi-double varieties with variegated leaves. Some flowers are suitable for cutting and creating bouquet arrangements. They are 1-2 centimeters in diameter (some varieties can reach 5 centimeters). They are collected in small loose brushes.

The plant blooms in April - May or autumn and this period lasts one and a half months.
The fruits produced from the flowers are pods with flat, brown seeds.

Varieties

Breeders have developed quite a few varieties and hybrids of aubrieta. They differ in color and size of flowers, length of stems and color of leaves.

The flowers are bright red. Their diameter is 1 centimeter. Plant height is 15 centimeters.

Flowers on the same bush can be red or pink, and vary in shade. Their diameter is 1-2.5 centimeters. The height of the stems is 20 centimeters.

Plants are 10 centimeters tall. Flowers with a diameter of 5 centimeters. Their color is pink.

The flowers are crimson in color, semi-double and double. Stems are 20 centimeters high. The plant easily tolerates partial shade.

This is a variegated variety. The flowers are dark, blue-violet. The height of the stems is 15 centimeters.

The color of the flowers is bright blue. The height of the stems reaches 10 centimeters.

Flowers of this decorative variety very lush. They are blue, red and pink with longitudinal stripes on the petals. Their diameter is 1.5-2 centimeters. The plant grows up to 25 centimeters in height.

Flower color is red. The stems reach a height of 20 centimeters.

The flowers are purple. The leaves are variegated. The height of the stems does not exceed 12 centimeters.

The flowers are sky blue. The variety is characterized by frost resistance and the ability to quickly recover after pruning.

The color of the flowers is light pink with a yellow center. The diameter of the flower is 1-2 centimeters. The stems are drooping and grow up to 25 centimeters. The leaves are bluish-green all year round.

Variety Red Cascade

The flowers are densely arranged, dark red in color. The diameter of the flower is 1 centimeter. The heart is small, yellow color. The plant grows up to 30 centimeters in height. The leaves are bluish-green.

The height of the stems is 15 centimeters. Blue flowers. The diameter is 1 centimeter. This variety has hanging stems and is planted on retaining walls and rockeries. The leaves are bluish-green.

Growing aubrieta - planting seedlings

Aubrieta propagates by seeds and cuttings. For these purposes, you can collect the seeds yourself (if it grows on the site) or buy them in the store. It is not advisable to propagate a flower by dividing bushes. He does not tolerate this procedure well.

Seeds are sown in open ground in May or September - October. They are planted in a sand-peat mixture and covered with film. Indoors, seeds should be sown at the end of February.

The soil should be light, with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction and a low content of organic matter. Clayey, acidic or fatty peat soils are not suitable for shaving.

Seeds can be sown using seedless or seedling methods. But sowing seeds directly in a flower garden can lead to splitting of varieties and loss of decorative qualities.

Sowing seeds indoors is done in peat tablets or peat-humus pots. 2-3 seeds are distributed on the surface of the moistened soil and sprinkled with a 3-5 centimeter layer of sowed sand. The sown seeds are moistened with warm water from a spray bottle. The top of the crops is covered with transparent film or glass.

The optimal temperature for seed pecking is 19-21 degrees.

Crops need to be ventilated every day. The soil is moistened if necessary (after the top layer of soil has dried). The seedlings hatch in 21-30 days. After the seeds have sprouted, the cover from the seedlings can be removed. Watering should be moderate.

The plants have weak roots and do not tolerate transplantation well. Seedlings are not picked. 2 weeks before transplanting grown seedlings into open ground, the plants are fed with a weak solution of any complex mineral fertilizer.

Aubrieta is light-loving plant and a bright area is selected for planting seedlings. To do this, you can choose elevated areas of land and rocky slopes. The site must be protected from flooding or provided with good drainage. Plants are planted in prepared beds in mid-May or September - October. The soil for planting should be loose. If the soil is highly acidic, ash or slaked lime is added to it.

