Graceful Iberis Petals

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

Abundant and long flowering in the spring and summer, the persistence of a delicate aroma in collaboration with unpretentiousness and ease of caring for the plant attract the attention of flower garden lovers to the Iberis plant. Although warm Spain is considered the homeland of Iberis, the plant thrives on Ukrainian and Russian lands, reaching all the way to the Leningrad region. True, in cold winters, Iberis needs a protective shelter

Originally from Iberia

A beautiful and fragrant plant has many names: Daisy, Stennik, Pepper, but it is more correct to call it Iberis. In this name, Mankind has preserved the memory of the Iberian people, who five millennia ago settled on the eastern coast of the European peninsula, which is now called the Iberian Peninsula. There was a time when this peninsula was called "Iberian", while Ancient Rome had not yet conquered half of the world, destroying many languages and cultures.

Among the small number of plant species (there are about 40 of them) there are perennial and annual, evergreen thermophilic and cold-resistant, herbaceous and semi-shrubs.

Popular varieties

Iberis, depending on the species, can have a different leaf shape. Its umbrella-shaped, less often columnar, inflorescences are collected from small flowers of white, lilac, carmine flowers and adorn dense bushes in the spring-summer period for two months, exuding a persistent pleasant aroma.

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Iberis bitter (Iberis amara) is a low-growing (height 20-30 cm) semi-creeping or erect annual. Above the oblong-lanceolate leaves, there are straight peduncles branched in the upper part. Dense clusters of inflorescences are collected from small flowers of white or red-purple color.

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Iberis umbrella (Iberis umbellata) - low and medium-sized (height 30-50 cm) annual. The leaves of the plant are lanceolate. Erect peduncles branched in the upper part adorn the world with flowers of different shades, among which there are pink, red, lilac, purple. Flowering begins in May. To prolong the charm for the whole summer, you just need to periodically sow seeds to the already growing curtain.

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Iberis feathery (Iberis pinnata) - undersized (height 15-20 cm) annual. Decorated with graceful feathery leaves. In summer, it gives people fragrant inflorescences of white flowers.

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Iberis rocky (Iberis saxatillis) - undersized (height 10-15 cm) creeping dwarf shrub. Its dense linear leaves cover the stems with a thick carpet, turning the curtain into one whole. Umbrella-shaped dense inflorescences of white or pink flowers complete the beauty of a natural rug.

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Iberis evergreen (Iberis sempervirens) - undersized (height 25-30 cm) semi-spherical semi-shrub. Shiny dark green leaves are oblong and narrow. In May-June, umbellate inflorescences, collected from white small flowers, bloom. Garden forms are popular, characterized by a lower bush height and double flowers.

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Iberis of Gibraltar (Iberis gibraltarica) - sprawling, undersized (height 30 cm), evergreen, perennial dwarf shrub. It has oblong leaves and inflorescence scutes, collected from small purple flowers, delighting with their fragrance in spring.

Growing

Coming from sunny places, Iberises like to be located in open areas. Although they have taken root in the Russian open spaces, they need shelter in cold winters.

Their undemandingness to soils still prefers cultivated loams with good water permeability, since stagnant water is fatal for them. The drought resistance of the plant saves the gardener from frequent watering.

In spring and late summer, perennial plant species need to be fed with full mineral fertilizer.

Caring for perennials is to remove faded inflorescences. To extend the flowering period of annuals until autumn frosts, periodic oversowing of seeds is used, as well as, after removing faded inflorescences, water the flower garden and make mineral dressing at the rate of 35-40 grams of fertilizer per square centimeter of the flower garden.

Propagated by sowing seeds in April directly into open ground. Iberis evergreen is propagated by cuttings, cutting off fresh shoots after flowering. They are rooted in greenhouses or on ridges, covered with a film, planted in a permanent place in the spring of next year.

Usage

The use of Iberis in a summer cottage is dictated by the height of its bushes, long and abundant flowering, and a delicate aroma.

It is actively used to create flower bed borders, in ridges, rocky gardens, rose gardens and mixborders. Iberis is good as a pot culture for decorating balconies and terraces. It is suitable for cutting and is especially in demand for fragrant and spectacular bridal bouquets.