Kerria

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

Kerria (lat. Kerria) Is a beautiful deciduous shrub that is a member of the Rose family. Europeans often call it the Japanese Easter rose.

Description

Kerria is a deciduous, fast-growing and highly decorative shrub, endowed with tilting thin twigs, neat leaves and amazingly beautiful sunny yellow flowers. The height of the colorful bushes usually ranges from one to three meters, and their greenish-purple twigs form magnificent conical crowns.

Kerria leaves and flowers can boast of an extraordinary decorative effect. The alternate and elongated-pointed lanceolate leaves reach a length of four to ten centimeters and are equipped with double notches. Their upper parts are always smooth, and the lower ones are pubescent. The length of the naked petioles is from five to fifteen millimeters. In the summer, the leaves are always light green, and closer to autumn they gradually acquire a spectacular bright yellow color.

The diameter of the magnificent kerria flowers reaches five centimeters. As a rule, they are solitary, in most cases double and endowed with wide-elliptical bright yellow petals. They also boast an incredibly long-lasting dandelion scent. The average duration of the flowering of a kerria is twenty-five days, however, sometimes this period can stretch up to fifty days, and sometimes kerria pleases with repeated autumn flowering.

Kerria fruits have the appearance of wrinkled prefabricated drupes of brownish-black shades, which can have both hemispherical and obovate shape. And their length can be up to 4.8 mm. It is noteworthy that fruits are not formed in the middle lane.

This plant got its name in memory of the gardener William Kerr, who was very fond of oriental plants and collected them. In the early nineteenth century, he went on an expedition to China for new and unknown vegetation, and there Kerr spent eight long years. It is worth noting that during this time, the researcher managed to discover a great many new amazing plants, but only the beautiful kerria received his name.

The only representative of this genus is the Japanese kerria, which has several different varieties and forms.

Where grows

Kerria came to us from the mountainous slopes and forests of Japan and southwestern China. In the wild, it can most often be seen in thickets growing on mountain slopes.

Growing and caring

Kerria will feel best in well-lit areas, reliably sheltered from too cold winds. However, in partial shade, she is also very comfortable, but if the shading is too strong, the kerria will bloom very modestly. And with constant exposure to the open sun, the flowers gradually begin to "fade", that is, the tips of their petals turn pale and become whitish.

Soils intended for growing kerrias should be moist and fertile, ideally loamy.

Kerria should be planted in early spring, before buds begin to appear on it. Autumn planting is not excluded - in this case it is necessary to cope with this task a month and a half before the onset of cold weather.

Kerria is very hygrophilous, but it does not tolerate excessive moisture, that is, watering should be abundant, but without moisture stagnation. It is especially important to regularly water this plant in the heat and during the flowering period. Also, this beauty responds well to various dressings, and systematic pruning is an indispensable condition for maintaining its decorative effect.

Since kerria cannot boast of good winter hardiness, it must be covered in winter. Despite the fact that the frozen shoots are endowed with the ability to quickly recover, plants attacked by frost subsequently bloom much worse.