2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Osmaronia (lat. Osmaronia) - a monotypic genus of shrubs of the Rosaceae family, or Pink. The genus includes one single species - cherry-like osmaronia. Other names are nutallia, Indian plum, odorous shrub, and emleria. In the culture, osmaronia is very rare, in nature it grows in sequoia, broad-leaved and pine forests, as well as in the floodplains of rivers, bays and bays of North America. In European countries, they learned about osmaronia only in the middle of the 19th century.
Characteristics of culture
Osmaronia is a deciduous shrub up to 4 m high with a large number of vertically arranged branches. The bark is reddish or gray. Leaves are yellowish-green, simple, whole, alternate, obovate, sometimes slightly toothed along the edge, 7-10 cm long, located on short petioles. The flowers are small, graceful, fragrant, up to 1 cm in diameter, collected in racemose inflorescences, located on last year's shoots. The fruit is an ovoid drupe of bluish-black color, outwardly resembles a small plum. Osmaronia blooms in May, the fruits ripen in September.
Growing conditions
Osmaronia prefers well-lit areas with fertile, moist, loose and slightly acidic soils. Sandy and loamy soils are optimal. Osmaronia does not tolerate heavy clay, saline, waterlogged and swampy soils, as well as lowlands with stagnant cold air and melt water. Negatively, the culture refers to areas that are not protected from the north and east winds. Osmaronia is a relatively cold and drought tolerant shrub that easily tolerates severe winters and prolonged drought. In severe winters, shrubs can freeze out to the level of snow cover, in spring they quickly recover. Spring frosts are detrimental to culture, especially to flowers.
Reproduction and planting
Osmaronia is propagated by seeds and green cuttings. The seed method as a whole does not cause any particular difficulties, but you cannot call it easy. Seeds need preliminary stratification, which lasts 3-4 months. When sowing in autumn, the seeds of osmaronia undergo natural stratification, which greatly simplifies the work of gardeners.
The vegetative method is more effective. Cuttings are carried out in the summer, cuttings are cut from young and healthy shoots. Cuttings do not need to be treated with growth stimulants. Cuttings are planted in greenhouses or in the ground under the film. Young plants are transplanted to a permanent place with the appearance of a well-developed root system.
The planting of osmaronia seedlings is carried out in the spring, or rather, in late April - early May. The planting pit is prepared in the fall or at least a couple of weeks before the intended planting. A third of the hole is filled with fertile soil mixed with humus and mineral fertilizers, then a seedling is inserted, spreading the roots, and sprinkled with soil. After planting, the soil in the near-stem zone is abundantly watered and mulched with peat or sawdust.
Care
For the successful cultivation of osmaronia, it is important to comply with all conditions of detention, that is, lighting, wind conditions and typical soil characteristics. If you plant a culture according to all the rules, it will develop well and will not require much attention. Osmaronia needs rare watering, especially during a long absence of rain, weeding, fertilizing and loosening the near-stem zone. Plants also require sanitary pruning, which consists in removing broken, diseased, frostbitten branches. Formative pruning is not prohibited, it is necessary to maintain the decorative effect of the crown, including foliage.
Application
Osmaronia is a rare guest in Russian gardens, despite the fact that the plant looks spectacular in almost all stylistic directions of landscape design. Osmaronia fits harmoniously into group and mixed plantings, suitable for creating hedges. Use the plant and groups grown on the lawn. Osmaronia is also used in cooking, but it is extremely rare, since its fruits have a rather specific taste, so to speak, for an amateur.
