Flowering plants decorate the gardens, making them brighter and more elegant. Clarkia graceful refers precisely to this type of flower, so gardeners are happy to grow it in their plots.
Clarkia graceful features
The culture belongs to the annual peduncles of the family of the Cypriot. Almost all of its varieties bloom very beautifully and for a long time, pleasing the eye with bright colors.
The height of the bush does not exceed half a meter. Elegant flowers of Clarkia unguiculata are small in size and are compact. The stems are straight and branched, with a fringe in the form of villi.
Flowering plant
The leaves are painted in bright green with a specific bluish tinge. They have an elongated, slightly oval shape, located on the stem alternately. A flower with a diameter of 3-5 cm can be simple or double. Inflorescences with carpal or spike-shaped connection come in different shades. Single peduncles are extremely rare. Seeds enclosed in an elongated box open after full ripening.
Important! The main advantage of the flower is its high resistance to cold. Clarkia needs a lot of light for normal flowering, so when growing it at home, it chooses windows facing the sunny side.
Clarkia terry flowers peek out from the sinuses of the upper leaves. From a distance, the flower resembles a miniature stock rose. Florists prefer to grow the plant in the open air, window sills and balconies. Cut bouquets are used to decorate rooms.
In the wild, Clarkia is found in Chile and the western United States. More than 30 plant species are known, but only three are used for decorative cultivation, from which new breeders are bred. Clarkia flower was brought to Europe from the USA. It got its name from the name of William Clark, who in the XIX century brought him to the Old World.
Popular varieties
The elegant Clarkia flower has many varieties of different colors. The most popular are:
- Albatross. The grade is annual. The stem height reaches 75 cm. The shoots are very branched, with white terry inflorescences at the ends.
- Purplekenig. The height of the plant is about 80-90 cm. It blooms in May-June. Saturated red, double flowers reach a diameter of 4 cm.
- Salmon perfection. One of the highest shrubs in this form. Its height reaches 1 m. Flowers are distinguished by a soft pink color. Their diameter does not exceed 3.5 cm.
- Sun. The bush grows to a height of 65-70 cm. The inflorescences of the plant are solitary, tender salmon in color.
- Orange The bush grows to 55-65 cm in height. Flowers of a bright orange hue attract the attention of others.
- Clarkia Sakura. It has compact terry inflorescences of white color with a pinkish tint. The height of the bush reaches 120 cm. During flowering from afar, it seems that Japanese cherry blossoms with the same name.
What other types of Clarky are gardeners cultivating
In the flower beds and gardens you can see other representatives of this family. Among them are the following types:
- Clarkia Terry. The variety is characterized by a low stem (up to 65 cm) and huge inflorescences by the standards of the species. They reach 6 cm in diameter. Flowers are collected in an ear.
- Fantasy. The bush of culture reaches 75 cm. The plant is distinguished by lush flowering and various colors of inflorescences.
- Pretty one. A very low plant, the height of which barely reaches 30 cm. The inflorescences of this clarkia are terry and simple. Flowering begins in late May and continues until the frost.
- Breveri. This is a fairly new variety. It is resistant to light frosts, propagates in a non-seedling manner. The bush is compact, with pink flowers.
Clarkia: growing from seeds when planted for seedlings
A plant needs light soil with a high content of minerals. Seeds are sown from mid-March to early April. The procedure should be as follows:
- Prepare containers of shallow depth and loose fertile soil. The seed of the plant is small, so it should not be deepened.
- In order for the seeds to sprout faster, they need to be presoaked in water or formulations stimulating growth.
- Before planting, the seeds are mixed with sand, and the resulting mass is distributed on the surface of the soil.
- The earth is slightly tamped and, after light spraying with water, is covered with a film.
- The capacity is placed on a well-lit window sill, but not in direct sunlight.
First shoots
The first sprouts will come to the surface in one and a half or two weeks. Knowing what Clarkia seedlings look like, it’s easy to see when they hatch. For normal growth in the room, you need to maintain a temperature of about 20 ° C. You also need to monitor soil moisture and moisten when it dries.
Clarkia seedlings are dived after the second leaf appears. This is important because the plant does not respond well to transplantation. Separate peat cups are used for planting, which can simply be buried in the soil. The distance between plants should be at least 20-35 cm.
Important! Before planting in open ground, clarkia sprouts are hardened, taking out into the open air for a couple of hours.
Clarkia is planted in the garden at the end of May. It is quite resistant to low temperatures, and can survive small frosts.
Pick of plants
Features of non-seedling planting in open ground
Culture requires fertile and light soil. On heavy soil, Clarkia, landing and care of which is not too difficult, will grow poorly.
Before planting seeds, the bed is fertilized with peat or a mixture of sand with humus. Seedlings can be grown in open ground according to the same scheme as at home. The main thing is to correctly distribute the seeds in the garden and open them after the first seedlings appear.
Note! If the Clarkia is elegant, the cultivation of which begins in the fall, will rise before the onset of cold weather, do not worry. They will not freeze under the snow, but in the spring they will need to be thinned out.
The advantage of such cultivation is that young seedlings are not injured during transplantation and therefore begin to bloom several weeks earlier.
Features of gardening
The main condition for the normal development and lush flowering of clarkia is regular watering. Usually it is enough to do this twice a week, but on hot days you need to spray the flower more often.
Spraying plants
When tying the buds in the soil make top dressing with a complex of minerals. In summer, the process is repeated every two weeks until flowering ceases.
When and how does Clarkia bloom
The flowering period, depending on the species, can last from June to the most frosts. The shape of the flower is spike-like or racemose. Flowers can be double or simple.
Care after flowering
Care of the plant after flowering is to remove all withering inflorescences so that the bush blooms more magnificent and new ovaries appear. High stems are best tied so that they do not break.
Clarkia can breed self-seeding. Home growing will become easier if, during flowering, you select the most powerful peduncles and monitor the formation of a seed box on them. So that when opening the seeds do not fall to the ground, the fruit is wrapped with gauze or bandage and fixed on the stem.
Additional Information. When the boxes turn dark brown, they are cut and dried. Seeds are poured into a separate envelope, signing the year of collection.
Clarkia tolerates winter well enough, especially if the seeds are planted in the ground in the fall. You can save sprouts from severe frosts by mulching. If the plant is going to be transferred to home conditions, the ground part of the bush is cut off, and the roots are dug up. This is to prevent the development of harmful fungal spores in the earth.
Possible problems in growing
The culture is resistant to pest attacks and diseases. However, mistakes in the care of plantings can provoke the development of fungal and viral diseases.
Plant diseases
If brown spots appear on the leaves, clarkia is affected by the fungus, and most likely this is a consequence of an excess of moisture or nitrogen fertilizers. To eliminate the problem, fungicides are used, for example, Bordeaux liquid. Her plant is sprayed twice a day.
Important! When affected by pathogenic insects (mealybug or aphid), it is necessary to treat the culture with insecticides.
The midges that appear during waterlogging lay larvae in the soil, which eat the roots of the plants. Only a transplant to another container can save the flower. To prevent their appearance, the earth in the pot must be periodically loosened. In the fight against midges use sulfur. Several heads of matches stuck in the ground will help rid Clarkia of pests. For this, a weak solution of potassium permanganate is also used.
The beautiful California Clarkia graceful can decorate the site for a long time with its abundant flowering. To get such a result, you only need to follow the rules of growing crops.
