Bobovnik

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

Bobovnik (lat. Laburnum) - deciduous shrub or tree of the legume family. Other names are Golden Rain or Laburnum. Under natural conditions, the legume grows in Southern Europe and Central Asia. Today, the plant is widespread in the south and center of Europe. The legume was introduced to the territory of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

Characteristics of culture

Bobovnik is a plant characterized by spectacular flowering in the form of long flowing racemose inflorescences of golden yellow color, almost completely covering the bush. The bean leaves are light green, trifoliate, alternate, equipped with a petiole and stipules. Leaves are sessile. Buds are broadly ovate, with 2-3 outer scales.

The flowers are fragrant, moth-type, yellow, collected in leafless, drooping or erect racemes. The calyx is irregularly bell-shaped, two-lipped, up to 5 mm long, has two teeth on the upper lip and three on the lower one. The petals are free, 2-3 cm long, slightly longer than the boat and wings. The fruit is a single or polyspermous linear pod, flat, thickened at the seams and slightly winged, late opening, located on a long stalk.

The legume blooms in May-June, the flowering period is 15-20 days. The most widespread species are anagirolist bean (lat. Laburnum angyroides) and alpine bean (lat. Laburnum alpinum). There are several decorative forms of the anagirolis bean: weeping bean, oakleaf bean, golden bean (differing in the golden color of young leaves) and autumn bean (it blooms again in autumn). There are relatively winter-hardy species, but in the conditions of central Russia, they bloom irregularly. The plant is indifferent to smoke and gases, so it can be grown in city parks and alleys.

Growing conditions

Bobovnik prefers intensely lit areas with loose, well-drained, rich soils. Limed soils are not prohibited. Lowlands, swampy, acidic, saline and waterlogged soils are not suitable for growing leguminous plants.

Reproduction and planting

Leguminous plants are propagated by seeds, cuttings and layering. The seed method is simple and effective. Seeds are sown in late autumn under a shelter in the form of sawdust or peat. When sowing in spring, the seeds are subjected to preliminary stratification. In this case, seedlings appear 30-40 days after sowing. Young bean plants bloom in the third year.

Bean cuttings also do not present any particular difficulties, summer cuttings do not require preliminary preparation and are easily rooted. When propagating by layering, the lower shoots are bent to the ground, pinned and covered with soil. The next year, the rooted shoots are separated from the mother plant and transplanted to a permanent place. Hybrid varieties are also propagated by grafting.

Care

Caring for a legume is practically the same as caring for other ornamental deciduous shrubs. Due to the fact that plants have a superficial root system, weeding is carried out very carefully. Watering is required sparse, but abundant, especially during a prolonged drought. Top dressing with nitrogen fertilizers is carried out in early spring, with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers - in late autumn.

The legume also needs preventive pruning; old, dry, broken and frozen branches are removed from the plants. If the bean plant is used as a canopy, formative pruning is also done. Young plants tolerate such a procedure without problems, but adults react to it very painfully. For the winter, shrubs are covered, otherwise death cannot be avoided, to a greater extent this applies to regions with a cold climate.

Application

Bobovnik is widely used in the landscape design of parks and gardens. It is planted in small groups and singly. It is not recommended to use the culture in linear plantings, since the plants lose their decorative appearance, the abundance of flowering and the splendor of the crown.

Looks extremely harmonious against the background of the lawn. It goes well with hawthorn, wisteria, heather, colquicia, mock orange, rhododendron, scumpia and other coniferous and deciduous shrubs and dwarf trees.

Leguminous wood is distinguished by its peculiar texture, beautiful color and durability. Various musical instruments, bows, crossbows, souvenirs and sculptures are made from it. Some parts of the plant are used in folk medicine.