The name of the plant - European swimsuit - comes from the word "Trollblume". Translated from German as a troll flower. There is a popular belief that these flowers were loved by trolls. According to the second version, this name comes from the word "troll", which means a ball.
European swimsuit: description
These are meadow plants. They are part of the ranunculaceae family. A swimsuit in Russia can be found everywhere, especially in forest glades, as well as wet meadows. The plant is distributed in various zones: from deserts to tundra, from highlands to foothills, it is found in glaciers, in the forest belt, in subalpine and alpine meadows.
These flowers show a huge variety of orange and yellow in combination with various shades of green. They are beautiful in any weather, but incredibly good against the backdrop of a bright blue sky, by streams, rivers, forest lakes and ponds. The yellow color is extremely active, it causes delightful cheerful feelings, orange - a feeling of warmth, because it is so similar to the color of the setting sun or fire. The buttercup family has its own biological characteristics.
To date, 7 varieties and 19 species of this plant are grown in the gardens of the neighboring countries and Russia. They differ in places of distribution.
- Central Asia and Siberia: Asian, Altai, Dzungarian, purple, stemless, dwarf leotard.
- The Caucasus and the European part of Russia: the European bathhouse, the highest, half-open.
- Far East: Chinese leotard, large petal, Ledebour, Riedera, beautiful.
Location
In nature, the European leotard lives in half-shaded places. At the same time, it should be grown in culture in lighted open places in front of small shrubs or trees, large spots on the lawn, and single specimens among stones. During flowering and growth, if the soil is prone to drying out, watering is necessary. In all bathing pools, seedlings need shading and watering. They winter well, while shelters do not require. Without a transplant in a permanent place, this forest flower can grow for a long time.
The soil
Plants are very beautiful and plastic. You can verify this by looking at the photos of forest flowers in this article. When grown, they do not require any specific agricultural activities. Medium- or light-loamy structural soils, which are rich in humus, are most favorable for cultivating bathing pools. Flowers grow well on light, rich soils, similar in acidity to neutral.
Moreover, these flowers can also grow in areas that are poor in humus. A mixture of land with sand and peat is very useful to them. Sphagnum can also be added to this mixture, which, by absorbing water, can retain moisture much longer than soil. Under perennial bathers, the earth does not dig for a long period of time, but requires weeding. Before planting, the site must be completely cleaned of rhizomes and roots of perennial plants previously grown in this place.
The most drought-tolerant plants, including the Altai and Dzungarian leotard, love drained soil, without groundwater. The beds or low hills of plants against the background of stones of various shapes and sizes are considered a good landing site.
Improves aeration artificial relief. All necessary conditions are created that prevent water stagnation. At the same time, limestone improves cultivation conditions and also reduces soil acidity. For growing seedlings and sowing seeds, it is necessary to create a light substance, the main components of which will be peat and sand.
Care
European leotard does not require any special care. It consists in regular weeding, watering, cultivation. The soil should be mulched with a layer of humus or peat. For normal development, a systematic addition to the base of bushes of nutrient land is required. Moisture-loving culture, therefore, watering is reduced only by the fall.
For secondary flowering, you need to cut off faded peduncles. Any types of plants are quite frost-resistant. Consequently, they hibernate without any shelter. These plants of central Russia in a permanent place grow well until ten years, after which it is advisable to divide the curtain and plant it in a new place.
Autumn leaves die off. Only at this moment can they be cut off, leaving a base of petioles a couple of centimeters above the ground. They are the protection of the kidney, located in the heart of the rosette shoot. The next year, a peduncle appears from it. If you cut the leaves earlier, this bud will significantly weaken, and next year we will not get a developed flower stalk.
Pests and diseases
European swimsuit, the photo of which is presented in this article, the plant is viable and strong. For its best growth, it is recommended that the soil be treated with ash in early spring, with growth in spring, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers is indicated. At the very beginning of flowering, it is good to sprinkle plants with the Epin preparation. To prevent various fungal diseases in autumn, it is recommended to remove dead old leaves. Sometimes a leotard can be affected by smut, septoria, and also a short-bodied penetrating nematode.
Breeding
This forest flower is propagated by division of rhizomes, seeds and cuttings. In spring sowing, stratification of seeds is needed. Seedlings sprout in the spring. In contrast to the Altai, European, Dzungarian, Asian bathtubs, for germination requiring seeds of the cold period, the large-petalled, as well as the species of Reeder, Ledebur can also be successfully planted in the spring.
Seedlings of all plants need when the soil dries in watering, as well as in shading. Flowers can be planted in a permanent place since the spring of the 2nd year. European swimsuit blooms after emergence in the second year.
Vegetative propagation
It is worth noting that one of the methods of such propagation is the division of the curtain, as well as the separation of several peripheral shoots from an adult plant along with the roots. Almost all bathers have the same type of rhizomes. This is a perennial perennial plant with a huge number of cord-like roots. At the same time, shoots grow along the periphery of the curtain.
In a plant, the diameter in the aerial part primarily depends on the age of the flower. In middle-aged plants, the diameter is on average twenty centimeters. In this case, the central part is kept alive. At this age, when the vitality of the flower is great, it should be propagated by dividing into parts. Weakened or old plants should not be propagated.
It is advisable to divide the curtain by the beginning of autumn, when next year's shoots are formed in the kidneys. The mother plant must be dug up, with its roots shaking off the ground. After this, the root system must be thoroughly rinsed. Next, the plant with a knife is divided into several parts. Landing units can have any size. It is necessary that each has several shoots with roots. Next, the surface of the slices must be treated with potassium permanganate.
Using
The single-species plantings of these plants are used as decor - large spots, in the form of picturesque free groups in various compositions, with alternating indoor and outdoor spaces. They are freely placed in various open places, on the lit edges of artificial or natural landings. Bathing suits go well with stone. Slides should ideally simulate a scattering of fragments of vegetation and stones.
When creating these compositions, a combination of these flowers with ground cover plants should be recommended. At the same time, undersized perennials are in the foreground, then - swimsuits, then - taller, later flowering perennials with leaves decorative in color and shape. On a roller coaster, this flower is decorative along with a frankincense located in the foreground. One of the most valuable properties of bathing suits is the ability to create long, not fading bouquets that are extremely decorative, unique and very picturesque.
