Gelenium

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

Helenium (lat. Helenium) - flower culture; perennial rhizome plant of the Asteraceae family, or Asteraceae. Gelenium is home to North and Central America. Currently, 32 species are known. In culture, only five species are more common.

Characteristics of culture

Gelenium is a herbaceous plant with woody, strong and straight stems, covered with leaves along the entire height. They can reach a height of 1-1.5 m. The leaves are solid, dense, green or bluish-green, oblong-lanceolate, up to 20 cm long. The flowers are medium or large, can be yellow, orange, red or brown, have a bright - pronounced honey aroma that attracts bees. Flowering is long, from July to the first frost. Almost all types of crops bear fruit, for example, Hupa helenium and spring helenium.

Growing conditions

Gelenium is a light-loving culture, it prefers areas that are well lit throughout the day, protected from cold and gusty winds. Some varieties of helenium develop normally in shaded areas. The plant is demanding to soil conditions, prefers loose, moderately moist, fertile soils with a neutral pH reaction. Most varieties of helenium are thermophilic, they can hardly tolerate snowless and frosty winters without shelter. The most thermophilic species is helenium Bigelow.

Reproduction and planting

Geleniums are propagated by seeds and dividing the bush. Sowing seeds is carried out either in the fall under a shelter, or in early spring in seedling boxes. When sowing in spring, before the emergence of shoots, the boxes are kept under a film shelter at a temperature of 18-22 C. The picking of seedlings is carried out in the phase of two true leaves, and planting in open ground - at the end of May - beginning of July. The distance between plants should be 30-35 cm. Geleniums will bloom only next summer.

It is advisable to divide the bushes in the fall, the exception is hybrid helenium and autumn helenium, these species are divided in May. The bushes are easily divided; when they are dug, they immediately disintegrate into separate sockets. The distance between the cuttings should be 80-100 cm. Rarely, gardeners propagate the culture with stem cuttings, which are cut into the stems during the active guest period. Cuttings are rooted in mini-greenhouses, after which they are transplanted to a permanent place.

Care

Gelenium is a moisture-loving plant, has a negative attitude to drought, needs regular and abundant watering, especially in hot weather. Geleniums respond well to the introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers, two or three dressings per season are quite enough. Once every 3-4 years, the plants are transplanted, this is an important procedure for the culture, since the bushes age quickly. For the winter, geleniums are cut 10-12 cm above the surface of the earth and mulched with peat, moss or sawdust.

Application

Geleniums are flowering plants that fit perfectly into the landscape design of gardens, made in a wide variety of stylistic directions. Low-growing forms look great in rock gardens and borders, tall ones are often used as tapeworms, and are also grown in country-style flower beds.

A distinctive feature of heleniums is the fact that the plants do well in thickened plantings. They are in harmony with perennial asters, cornflowers, chamomiles, goldenrod, larkspur, phlox, monarda, veronica, sage, verbena and other plants. Geleniums look great in fresh bouquets.