The plant is transplanted together with a lump of earth. The gap between plantings should be 15 centimeters.

If you want to sow aubrieta directly into open ground, you first need to prepare the place. Sow the seeds in moistened soil, cleared of weeds and debris, fed with complex fertilizers and ash, dug to a depth of 15 centimeters. Sowing is carried out at a distance of 5 centimeters from each other. The seeds are sprinkled with a sand layer 3-5 centimeters thick. The sown seeds are carefully watered from a watering can. Seedlings sown in spring germinate in 10-21 days, and those sown in autumn will appear next spring.

Cuttings are cut from the branches after the plant has finished flowering. By the end of summer, the rooted cuttings are planted in a permanent place according to a 15 by 15 centimeter pattern. Before winter, the flower takes root and easily tolerates the cold. Rare varieties remain in the greenhouse for the winter.

Planting aubrieta seedlings in open ground: video

The soil under the obriet is covered with a 3-5 centimeter layer of seeded sand. This mulching is carried out 2-3 times in spring and summer.

The plant should be watered moderately and only in dry, hot weather, since excess moisture leads to poor flowering and rotting of the root system. At the same time, lack of water also adversely affects the flowering of the plant and its growth. Regular (2 times a week) moderate watering is needed for young, developing plants. Then the flowers are watered no more than once a week.

After each watering, a mandatory procedure is to remove weeds.

After the spring flowering of the aubrieta, the above-ground part is cut off almost to the root. This procedure promotes the formation of new shoots, which will subsequently bloom in the fall. To preserve decorative qualities, faded flowers are cut from the plant. Flowering in autumn is not as abundant as in spring, but at the same time it pleases with a more saturated color of the leaves.

In spring and autumn, plants are fertilized with mineral fertilizers. At the beginning of the growth of aubrieta, you need to apply nitrogen fertilizing, then you need to switch to phosphorus fertilizers; at the stage of the beginning of flowering, plants need potassium.

The first feeding is carried out in the spring, before the formation of flowers. Feed flowers on fertile soils needed every 20 days. If the soil is infertile, fertilizing is carried out every 2 weeks. Once every 2 weeks, flowers growing on alpine hills, rockeries and cascade varieties are fertilized.

Between the main feedings for young plants, additional feeding is carried out with sodium humate.

The flower overwinters open or under cover. In frosty winters with little snow, the aubrieta is covered with straw or dry leaves and pine needles. In the spring, after the snow melts, the shelter is removed from the plants.

Most often, aubrieta is affected by aphids and powdery mildew.

Aphids are not difficult to recognize on plants. This pest feeds on plant sap and contributes to the spread of viral diseases. Insects can be destroyed using drugs such as: Karbofos, Biotlin, Fufanon and Arrivo. In case of extensive damage, spraying is repeated up to 4 times. For prevention, plants can be treated with insecticides.

Powdery mildew covers the plant with a whitish coating, which turns brown over time. As a result of the disease, the aubrieta loses its decorative effect. Plant growth slows down, and the damaged areas begin to turn black and subsequently die, and winter hardiness decreases. You can get rid of the fungus by treating the bushes with a solution of colloidal sulfur. If the disease has damaged a large part of the plantings, then the most damaged areas are removed.

Aubrieta looks beautiful on alpine hills, rockeries, and borders. Some varieties are planted on balconies or in hanging pots. It grows well in wide crevices of walls with dry masonry, in rocky gorges. Sometimes the flower is used in mixborders. The plant is combined with white Iberis, red soapwort, yellow alyssum, Caucasian rhizome, awl-shaped phlox, dwarf irises. Some varieties of aubrieta are cut and used to create bouquets.

This beautiful plant can decorate not only a flower garden, balcony or flowerpot, but also vases. Freshly cut flowers look very beautiful in combination with other plants. Aubrieta planted in a flower garden grows over time and covers the area with a dense carpet of flowers. All that is required to grow it is proper care.