2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Scaevola - beautifully flowering light-loving and moisture-loving perennial from the Gudenievye family.
Description
Scovola is a stunted perennial of the ampelous type. Among the representatives of this genus, there are also semi-shrubs or shrubs, and small trees or evergreen perennial grasses.
The fan-shaped flowers of this amazing plant are very reminiscent in their shape of an open left palm.
In total, the genus Scovola has about a hundred species.
Where grows
Scovola came to us from distant Australia and from the picturesque Pacific islands. Many varieties of this beautiful plant can be seen on the rocky or sandy seashores of the Pacific atolls or Australia.
Usage
In central Russia, scovola is rather actively grown as a flowering summer plant - several of its varieties are used in ornamental gardening at once. By the way, in Russia and in Europe, this plant appeared relatively recently - in the nineties of the twentieth century, however, the popularity of Scovola very quickly gained momentum. If grown outdoors, it will begin to spread very quickly further, which means that Scovola is, in fact, an excellent ground cover plant, ideal for decorating flower beds and garden paths.
Scovola will look especially impressive in the company of bright yellow or red flowers - it goes well with yellow-flowered chrysanthemum Euryopsis, as well as with zonal red geraniums.
Growing and caring
It is best to plant scovola in sunny areas with moist garden soils - this beauty does not tolerate drying out of the soil. In this case, the soils should be sufficiently loose and well fertilized. As a rule, scovola is planted on the street approximately in the second half of May.
Scovola is a fairly easy plant to care for. And the fading flowers of this plant also do not need to be removed - as they fade, they will fall off on their own. Scovola should be watered regularly, however, waterlogging should not be allowed in any case. As for the humidity of the air, it must be high enough. Also, this plant will be very grateful for monthly feeding - for them it is recommended to use low-concentrated fertilizer solutions, ideally with a predominance of compost. You can feed scovola with complex mineral fertilizers - they pamper the plant twice a month in spring and summer. And in order to make the flowering of scovola longer and more abundant, from time to time it is necessary to pinch its tops, as well as timely remove excessively stretched or weakened stems.
On the street, in the middle zone, scovola will not be able to winter, but it hibernates perfectly at a temperature of about ten degrees in a greenhouse environment.
Scovola is propagated by cuttings taken from mother plants - these cuttings are planted in pots from February to March. And after three months, young plants begin to bloom! It is quite possible to propagate scovola in the fall, but in this case, young plants should be kept in fairly cool and bright rooms, ideally in greenhouses. Seed reproduction of this plant is not excluded, however, it can be very difficult to get its seeds. If, nevertheless, you were lucky enough to acquire them, then they are usually sown under a film, and after some time they dive into individual pots. You can take them out into the open air only after it gets noticeably warmer outside.
