2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Spur (Latin Delphinium) - a flowering perennial from the Buttercup family. The second name is delphinium.
Description
Shpornik is a shade-tolerant light-loving perennial, the height of which can vary from half a meter to two meters. The alternately located slightly hairy leaves of this plant can be either multiple finger-dissected, or simply finger-dissected, or finger-separate.
The simple non-double flowers of a spur are made up of five colored sepals, with each upper sepal equipped with a miniature spur. And in the center of each flower there are four petal-shaped nectaries called bees or eyes. All flowers are collected in spectacular paniculate or racemose inflorescences, and their diameter ranges from three to seven centimeters. As for the flowering period, it usually falls on the period from the end of June to August.
The name "shpornik" is an outdated Russian name - this plant got it because of the special shape of the appendage-outgrowth located on the upper sepal, which is very similar in appearance to a spur. As for the name "delphinium", it is directly related to the shape of the flowers: the Greeks who did not have time to bloom were compared to the shape of the calf and the head of beautiful dolphins. And according to the second version, the name "delphinium" comes from the name of the Greek town of Delphi - in its vicinity you could always see a great variety of these luxurious flowers.
In total, the spur genus includes about four hundred of its varieties.
Where grows
Spur is very widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, or more precisely, in the temperate latitudes of this hemisphere. However, several species of burgundy have taken root well in the African highlands.
Usage
Spur is one of the most beloved and most popular garden plants, which is very much loved and respected by almost all gardeners. At the same time, hybrid varieties of this plant are characterized by the greatest distribution in culture. Especially often in modern gardens you can see the cultivated spur - this name unites every single variety and form of plants that have a hybrid origin.
Also, the flowers of the spur are quite actively used for drawing up bouquets - both spectacular live, and no less colorful dry.
It does not hurt to know that spur is a very dangerous poisonous plant that can cause depression of the central nervous system, accompanied by a simultaneous effect on the cardiovascular system and on the gastrointestinal tract. Without exception, all parts of the burgundy contain alkaloids that are responsible for the toxicity of this plant, and there are especially many of them in the roots and fruits!
Growing and caring
The spur will thrive best in bright areas that are slightly shaded during the sultry midday hours and are well protected from the wind. It is better to prefer loamy or sandy loam soils for its cultivation, not subject to stagnant moisture and enriched with various organic substances. As for the soil reaction, ideally it should be neutral.
The spur is rarely watered, but at the same time it is quite abundant, watering exclusively at the root and trying to wet the soil as deeply as possible.
As soon as the height of the stems of perennial varieties of burgundy reaches a mark of thirty centimeters, the bushes should be thinned out, leaving up to ten of the most powerful shoots in low-flowered varieties, and up to five of the strongest shoots in multi-flowered varieties. Also, in order to get full-fledged powerful inflorescences, the plants are fed three times per season.
