Hydrangea Sargent

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

Hydrangea Sargent (lat. Hydrangea aspera sargentiana) - ornamental shrub; species of the genus Hortensia of the Hortensia family. Homeland is China. Differs in abundant flowering and large inflorescences that open at the end of summer. It is widely used in ornamental gardening. Tall appearance.

Characteristics of culture

Hydrangea Sargent is a flowering deciduous shrub up to 4 m high with a vertical crown and a low-branched wide-spread root system. Branches are thick, hard, dark, reddish in color, covered with short fleshy villi. Leaves are dark green, large, opposite, oblong-ovate, serrate along the edge, pointed at the ends, pubescent with sparse whitish hairs from the inside, rough to the touch, sitting on long petioles, up to 27 cm long.

Sterile flowers are white, fertile - pale lilac, collected in flat umbellate inflorescences up to 20 cm in diameter. Fruits are inconspicuous capsules. Hydrangea Sargent blooms in mid - late July, the fruits ripen in October. Fruits ripen extremely rarely, only in regions with warm autumn. The species under consideration is propagated vegetatively, the seed method is difficult. Hydrangea Sargent is not hardy enough, withstands frosts down to -23C. It needs shelter for the winter, without shelter, the above-ground part is very freezing, but with the onset of stable heat it quickly recovers.

Growing conditions

Hydrangea Sargent is an adherent of light, loamy, water and air permeable, well-moistened, slightly acidic or acidic soils. Will not tolerate dry, infertile, compacted, heavy and clay soils. Cultivation on alkaline soils with acidification is not prohibited. You can acidify the soil with needles, sawdust and tree bark, which can be collected from the nearby forest. The location is preferably semi-shaded, as for other members of the genus. It is not recommended to plant plants in open sunny areas, otherwise the leaves may get burned.

Reproduction

As mentioned, most often the Sargent hydrangea is propagated vegetatively, namely by layering and cuttings. The first method is the simplest. Both methods give 100% results even without the use of growth stimulants. Cuttings are harvested from strong shoots cut during spring pruning. Each stalk should contain 4-5 buds. Pre-cuttings are treated with a weak solution of "Kornevin", this procedure will speed up the rooting process. Planting cuttings in a nutritious and moist substrate is carried out to the depth of two buds. For the first time, planting is shaded and systematically moisturized.

It is not forbidden to carry out summer cuttings, however, it rarely gives positive results. So, in the middle lane, summer cuttings are cut in the second decade of June (not earlier and not later). Cuttings are cut from healthy shoots located at the bottom of the bush. They should not have flower buds. The optimum length of the cuttings is 7-10 cm. The lower leaves are removed from the cuttings, the heel, along which the cut passed, is powdered with a growth stimulator "Kornevin". Then the cuttings are planted in the substrate for rooting and shaded. As a rule, summer cuttings take root in a month. But for this it is important to ensure regular watering and ventilation.

For the winter, young material is covered with spruce branches, the same operation is repeated from year to year, especially if Sargent's hydrangea is grown in regions with cold winters. Plants obtained by cuttings bloom for 2-3 years. The number of inflorescences formed depends on the age of the hydrangea. So, by the age of five, the plants form about 30 inflorescences, by the age of 10 - about 200 or a little more. Reproduction of culture by layering is no less effective than cuttings. To do this, the lower shoots are laid in the grooves, pinned, covered with fertile soil, gently pulled out the upper tip and placed at an angle of 45 degrees. For successful and fast rooting of cuttings, it is important to ensure good and abundant watering.