2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The rhythm created by nature, in which day and night, creation and rest alternate, affects not only people, but also animals and plants. Many of the flowering plants fold their flower petals tightly to each other in the evening, as if preparing to take a break from a hectic day with its sunbeams, buzzing insects, and human speech. One of them is a perennial herb, which people gave the mysterious name "Gazania"
African beauty
As soon as they call this plant with large and bright flowers that love the sun and hide the splendor of its heart in cloudy weather and in the evening. His belonging to the Aster family has awarded the inflorescence with a similarity to daisies. This appearance of flowers, combined with African origin, gave another name, "African chamomile".
In warm countries, this plant is a perennial, but in our harsh climate, Gazania is grown as an annual.
Changeable appearance
Like all beauties, Gazania loves to dress up in different clothes.
Its dark green, dense leaves with a serrated edge and a silvery-white underside can be pinnate, elongated-lanceolate, finger-dissected, or linear.
Do not lag behind the leaves and large inflorescences-baskets, which seem to compete with the rainbow, having absorbed all its colors and shades. Their pseudo-lingual flowers, located in one row along the edge of the inflorescence, resemble a festive bright girlish round dance. Each tongue has a dark spot at the base, tracing an attractive circular pattern encircling the tubular small flowers of the central heart.
The taproot of the plant does not allow it to die from heat and drought, pumping moisture from the depths of the soil and saturating the basal rosette of leaves, a short stem (which may be absent) and peduncles (15 to 30 cm high) with picturesque inflorescences.
Coloring flowers by varieties
There is a huge variety of varieties and hybrids, differing from each other in the size of the inflorescence-basket and striking in the richness of color shades. Here are just a few of them:
• Long-shot gazania (Gazania longiscapa) decorated with yellow reed flowers
• Shiny Gazania (Gazania splendens) has chosen an orangey color with white and black spots at the base of the reeds.
• Gazania brilliant large-flowered (Gazania splendens grandiflora) and Gazania hybrid (Gazania x hybrida) show the world white, yellow, orange reed petals, decorating their core with yellow small tubular flowers with a brown base and a white border around the edge.
Growing
Gazania loves the sun, warmth, sandy loam (and even stony) soils with a neutral reaction of the environment. It especially prefers to grow on the seaside.
The plant should be watered carefully, at the root, trying not to get on the leaves and flowers. The preferred watering time is early morning and the season is spring and summer. Too cold water and excess moisture for plants growing in containers are contraindicated.
To maintain the appearance of the flower garden, wilted flowers, damaged and dry leaves should be removed from the gazani.
Seed propagation with sowing seeds in March. It is possible by cuttings in July-August.
Usage
Gazania feels great in pots, flowerpots, planters and containers on balconies, terraces, porch steps. Great for creating borders for flower beds and garden paths. It will be an excellent company for perennials and annuals of the mixborder, decorate a mixed rabatka. Feels at home in rock gardens and rockeries, settling there in small groups.
Good neighbors for Gazania will be the daisy, lobelia, gypsophila, violet-blue ageratum, arctotis, dimorphoteka, ursinia (clinousik), the mesmerizing venidium - while a garden rarity.
For a relatively long time (up to five days) Gazania retains its charm when cut.
Pests and diseases
It is affected by gray rot. Excessive moisture and stagnant water should be avoided.
Recommended:
Gazania
Gazania (lat.Gazania) - flower culture; a genus of plants belonging to the Asteraceae family, or Asteraceae. It occurs naturally in the southern regions of Africa. The plant is often called gatsania. More than 30 species are currently known.
How To Sleep Without Sleeping Pills. 9 Effective Ways
Human health and longevity depends on the quality of sleep. Insomnia does not allow you to regain strength, so you need to fight it. We offer tips and easy ways to help you relax and fall asleep quickly
Gazania Hybrid
Gazania hybrid (lat.Gazania x hybrida hort) - a representative of the famous and very popular among gardeners and florists of the genus Gazania, belonging to the largest family of Asteraceae, or Astrovs. Hybrid gazania includes a number of groups and varieties of hybrid origin, obtained by crossing long-rifle gazania, harsh gazania, single-flowered gazania and other equally common species.
Gazania Harsh
Harsh gazania (lat.Gazania rigens) - flowering culture; one of the brightest representatives of the Gazania genus of the Compositae family, or Astrovye. Another name is gazania brilliant. Sometimes the culture is called harsh or shiny gatsania.
Gazania One-flowered
Gazania one-flowered (lat.Gazania unifiora) - flowering culture; a representative of the Gazania genus, belonging to the Asteraceae family, or Astrovye. One of the most attractive types. It is rarely used in ornamental gardening, although in terms of decorativeness it is in no way inferior to numerous varieties and hybrids of hybrid gazania.
