2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
For many years I have been growing a glue flower and I never cease to be amazed at it. Delicate, airy petals with long stamens are very reminiscent of butterflies that have sat down to rest on the inflorescences, and even frozen on its branches
In appearance, cleoma looks more like a small bush than a herbaceous plant. The spreading light green leaves in the lower layers are somewhat reminiscent of a palm tree.
The stem is strong, branched. At the end of each shoot, there is a whole "hat" of inflorescences of very different colors. More often, all shades from pink to crimson prevail, there are pure white, sometimes yellow petals. Blooms from late June to autumn from bottom to top. In this case, the stem grows, increasing the distance between the inflorescences.
The powerful root provides the plant with good stability without a tie, obtaining all the necessary nutrients and water. Drought tolerant.
Where to plant
Prefers full sun and light partial shade. Fertile soils without stagnant water, light in composition.
Cleoma grows up to 1.5 meters, therefore, it successfully replaces the hedge, covers unsightly places. Looks great both in single landings and in mixborders. Serves as a background for annuals: fragrant tobacco, lavater, zinnia.
On the stem there are small, sparse thorns and glandular hairs that secrete substances that repel pests. Because of this, the shoots are a little sticky.
Well worth in bouquets for up to 10 days. But because of the unusual, not quite floral smell, it is better to put the vases on an open terrace, veranda or large room. The smell of inflorescences attracts bees and other pollinating insects, but not all growers like it.
Reproduction
Only seed propagation is used. Sowing dates: late autumn, early spring on the street or seedlings in the house.
I adhere to the spring term in greenhouses under the film. Since autumn I have been preparing the beds, filling them with rotted manure, compost, and ash. I dig a shovel onto the bayonet. I put the arcs.
At the end of March, I stretch the covering material, warm up the soil for 2 weeks. Then I loosen it with a rake, cut furrows 1 cm deep, spill it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. I spread the seeds at a distance of 2 cm from each other. Sprinkle with soil, compact each row separately. I return the film to its place.
After 2, 5 weeks, shoots appear. As the soil dries up, I moisten the beds. Once every 15 days I feed 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water with the complex fertilizer "Kemira Lux". By the end of May, strong seedlings are ready for transplanting into flower beds.
Care
Cleoma forms very lush bushes, so in the open field it is planted according to a 40 by 40 cm scheme. Choose a sunny place protected from strong winds.
Dig a hole, spill it with a solution of a complex fertilizer. Young seedlings with a clod of earth are carefully transferred. Sprinkle with compost, compact the place around the stem.
Further care consists in rare but abundant watering in drought. Top dressing is excluded.
As the cleoma grows in the lower layers under the flowers, up to 3 cm long pods with seeds are formed. For sowing next year, they are harvested when the shutters turn brown.
In the phase of full ripeness, the pods crack, the seeds spill out onto the ground. To prevent this from happening, bags made of non-woven material are put on several bobbins, attaching them to the plant with a stapler. Then they are dried and stored until spring.
2 years ago, a bouquet of cleoma took part in a flower exhibition. Many visitors saw such an unusual composition for the first time. And looking at him, I got a poem called "Tenderness."
Beautiful pink flower, It bloomed in the morning at dawn.
Every petal is beautiful
You give tenderness to everyone in the world.
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