Bubble - A Rare Flower From The Red Book

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

The bubble came to us from the Middle Ages and has survived to our times. An interesting plant is rarely found in the gardens of amateur flower growers, but has already gained great popularity for its unpretentiousness and beauty

The bubble bottle got into my garden by accident. I didn’t even know the real name, as I didn’t know much about colors. In the market they sold her to me as a liverwort. Later it turned out that these two plants are very different from each other. Friends suggested the true name of the flower. I do not regret my purchase at all.

Biology

In the natural environment, there are 6 types of bladderworms. The most common are oriental (with green leaves and pale inflorescences) and physalis. The second copy looks much brighter and more beautiful. He then ended up in my garden.

The flower got its name from the structure of the shell in which the seeds are enclosed. When the calyx grows, it becomes like a bubble.

The stems of the physalis vialis erect, 20-30 cm high, with narrow lanceolate leaves. At the top of each shoot, many inflorescences are formed, collected in the form of an umbrella. Lilac shade funnel-shaped bells look very impressive against a background of lighter greenery. All parts of the plant are pubescent.

It forms a powerful branched root system with small thickenings, lying at a depth of 15-20 cm. Due to it, whole glades of this unusual flower are created.

Outwardly, the bushes look like a lungwort with the only difference that all parts of the bubbleworm are physalis purple.

In natural nature, the plant lives in the northern regions of Russia, Mongolia, China. Grows among stones, found in the steppe regions of Central Asia.

Prefers dry low-fertile soils with neutral acidity without flooding in the spring-autumn period. Feels better in open, sunny areas. It grows in partial shade and doesn't even complain.

Blooms in early May for 2-3 weeks, then forms seeds. At the end of June, the stem with leaves dies off, the plant goes into dormancy until next spring.

Drought-resistant and very frost-resistant. Requires no additional cover.

An unusual wintering experience

An interesting case happened in my practice. It was necessary to change the place of planting the bladder. I temporarily moved the root with a vegetative plant at the end of May to a glass of soil. I put it on the windowsill of an unheated veranda. I rarely watered in the summer.

The aerial part disappeared, I decided that the plant was dead. In the fall, his hands did not reach him to throw the earth with dry roots into the garden. All winter (the frosts were up to -35 degrees that year) this glass stood on the windowsill of the veranda.

In the spring, by mid-April, a delicate white sprout appeared from the ground. There was no limit to my surprise. It turns out that the flower survived in such extreme conditions and continued its development.

In early May, I planted this miracle in a permanent place in a flower garden, where it still grows.

Reproduction and care

The vesicle does not require special care. Spring moisture is enough for her to grow and bloom. And in summer, the plant is at rest. Therefore, it does not need watering and feeding. Only obligatory weeding is necessary so that the weeds do not drown out the cultivated shoots.

Propagated by root parts and seeds. In early spring, after the growth of the shoots, they dig out a vesicle with a lump of earth. The underground part is carefully washed, divided into pieces with 2-3 sprouts. They are seated in prepared pits, spilled with water, at a distance of 40 cm from each other. Sprinkle with soil.

In June, seeds are harvested, dried, stored in a cool place until next spring.

Seed propagation is a little more complicated. In natural nature, the vesicle produces abundant self-seeding. I never saw him in my garden.

In May, the harvested seeds are sown in the beds. Shoots appear in 2 weeks. Young seedlings dive at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other.

In the first year, they build up their vegetative mass. At the end of August, the aboveground part dies off, the plant goes into dormancy until spring.

Blooms in the second year at the end of May. The whole summer is growing. It disappears in early September for wintering. In the third year of life, it passes into the stage of an adult plant.

Physalis bubble is a rare flower that disappears in the wild and is listed in the Red Book in several regions of our country. Our task is not to let this beautiful plant disappear forever.