2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
A drought-resistant herb that blooms profusely for two months. Shrub species in areas with warm winters bloom all winter. Relatively unpretentious cold-resistant plant
Representative of the Cruciferous family
Cruciferous or Cabbage is best known for all the well-known and beloved vegetables, among which the white cabbage occupies a regal position. But the family did not bypass its attention and ornamental plants, among which our hero of many names: Erysimum, or Zheltofiol, or Zheltushnik.
Nature endowed the flowers of the plant with a color from yellow to bright orange, and the breeders did a little work and expanded the palette, adding pink, purple, red, brown, dark burgundy tones. There is a species native to Algeria and Morocco with white flowers.
Flowers that adorn the ground from April to June (for example, in England, flowering begins in April, and in colder regions in May), as a rule, they have a persistent aroma that attracts bees to the garden.
Although Erysimum belongs to biennial or perennial plants, it is often grown in culture as an annual so that fungi and bacteria that love to surround the plant with their attention do not have time to take root in the soil. Therefore, after flowering, the plant is removed.
Description
Most cultivated species have erect stems covered with dirty white hairs. Typically, the stems like to branch out, creating compact, lush bushes.
Leaves of different species may differ in shape, but more often these are lower linear leaves and narrow sessile leaves on the stem.
Unpretentious 4-petal flowers, similar to small crosses, form numerous inflorescences-brushes, abundantly covering the bushes, forming a bright colored carpet. Flowers of many species have a pleasant aroma.
Numerous seeds, located inside the hairy pods, contain poisonous glycosides, and therefore require special attention.
Growing
The jaundice loves sunny places, and the soil is dry with good drainage. Although some species like moist soil, they do not have stagnant water that provokes fungal diseases.
The plant does not make excessive demands on soil fertility, but it gives more abundant and bright flowering on loose and fertilized soils without fanaticism with neutral acidity. Especially do not get carried away with nitrogen fertilizing and waterlogging of the soil. Watering is carried out at the root, protecting foliage from drops.
Most species of Erysimum are cold-resistant, therefore, in areas with moderate winter temperatures, they winter under light shelter. Or without any shelter. This is when the plant has been used for many years.
Propagated by sowing seeds, either directly into open ground, or through seedlings in cold areas.
Use in the garden
Medium-sized bushes will be an excellent border for garden paths, and will also decorate any type of flower garden with their bright fragrant inflorescences.
Early flowering works well with other early flowering ornamental plants. A good background will be Zheltushnik for a bed of bright tulips and pale blue forget-me-nots.
Smaller plants will perfectly take root on an alpine slide or in a rocky garden.
Erysimum "Bowles Malva"
In areas with warm winters or as a houseplant, an evergreen shrub Erysimum is grown with beautiful gray-green leaves and purple inflorescences of fragrant flowers that bloom profusely for a long period, sometimes all winter months. The height of the shrub reaches 60-70 cm.
In the middle of summer, the shrub is subjected to drastic pruning, leaving 15 cm branches to maintain the compactness of the shrub and stimulate autumn flowering.
This type of Erysimum loves to grow in an open place in the sun and is drought tolerant.
