How do they reproduce?
To breed phlox, the easiest way is to use the division of the bush. The procedure is carried out both in spring and in the first third of autumn. Both options make it possible to guarantee the rooting of the divisions before the onset of the cold season. Summer division of the bush is carried out only as a last resort, when there is no time to wait. In the autumn months, such a procedure is possible only after laying the buds of renewal. Delenki should be large, with a lump of earth. Root collars and roots are best separated by hand. It is necessary to plant delenki immediately, otherwise the root system will dry out. You can also use root cuttings. This technique is optimal even for inexperienced breeders.
Propagation by cuttings is possible if the shoots are developing rapidly, but budding has not yet begun. Typically, phloxes have this period in May and June. It is best to use green, well-developed shoots that come from healthy flowers. For propagation by cuttings, both boxes for seedlings and open fertile soil are used. It takes 2-3 weeks for the planting material to take root. You can also grow phlox using leafy cuttings. Better conditions for such work are created from late June to mid-July. You need to take a leaf with a bud in the bosom and a small piece of the stem. Leafy cuttings are planted in boxes with a light nutrient medium. Then the boxes are kept in a greenhouse at 18-20 degrees; it takes about 30 days to wait for their rooting.
Reproduction
Dividing the bush
In early spring or early autumn, a 3-4-year-old mother bush is dug up. With a sharp knife, divide it into several parts and plant the cuttings. It is undesirable to grow plants in the same place where phlox grew recently. Planted in spring, delenki will bloom in summer, with autumn division - next year.
Cuttings
Phlox paniculata Starfire
Rooted, overwintered cuttings are an excellent planting material. The bushes that have grown from them are distinguished by good health and immunity.
The terms for spring-summer cuttings are the end of May - the first half of August. Non-lignified shoots are cut from healthy bushes. The middle part with 2 internodes is taken from each of them.
The lower leaves are trimmed and the cutting is placed in a box or pot of wet sand. The container is covered with foil. They monitor the humidity of the soil and air, periodically spray the leaves from a sprayer and ventilate the mini-greenhouse so that the cuttings do not rot.
Within 3-4 weeks, the cuttings will take root, shoots will begin to grow in the axils of the upper leaves. Seedlings are transplanted to a garden bed in a semi-shady place so that the root system is finally formed. In the fall, they are transplanted to a permanent place.
Shoots can be rooted in September. They are planted immediately in open ground - in a mixture of soil with peat, at an angle, slightly deepening. After planting, they are mulched with fallen leaves and left to winter. In the spring they are planted in fertile soil for growing, and in the fall - in a permanent place.
Seed propagation
This method is less popular for paniculata phlox. Varietal characteristics are not fully preserved, phlox seeds quickly lose their germination.
Seeds are stratified before planting. The easiest way to sow seeds before winter is right after harvest. A place for phlox is prepared in advance - in September, and the seeds are laid out in grooves when the soil freezes over. From above they are sprinkled with earth in a layer of 1-1.5 cm.
Spring shoots with the appearance of real leaves dive into the beds and take care of young plants as usual. They must go through all stages of development, except for the setting of new seeds in the inflorescences. So young phloxes from birth will adapt to the microclimate of the site.
What are paniculate phlox
Paniculate phlox is one of the most beautiful plant species.A characteristic feature of the varieties of the group are strong strong stems, which woody by autumn. They grow straight and form a well-shaped bush. Most varieties have an average height of 70-100 cm, although there are also compact species from 35 cm in height. Phloxes feel good both in the sun and in partial shade. Moreover, the height of the bush in most species of paniculate phlox directly depends on the light intensity.
In the sun, the plants will be lower and the buds will be smaller. But if you shade the bushes for a couple of hours on a hot afternoon, they will be higher. Some varieties of paniculate phlox grow up to 1.5 m in height. The fibrous root system tolerates wintering well in the open field, but the aboveground part dies off. Every year, the rhizome grows not only in width. It also rises slightly above the soil level.
Such phlox bloom for a long time, from the beginning of summer to the first autumn frosts. The color of the flowers can be either one-color or two-color. It is noteworthy that they are not revealed immediately. The maximum disclosure of the inflorescence begins from the second week of flowering.
Phlox lovers can get acquainted with different varieties in private gardens of flower growers-collectors of these plants. One of such treasured places is the garden of Lyudmila Fedotova, whose phloxes amaze with their diversity. Most of them are paniculate species.
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Phlox mulching
It is useful to mulch phlox for the winter. In central Russia, with a snow cover height of 50-60 cm, phloxes tolerate frosts well down to -20 ... -25 ° С. However, in very harsh and little snowy winters, plants can freeze out, especially foreign varieties.
In addition, every year the bush grows more and more. Together with it, its root system grows, and this happens in a rather peculiar way. A stem grows from the peephole and first stretches horizontally underground, then bends sharply and comes out to the surface. Under the ground, a knee is formed, which later becomes woody. Young roots begin to grow from it, and in the fall, new growth buds are laid on the same knee above the roots.
Thus, each year the rhizome grows in length by 1-3 cm and at the same time grows higher and higher. Finally, it begins to bulge out of the ground. Plants with such protruding rhizomes can die in winter, and shoots from buds that are too close to the surface or on old parts of the rhizome develop weak. The bush of the plant matures, matures, then begins to age.
The lignified parts of the rhizome in the center of the bush die off, simultaneously causing decay and death of the roots. In the end, the bush breaks up into separate parts, and the soil is depleted, which, in turn, leads to thickening of the plants, a decrease in flowering. To delay the aging process and protect the bushes from freezing in winter, it is advisable to mulch phlox annually.
Views
Varieties with white flowers:
- "Blue Ice" - a variety with white and pink flowers;
- "Europe" - white inflorescences have pink eyes;
- "Fujijama" - forms white inflorescences, collected in long inflorescences;
- "Graf Zeppelin" - white inflorescences with a red eye;
- "Mia Ruys" is a low variety with pure white flowers;
- "Mother of Pearl" - white inflorescences have a pink tint;
- "Pax" - it blooms white;
- "Rembrandt" - creates large white inflorescences;
- White Admiral is a tall variety with white flowers.
Varieties with red and pink flowers:
- Balmoral is a strong growing variety with pale pink flowers;
- Brigadier - pink-orange flowers;
- "Bright Eyes" - pale pink inflorescences have darker eyes;
- "Cecil Hanbury" - one of the undersized varieties, orange inflorescences with red eyes;
- "Flamingo" - pink inflorescences with red eyes;
- "Landhochzeit" - one of the highest varieties, pink-purple inflorescences;
- "Mies Copijn" - blooms in bright pink;
- "Prince of Orange" - pink inflorescences with an orange tint;
- "Rijnstroom" - forms intense pink inflorescences with bright large eyes;
- "San Antonio" - it blooms in red;
- "Sandringham" - pale inflorescences with darker eyes;
- "Starfire" - dark red flowers;
- "Tenor" - purple flowers;
- "Windsor" - has pink-red flowers with a burgundy center.
Varieties with purple and blue flowers:
- "Aida" - undersized variety, purple flowers with a purple eye;
- "Amethyst" is a tall perennial plant with purple flowers;
- "Blue Boy" - characterized by strong and intense growth, blue-violet flowers;
- "Blue Paradise" is a low variety, blooming in blue;
- Border Gem - showy blue-violet flowers;
- "Dusterlohe" is a tall variety with deep purple flowers;
- "Eventide" - flowers have a bright, blue-violet color;
- Harlequin is a strong growing variety with purple flowers and colorful leaves;
- "Le Mahdi" - purple flowers turn pale in hot weather;
- "Norah Leigh" - has bright flowers and colorful leaves;
- "Prospero" is a tall variety with bright purple flowers;
- "Skylight" - purple flowers with dark eyes.
Planting chionodox in the open field
What time to plant
It is recommended to plant chionodox bulbs in open ground in the first autumn weeks after the formation of root ridges on their bottoms ends. For planting, you can choose both a well-lit area and one in a little shade. If you plant the bulbs in those places where the snow begins to melt first, then such chionodoxes will be distinguished by early flowering. If the flowers grow in a shaded area, then they will bloom later, growing in a well-lit place, but their flowering will be longer.
For planting such flowers, areas located under shrubs and trees are suitable. The fact is that during the flowering of this plant, there is no foliage on the shrubs and trees, which is able to absorb the sunlight necessary for chionodoxes for normal growth and flowering. It is recommended to grow these plants in the garden next to such flower crops as: primroses, hellebores, hyacinths, crocuses, pushkinia, white flowers, adonis and dwarf irises.
Landing rules
A suitable soil should be loose, nutritious, moderately moist, and slightly alkaline or neutral. These flowers respond extremely positively to the presence of a small amount of forest land in the soil, which contains fragments of tree bark and rotted foliage.
This flower should be planted in open soil in the same way as other bulbous crops. The planting depth depends on the size of the planting material, as well as the distance between the bulbs. Large bulbs must be buried to a depth of about 60–80 mm, while keeping a distance of 8–10 centimeters in the row between them. Not very large bulbs are planted to a depth of 40-60 mm, and the distance between them should be equal to 60-80 mm.
