Cineraria is a plant with bright flowers and amazingly beautiful silver foliage. It belongs to the Astrov family. The birthplace of the flower is South Africa, but its dense bushes are popular as a garden crop and in the central strip of Russia. They are used for landscaping borders and flower beds. Hybrid varieties with abundant flowering of a wide variety of colors will appeal to all gardeners. The name of the plant is translated as "ashen". This characterizes the color of delicate, soft leaves. The flower is so good that it will not leave anyone indifferent. Thanks to its unpretentiousness, caring for it is very simple.
Plant description
Cineraria - perennial grasses or shrubs with erect, highly branched shoots. The height of the vegetation is 30-90 cm. The plant is nourished by a thick rod root, which goes deep into the earth.
Large petiole leaves of a lyre-shaped, oval or pinnately dissected shape grow along the entire length of the stems. The surface of the shoots and leaves is densely covered with a short soft pile of a bluish-silver hue. The leaves are quite large and form a continuous soft turf.
In mid-June, inflorescences-baskets bloom on the tops of the shoots. They are simple or terry. Along the outer edge, several rows of reed flowers of red, white, yellow or purple color grow. The lush core with tubular colors is not limited to one color, it can be yellow, silver, blue or purple.
Changing each other, the inflorescences of cineraria bloom until mid-autumn, until frosts come. After pollination, dry seed bolls ripen, inside of which there are small oblong seeds of a dark brown, almost black color.
Types of Cineraria
The genus of cineraria includes several dozen plants. But in culture the most popular are only a few basic species and many decorative varieties. Conventionally, they are divided into decorative foliage and flowering plants.
Cineraria seaside (silver). The plant is a perennial, but in the conditions of frosty winters it is grown in the garden as an annual. It is famous for decorative foliage. Thickened leaf plates are dissected into thin segments. They are painted in bright green color and densely covered with a silvery-ash soft pile. Foliage forms dense rosettes along the entire length of the stems, growing into dense thickets. Sea cineraria blooms are not particularly attractive. She dissolves small yellow baskets that go poorly with ash-silver foliage. Therefore, many gardeners cut buds before they open. The species is widely used in landscaping the garden. Varieties:
- Silver dust - undersized (up to 25 cm) shrubs with openwork foliage;
- Cirrus - forms higher (about 45 cm), loose thickets with oval serrated leaflets.
The cineraria is bloody. Since this species is suitable for indoor cultivation, it is often called "indoor cineraria." The variety is popular because of the abundant bright flowering. Upright, highly branched stems up to 70 cm high are covered with bright green openwork or oval foliage. In the second half of summer, the bush is covered with a thick hat of bright flowers of the most diverse colors. Decorative varieties:
- Grandiflora - a semi-shrub 50-70 cm high, blossoms large simple inflorescences-baskets with a diameter of 5-8 cm;
- Double - bushes 35-70 cm high bloom flowers with a diameter of up to 5 cm, their petals are painted in 2 contrasting colors;
- The stellate - a shoot with a height of 70-90 cm blooms in small (2-4 cm) baskets with narrow indigo-colored petals similar to the rays of stars.
The cineraria is elegant. The highly branched stems of the plant form an almost spherical shrub about 60 cm high. The leaves and stems are covered with sticky pile. Simple and terry inflorescences-baskets grow in groups, forming a larger corymbose inflorescence on a single stem. Decorative varietal groups are very popular:
- Nana - a plant up to 25 cm high is covered with many large, star-like flowers with a burgundy core and pink petals;
- Ligulosus - medium-sized bushes with plentiful terry flowering of various saturated tones.
Breeding rules
The cultivation of cineraria from seeds is produced through seedlings. Since it has a very long growing season, crops are produced from December to the end of February. In the latter case, flowering will come in the fall. Cultivation of marine cineraria from seeds begins at the end of March, since it is not necessary to wait for its flowering, and decorative foliage will delight in May.
It is necessary to prepare boxes with sand and peat soil. Small seeds are distributed on the surface and squeezed out using a ruler. After that, the earth is sprayed and the box is covered with foil. Friendly shoots appear after 7-10 days, after which the shelter is immediately removed and the box is transferred to a well-lit place with a temperature of + 20 ... + 22 ° C.
When the seedlings grow 2 real leaves, they pick out individual peat pots. Due to the pivot rhizome, further transplantations of cineraria can be painful. After picking, seedlings are kept at a temperature not exceeding + 15 ° C. In May, when the frosts pass, they transplant into open ground along with peat pots.
To propagate decorative varieties, including seaside cineraria, use the method of cuttings. In summer, it is enough to cut off the top of the shoot about 10 cm long. It is planted in a box with sand and peat soil. Before planting, the slice is treated with Kornevin. For the period of adaptation, the sprouts are covered with plastic bottles or film. When their own roots appear, they begin to take cover. First, the cuttings are opened for several hours a day, and then completely. In the fall and first winter, the seedlings are left in containers and in the winter they are brought into a cool room. Next spring, you can transplant cineraria into the open ground.
A large, well-grown bush can be propagated by division. To do this, in May-August, a transplant is performed with a simultaneous separation of the root and shoots into small areas with several strong stems. Immediately after planting, the plants are kept in a cool, shaded place. After adaptation, they are grown as usual.
Landing and care
For planting, cineraria choose a well-lit place with darkening in the afternoon. The plant loves bright light, but under direct sunlight the leaves are covered with brown spots (burns).
The soil. Dig the soil on the site. Before planting, a small amount of sand, peat and compost are introduced into the open ground. Trying not to damage the root system, seedlings are planted in shallow holes with a distance of 20-25 cm. After planting, the soil is watered, lightly compacted and mulched with peat. Indoor cineraria is planted in medium-sized pots. Use a soil mixture of leaf soil, compost and peat. It is useful to add pine bark pieces and ash to the substrate. Further care of the plant is uncomplicated.
Temperature. Cineraria prefers cool contents. She feels best of all at a temperature of + 15 ... + 18 ° C. When warming to + 20 ° C and above, thin shoots and leaves begin to wither. At night, the plants withstand cooling to + 5 ° C. If the cineraria is planted in a container, then from mid-spring to October it is kept on the veranda or balcony with a constant influx of fresh air.
Humidity. The plant needs high humidity, but it is undesirable to spray it because of the pile on the foliage. Therefore, pallets with wet pebbles or expanded clay are placed near the flowers. In the garden, you can shed well the soil at a distance from the roots.
Watering. Cineraria needs abundant watering, but water should not stagnate in the ground, otherwise root rot cannot be avoided. After watering, you need to periodically loosen the earth and break a dense crust.
Fertilizer. The plant needs regular top dressing, they are especially relevant in poor soils. Once or twice a month, the bushes are watered with a solution of mineral fertilizer for flowering plants. In spring, compositions with an increased nitrogen content are used to form beautiful foliage, and in the summer, a complex with a high phosphorus content, necessary for flowering, is used. Several times during the season, mineral dressing is replaced with organic matter (mullein).
Pruning. As the inflorescences wither, they must be cut to the first leaf. Elongated bushes also shorten.
Wintering. In a temperate climate, cineraria hibernates poorly. Bushes often freeze, so they are grown in the garden as annual plants. In late autumn, the entire shoot is destroyed, and the land is dug up. Sometimes in the fall, cineraria is dug up and transplanted into pots, which are brought into a bright, cool room (no more than + 10 ... + 15 ° C). In such circumstances, it can continue to bloom. In the spring, bushes along with pots are taken out to the garden or transplanted into the open ground again. In the southern regions, cineraria hibernates in open ground. To do this, at a height of 10-15 cm it is covered with dead wood or spruce branches.
Diseases and pests. Cineraria is resistant to plant diseases. Pests also settle on it rarely. Most often it is aphids, whiteflies and spider mites. So that the parasite does not cause much harm, it is necessary to regularly inspect the vegetation and treat it with an insecticide in a timely manner (Neoron, Fitoverm, Karbofos).
Cineraria in landscape design
Compact and bright cineraria is often used to decorate a border or front tier of a flower garden. Silver cineraria is planted against a background of brighter flowering plants in the form of a decorative border on the ground, as well as in crevices of stony masonry.
Blooming varieties very effectively decorate the balcony and porch. You can use them in a mixed flower garden. A variety of colors and shapes of inflorescences allows you to choose your favorite sample or create a whole mix of cineraria alone. The best partners for her will be lobelia, petunias, phlox, sage and marigolds.
Cases of using inflorescences when making bouquets are frequent. A branch with several bright colors looks great in a vase and does not fade for a long time.
