2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Ceanothus (lat. Ceanothus) - a genus of flowering ornamental shrubs of the Buckthorn family. Another name is krasnokornnik (this is due to the content of red dye in the roots of plants). The genus includes about 80 species, distributed mainly in North America.
Characteristics of culture
Tseanotus is a deciduous or evergreen shrub, less often a tree. Leaves are simple, ovate or elliptical, serrated along the edge or petiolate, opposite or alternate, equipped with drooping stipules. The flowers are small, bisexual, white, blue, pink or red; lush paniculate inflorescences are collected. The corolla is five-membered. The fruit is rounded, dry; when ripe, it splits into three lobes. In Russia, the most popular species is the American tseanotus, in America it is called the Californian lilac. Tseanotus American is grown in gardens and parks, as well as in personal backyards. It is distinguished by its increased cold-resistant properties in comparison with its congeners.
Growing conditions
Tseanotus is a delicate and capricious plant, for normal development it is recommended to grow it in sunny areas protected from cold piercing winds. Soils are desirable well-drained, fertile, moderately moist. You can grow a crop in close proximity to the walls of houses and high fences, but with the condition that the shadow is only on one side.
Reproduction and planting
Zeanotus is propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and dividing the bush. Seeds are sown immediately after collection under a shelter in the form of peat or sawdust. When sowing in spring, seeds require preliminary stratification at a temperature of 1-5C for 3 months. Before stratification, the seeds must be treated with a gibberelin solution, then dried and soaked for a few minutes with a 3% thiour solution. The seeding depth is 0.5-0.7 cm. The first shoots appear in 65-70 days. With proper processing, up to 70% of the seeds are included.
Crop cuttings are carried out in the summer. Cuttings are rooted in a light and loose substrate under plastic wrap or a hood. For the winter, the rooted cuttings are transplanted into pots and grown indoors, and in the spring the formed plants are planted in a permanent place. The culture is propagated by layering in spring or summer, the lower shoots are bent to the soil surface, pinned and covered. It is important to provide the layers with regular moisture. The transplant of rooted cuttings is carried out next spring.
Care
Caring for tseanotus consists in systematic and abundant watering, mulching the near-stem zone for the winter to preserve the root system and sanitary pruning aimed at removing dry, frost-bitten and thickening branches. Without shelter, plants can freeze completely.
Application
Plants are used in garden design: as tapeworms against the background of shrub groups and mixborders. Inflorescences of white, blue, blue and pink tseanotus look harmoniously against the background of dense greenery. Zeanotus are suitable for growing in containers.
A yellow-brown dye is produced from the aboveground part of the plants, and green from the flowers. The resulting dyes are used for dyeing fabrics. Some types of zeanotus are used to prepare medicines that help with ailments, skin diseases, inflammation of the respiratory tract and other diseases. Zeanotus velvety leaves are brewed as a refreshing and aromatic drink.
