Bergamot - What Is This Plant

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Video: Bergamot - What Is This Plant

Video: Bergamot - What Is This Plant
Video: What Is Bergamot Used For? 2024, May
Bergamot - What Is This Plant
Bergamot - What Is This Plant
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Bergamot - what is this plant
Bergamot - what is this plant

The beloved by many aroma of bergamot in English tea, contrary to popular belief, is not given by spicy greens, but by the extract of essential oils from the peel of the eponymous evergreen citrus plant. Unfortunately, not every climate allows you to grow this exotic on your own backyard. But it is quite suitable for keeping as a room culture. And lovers of drinking natural seagulls with a characteristic flavor of bergamot can be advised to acquire on their site such a perennial as a monarda. Its leaves will also give the tea a subtle, citrus-like aroma. In addition, the flower has healing qualities and a striking appearance, making it a worthy element of landscape design

Bergamot citrus

True bergamot, which belongs to the Citrus genus, comes from warm countries. On the Mediterranean coasts of Greece, Spain, France, it will feel great both in winter and in summer. In our latitudes, this evergreen plant is best grown in a winter garden.

You can not be afraid to start bergamot and indoors. If in its natural habitat a tree reaches a height of about 5-7 m, then when grown in tubs, pots, the trunk rarely exceeds 2 m.

This citrus has a very decorative look. It branches well, the crown is densely leafy with neat oval leaves with a barely noticeable wavy edge. During the flowering period, the twigs are luxuriantly showered with small snow-white fragrant flowers. And, of course, the tree has a very attractive appearance when its branches are decorated with large yellow fruits.

Bergamot will not only decorate the room with its unusual exotic beauty, but also heal the atmosphere around. It exudes phytoncides useful to the human body. In addition, the specific aroma has the ability to strengthen memory and improve attention.

Garden bergamot - Monarda

No less useful is the presence in the garden of a monarda - the so-called garden bergamot. The plant fell in love with flower growers for its long bright flowering. Tall varieties are good for planning wall flower beds for planting in the background. They go well with daylilies, phlox, rudbeckia, large chamomile and bell. The foreground of the plantings will be decorated with plantings of pansies.

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Also, the monard is well worth cutting, so it can be used in floristry. And how not to mention the medicinal properties of the flower. It has an anti-inflammatory effect, boosts immunity, has an invigorating effect on the body and a sedative effect on the nervous system. In addition, the plant is used in cooking. Not only for brewing tea, but also as a spice and preservative for preparations.

The collection of raw materials begins during the flowering period. To do this, the above-ground part is completely cut off and laid for drying in a well-ventilated room, protecting it from direct sunlight.

Growing bergamot from seeds

Both monardo and citrus bergamot are not very difficult to propagate by seed. Monarda seed can be collected with your own hands in your garden. The seeds ripen in the fall and can be used immediately for sowing. Good germination is maintained for about three years.

For those who did not have time to sow seeds in the fall, you can do it right after the New Year. From January to February, they start growing flower seedlings. Sowing is carried out in a nursery and greenhouse conditions are created. Timing is calculated so that the seedlings are ready for open field transplanting approximately 7 weeks after sowing. In the future, the perennial can be propagated by cuttings and dividing the bush.

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Sowing seeds of citrus bergamot is carried out in December-January. The seeds are not recommended to be stored for a long time - they should be planted in a loose nutritious soil mixture immediately after extraction from the fruit. Sowing is done in separate pots. Citrus seeds usually contain several germs. The weakest specimens, as a rule, then die, so you can not regret to immediately "cut" them from the garden, so that they do not interfere with the development of their stronger competitors.

Bergamot grown from a seed will develop for a long time, and the first flowering can occur only after 10-15 years. To speed up this process, the savage is vaccinated against an adult tree who already has flowering experience.

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