2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Sesleria (lat. Sesleria) - winter-hardy light-loving perennial from the Cereals family. This plant got its name in honor of Leonardo Sesler, a Venetian plant collector and doctor who lived in the eighteenth century and owned his own botanical garden.
Description
Sesleria is a dense perennial sod grass with narrow decorative leaves. The leaflets of this plant can be either folded lengthwise or flat. And its mostly two- or three-flowered spikelets gather in rather dense panicles, very similar in appearance to small heads or ears. The length of the leaves often reaches fifteen centimeters, and the length of the flower stalks of the sesleria can even reach thirty centimeters. Sesleria usually blooms from April to May, and the flowers of this beauty are painted in pleasant light green tones.
In total, the genus Sesleria has about forty species, and each of these species is interesting and attractive in its own way.
Where grows
Sesleria grows mainly in Western Asia and Europe. It also grows in Russia, concentrating mainly in the Caucasus and in the European part.
Usage
Sesleria is actively grown as an ornamental plant, in addition, it has proven itself well as part of dry bouquets. Sesleria blue is especially widespread in ornamental gardening, which is an incredibly spectacular evergreen bushy cereal. From above, its leaves are covered with a very unusual bluish bloom, and from the lower sides, these leaves are always dark green. And on the stalks of this plant, majestic cylindrical spikelets rise. Such a plant will look great in mixed plantings, and in flower beds, and in rockeries, and in the most diverse corners of the garden. In addition, Sesleria is a wonderful groundcover as it tends to form luxurious and incredibly dense turfs.
Anatolian sesleria and timothy sesleria, most often found in the Caucasian alpine belt and growing on gravelly limestone slopes and rocks, are excellent grazing feed for goats and sheep.
Growing and caring
It is best to plant the sesleria in sunny areas or in light shade. And the soil, ideally, should be well-drained, sufficiently moist and characterized by the presence of calcium.
Sesleria propagates usually by dividing bushes or seeds, and none of these methods of propagation is particularly difficult.
Sesleria is practically not affected by any pests or diseases, and caring for it is very simple and pleasant - it is these qualities that make this attractive plant a welcome guest in many gardens!
