Physostegia

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

Physostegia (Latin Physostegia) - a flowering perennial from the Yasnotkovye family.

Description

Physostegia is a fairly tall erect perennial - its height can reach one hundred and twenty centimeters. Long and densely branching rhizomes of this plant allow it to quickly form luxurious thickets. And the light green leaves of physostegia can be both lanceolate and oblong.

Physostegia flowers gather in incredibly attractive spike-shaped inflorescences, and their color is most often white, however, sometimes purple, lilac or pink flowers are also found. As a rule, physostegia pleases with its flowering in July and August.

The genus of physostegy is not numerous - it has only three types.

Where grows

Physostegy came to us from North America, where it grows very successfully in nature to this day.

Usage

Physostegia will look very cool both in prefabricated flower beds and in the form of separate spots under the canopy of all kinds of trees that do not grow too often - in the latter case, it allows you to create luxurious gardens in a natural style. And so that this beauty does not begin to oppress the rest of the vegetation, from time to time its excessive growth should be limited. Physostegia virgin is especially popular in decorative floriculture.

Physostegia planted near ponds also looks extremely attractive, in addition, it looks great among plants with pubescent silvery leaves, as well as among creeping low-growing perennials and among cereals. And the best partner plants for this beauty will be Tradescantia, phlox, geranium, meadowsweet and some other medium-sized perennials.

Growing and caring

Physostegia will grow best in sunny areas or in light shade on fairly loose and moist soils enriched with various nutrients.

Physostegia requires abundant watering (especially in the spring and summer seasons) and systematic feeding - only in this case it will feel great and fully grow and develop. Once every fifteen to twenty days, it is recommended to add complex mineral fertilizers to the water used for irrigation at the rate of ten to twenty grams of fertilizer for each bucket of water.

Dried and damaged parts of plants, as well as peduncles with inflorescences that have already bloomed, must be removed in a timely manner, weak shoots of physostegia must be tied up during the growing season, and too large bushes are not forbidden to even be pruned. And with the onset of autumn, beautiful plants are cut and reliably covered with pre-prepared spruce branches for the winter. However, physostegia is a fairly winter-hardy plant, and it is also very resistant to too high temperatures.

Reproduction of physostegia can be carried out both by seeds (they are usually sown in spring), and by cuttings or autumn or spring division of bushes. Cuttings are usually done in early spring, as soon as the shoots have reached five to eight centimeters in height. And when planting young plants, it is necessary to maintain a distance of twenty to thirty centimeters.

Sometimes physostegia can face such an unpleasant ailment as rotting of the root collar - in order to avoid such a nuisance, it is necessary to use only uninfected soil for planting a plant, and also periodically carry out appropriate treatments with fungicides. In addition, occasionally, rust can also affect physostegia - in this case, they also resort to fungicide treatments.