Gatsania

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Gazania (lat. Gazania) - a light-loving flowering plant from the Asteraceae family.

Description

Gatsania can be both an annual and a perennial. These low-growing herbaceous plants are equipped with short stems or do not have stems at all. The greyish-greenish or dark green leaves of gatsania boast an impressive density and highly variable shape - from feathery to elongated-lanceolate. The undersides of the leaves are usually woolly, and all the leaves invariably gather in luxurious basal rosettes.

Gatsania inflorescences look like extremely attractive single baskets, which can be either orange or yellow, or dark red or white, with dark spots near the bases of reed flowers. Gatsania begins to bloom in June, and its magnificent flowering lasts until the very frost. And the main distinguishing feature of the flowers of this plant is their ability to open up quickly enough in the light and close at about the same speed in the shade.

As for the name of the plant, this genus was named after an Italian priest named Theodor von Gaz, known for his translations of the works of Theophrastus and Aristotle. In total, the genus Gatsania has about forty species.

Where grows

Under natural conditions, gatsania is especially widespread in the South African expanses, mainly in the Cape region. Quite often it can be found in Mozambique. And in Australia, she perfectly naturalized on numerous roadsides and coastal dunes.

Usage

Gatsania is very popular in ornamental gardening, especially hybrid gatsania is used in it. It will look especially good in the foreground in mixborders, as well as in ridges, in curbs or in sunny rockeries. It feels no worse than gating in flower beds among other annuals - it is superbly combined with such annuals as lobelias, blue ageratums, as well as dimorphotes and arctotis. You can also grow it as a container plant - its decorative effect will be impressive in this case too!

Growing and caring

Gatsaniya should be planted in sunny areas, on nutritious, loose and light garden soils. However, it tolerates dryness or depletion of soils very well. But on heavy clay soils it is still not worth planting it. Watering this plant requires moderate, in addition, as far as possible with gating, it is necessary to remove wilting inflorescences.

In order for larger baskets to form on gating, it is recommended to feed its planting with solutions of complete mineral fertilizers containing all the trace elements necessary for this plant - depending on the initial indicators of soil fertility, such dressings are carried out with interruptions from two to six weeks.

For wintering, gating is best carried indoors, trying to provide it with a temperature in the range of eight to ten degrees. As for winter watering, during this period they should be very moderate, however, the soil should not be allowed to completely dry out. And with the onset of spring, before you start planting overwintered plants in the ground, it will not hurt to shorten their shoots by half.

Gatsania is propagated by sowing in greenhouses or in greenhouses (it is usually produced in March), and planting in the final place begins most often in May, closer to its middle. Reproduction by cuttings would be a perfectly acceptable option.

As for all kinds of pests and various ailments, gatsania is very resistant to them.