2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Tiarella (lat. Tiarella) - shade-tolerant perennial from the Stonefrag family. The second name of this plant is thiarella.
Description
The tiarka is a very spectacular creeping perennial, endowed with the ability to form surprisingly dense carpets from its evergreen openwork leaves. Typically, the average length of tiarka annual shoots ranges from twenty-five to thirty centimeters. And its root system, although it is considered weak, but at the same time it grows very quickly!
The leaves of the tiarka can be both complex and simple - most often they are three to five-leafed. As for their color, it is either light green with a delicate pale pink center, or dark green with a rich purple center. The length of tiarka leaves reaches an average of fifteen centimeters, and their width often reaches ten centimeters. And all these leaves are attached to fairly strong petioles a couple of centimeters long. By the way, with the onset of frost, the tiarka foliage turns into rich bronze-red shades!
With the onset of May, numerous brushes of wondrous flowers of light cream, pink or white begin to rise directly above the leaves (their color is largely determined by the variety). All these flowers are formed at the very tops of the shoots. As a rule, they are either conical or tubular, and invariably gather in small fluffy inflorescences. And the tiarka begins to bloom either in May or in June (this also depends on the variety), while the duration of its flowering period ranges from thirty to thirty-five days.
After the end of flowering, fruits are formed on the plants - these fruits look like oblong bolls, generously filled inside with strong oval seeds.
By the way, the name of the genus is due to the shape of the inflorescences of the plant, which are very similar in appearance to a headdress called "tiara"!
Where grows
In the wild, tiarka grows mainly in the North American coniferous forests.
Usage
Undemanding and unpretentious care make tiarka one of the best plants for landscaping shady corners of the garden. Thanks to its ability to bloom for a long time and profusely under tree canopy, this beauty will become a real find in shady gardens. And the easily rooted and rapidly growing shoots of tiarka make it very successful to grow it also as a lawn plant. In addition, this plant may well become an excellent background for specimen plantings of some species of ferns - shititnik, kochadzhik, osmunda, and so on. Do not underestimate the tiarka's ability not to lose its decorative effect throughout the season - after flowering, it also looks very impressive!
Growing and caring
Tiarka can grow well even on the poorest soils, and at the same time it practically does not need additional feeding! This plant needs moderate humidification, and for the winter, the tiarka can be safely covered with absolutely any non-woven material.
About once every three or four years, the tiarka must be transplanted - this need is due not only to the gradual growth of the plant's bushes, but also to the natural exposure of its bases.
Reproduction of tiarkas is carried out either by division or by rosettes before flowering. When planting young plants, a distance of fifteen to twenty centimeters should be maintained between them. Also, tiarka is able to reproduce very well by self-sowing, however, in this case, this beauty often turns into a weed.
