Cuff

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

Cuff (lat. Alchemilla) - flower culture; perennial plant of the Rosaceae family, or Pink. In nature, the cuff is found in North America, Greenland, East Africa and Eurasia, except for the tropical regions of Asia and the Far North. There are currently about 300 species.

Characteristics of culture

The cuff is a herbaceous bushy upright plant 15-60 cm high. The root system is superficial, powerful. Leaves are finger-dissected or finger-lobed, pubescent over the entire surface, rounded, located on petioles, are highly decorative. The flowers are small, inconspicuous, collected in paniculate inflorescences, can be yellow, greenish-green or white. The cuff blooms profusely, from June to July. The culture is fast-growing, capable of covering large territories in a short time.

Growing conditions

The cuff prefers well-lit areas protected from cold winds. Some forms of culture grow freely in partial shade. They develop poorly under the crowns of shrubs and trees. Soils for growing cuff are desirable slightly acidic or neutral, fertile, loamy. Poor soil is not suitable for a plant.

Reproduction and planting

The cuffs are propagated by seeds, cuttings and dividing the bush. The seed method is the simplest and most effective. Sowing is carried out in late autumn under a shelter. The seedlings that appear next spring are transplanted to a permanent place.

When growing cuffs at home, seeds are sown in special boxes and kept in a cool room until shoots appear. With the appearance of 2-3 true leaves on the seedlings, the plants are transplanted into separate containers. It is important to provide good drainage to the cuffs, the bottom of the pots can be covered with a thick layer of pebbles.

Often the cuffs are propagated by dividing the bush. Overgrown healthy bushes are carefully divided into several parts and planted in soil pre-fertilized with peat. Well-rooted delenki are transplanted to a permanent place. The distance between plants should be 25-30 cm.

Care

The cuff is an unpretentious culture, it needs rare but abundant watering, especially during a prolonged drought. Also, care for the cuff consists in weeding, feeding and loosening the soil in the near-stem zone. Many gardeners say that the plant does not require fertilizing, but in this case, when planting, the soil must be thoroughly fertilized with compost or humus.

Due to the fact that the cuffs grow very quickly, their growth should be limited. After the flowering of the culture, the inflorescences are cut off, this procedure allows the plant to bloom again. For the winter, the cuffs are mulched with peat or humus. It is believed that a plant in one place can grow for more than ten years, while not losing its attractiveness.

Application

Despite the fact that the cuff is not a flowering crop, it is very decorative. The culture looks most impressive in the early morning: in the center of each leaf, large drops of dew shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. Often gardeners use the plant in group and mixed plantings, often grown in rocky gardens - rockeries and rock gardens, as well as in rabatkas and mixborders. The plant goes well with geykhera, sedum, thyme, chickweed, delphiniums, peonies, cornflowers, carnations, hosts and roses.

Often, cuffs are used when drawing up live and dry bouquets. Fragrant and airy inflorescences of the cuffs add volume to absolutely any bouquet. For drying, the plants are tied in bunches and suspended with inflorescences down in a shaded, well-ventilated area. Cuffs are also used in folk medicine. All parts of the plant contain a huge amount of vitamins, trace elements and tannins.