In Western countries, a plant such as frankincense has long been widely used in the design of landscape design. In Russia, this plant became known not so long ago, but has already managed to find its fans decorating them with their garden plots and flower beds. What kind of mysterious culture is this article will tell about this.
Plant description
To understand what is badan, you should refer to its scientific description. The plant has a second name - bergenia (bergenia), which was assigned to him in honor of the German botanist Karl August von Bergen. This so far little-known "modest" representative of the floristic world, of course, deserves attention not only for its decorativeness, but also for its low maintenance, which will surely please many gardeners.
Badan is a cultivated or wild plant
Badan is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Kamnelomkov family. About 10 of its species are known, the main places of growth of which are alpine meadows and mountain slopes of Central Asia, China, and Afghanistan. Being originally a wild-growing culture, the incense was able to interest a person with its decorative properties. The plant began to be used to decorate rocky gardens, decorate them with the banks of ponds, flower beds and garden paths.
The beauty of its inflorescences and foliage allows you to create various picturesque compositions for a long period - from early spring to late autumn. Badan goes well with ornamental shrubs (juniper, fern), emphasizes the beauty of flowering mahonia, astilbe, successfully adjoins bulbous plants - crocuses, snowdrops, hyacinths, tulips, etc. Scientist breeders have been actively engaged in cultivating the culture.
Important! It is not recommended to plant annuals next to the incense, as their regular transplantation can harm the root system of the plant.
Thanks to their work, today there are many varieties of frankincense. During the design of the site, various varieties are often selected that differ in the color of the buds, size and flowering period. For example, Ballawley and Edens Magic Giant hybrid varieties, gigantic by Badan standards, reaching 60 cm in height, can be supplemented on the flowerbed with compact small plants Baby Doll, Angel Kiss. From early spring to June, varieties such as Eroica, Overture bloom, and at the end of summer Andrea and Pink Dragonfly, etc., bloom again.
Based on this, we can safely say that today the incense is a cultivated plant widely used in landscape design. In addition to beauty, culture also has medicinal properties. Useful teas and decoctions are prepared from its rhizome and leaves, helping with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Means have a general strengthening effect, stimulate the metabolism in the body.
What does it look like
Badan is represented by low-growing shrubs, which are highly decorative all year round. This is an evergreen plant whose leaves do not die off in the fall, but remain wintering until spring. In addition to the riot of colors during the flowering period, the culture until late autumn pleases with a magnificent carpet of large dark green leaves, creating a backdrop for other flowering crops.
With the onset of autumn cold weather, leaf plates begin to turn red from the edges, and then become covered with bizarre stains. Moreover, in some varieties the leaves completely change their shade to purple, fiery or bronze, while in others only the edges of the leaves and central veins turn red.
For planting in the garden, you should pay attention to such types of perennials, such as:
- Thick-leaved. This variety has received the greatest distribution in culture, especially such its varieties as Senior and Purpurea. The plant is represented by compact bushes growing up to 50 cm. It blooms one of the first, showing off pink inflorescences for about a month. By autumn, the thick, leathery leaves of the plant take on a red and sometimes crimson color.
- Heart-shaped frankincense grows up to 40 cm. He got his name from the shape of leaves - round, heart-like. Flowering occurs in May. At this time, the bushes are covered with lilac-pink inflorescences, although there are varieties with white color.
- Pacific. The plant has high flowering shoots, stretching during flowering to 40 cm. Inflorescences are saturated pink in color. The leaves are rather large, up to 20 cm across.
- Pamir berry strechi. This culture gained popularity due to its miniature size - the plant reaches its maximum height of no more than 15 cm.
- Ciliated. A distinctive feature of this species is its unusual leaves. The surface of the green plates is not glossy, but bristly. The greens look beautiful in the early morning, when drops of dew remain on the cilia of the foliage.
How and when it blooms
The earliest coniferous plants are thick-leaved and hearty, they bloom in mid-April. Then the baton is taken over by later species and varieties. The flowers are small, bell-shaped, collected in thyroid inflorescences located on thick straight legs. Interestingly, at the beginning of flowering, the flower stalks are quite short - it feels like the buds simply lie on the leaves “in heaps”, but gradually the legs are stretched, while the curls of the inflorescences gracefully bend down.
Important! After flowering, it is recommended that the peduncles be cut so that the plants do not weaken and can form healthy, strong leaves.
They can have white, pink, purple, and sometimes purple hues. The effect of this beautiful sight is enhanced by the presence of multi-colored butterflies, which flock in large numbers to the flowers behind the nectar. Sometimes on one inflorescence you can meet up to 3-4 bright butterflies at a time. The flowering of a frankincense is long, about a month, since the flowers bloom on the peduncle gradually.
The cultivation of incense
Badan is an unpretentious plant. In general, planting and caring for it will not be particularly difficult, but if you want to see the plant healthy and flowering, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the subtleties. It can be grown on the site from ready-made seedlings purchased in the store, or from material obtained by reproduction.
Features of landing in the open ground
For planting, you must select a suitable site. The plant perfectly survives both in partial shade and in sunny areas. Where to plant it depends on what result you want to achieve. If you want to see a lush carpet of green foliage, you can choose a shady garden area. In order for the culture to amaze with its rich magnificent flowering, it must be planted in a well-lit sunny area.
To the soil, the plant is undemanding, but most spectacularly looks on moderately fertilized soil. The optimal composition: garden soil, humus and sand, taken in equal amounts. The only thing that the frankincense is afraid of is stagnation of water in the soil, therefore it is advisable to equip the landing pits with a drainage layer. Before planting, you need to loosen the soil and clean it of weed grass, removing it with the root. In the future, when the culture grows, its dense foliage will no longer pass weeds into its thickets.
For planting, dig a hole with a depth and diameter of about 30 cm. A drainage layer is laid on the bottom, lightly sprinkled with soil. Then set the seedling and fall asleep. The soil should be slightly compacted and watered abundantly, delivering about 5-8 liters of water per planting. After this, it is recommended to mulch the soil in order to better retain moisture. If you plan a group landing, you must observe a distance between the pits of at least 40 cm to provide enough space for branching rhizomes.
Video: planting a canoe
Landing time
The main planting of seedlings is carried out in spring or early August. The timing depends on the maturity of the material. If you purchased a ready-made seedling in a nursery, shop or received by dividing the bush, you can plant it in any period from April to August.
As for young seedlings grown independently from seeds, it is better to postpone their planting in open ground at the end of summer. An earlier planting - in June, can be carried out only if the seedlings are already sufficiently developed and well tolerate a night stay in the fresh air.
Picking seedlings
In the event that you have grown seedlings yourself, in May you need to dive them into a box, planting at a distance of 6-8 cm from each other. The spacing between the rows should be about 15 cm. A few weeks before planting in the open ground, you need to harden the seedlings so that they quickly take root in a new place.
Did you know? Among the people, the thick-leaved incense was nicknamed the "elephant's ear" because of the peculiarities of the shape and size of its leaves.
To do this, every day the box-bed is taken out into the street: first, for a couple of hours, and then every day the period of stay of young plants in the fresh air is increased. When you notice that the seedlings tolerate a stay in the street during the day, it means that they are already ready for transplanting into the soil.
Caring for the incense in the garden
The basic rules for caring for incense in the garden are few. Basically, they come down to observing periodic irrigation and feeding. Also, attention should be paid to pruning the plant and, if necessary, know how to transplant the shrub to a new place.
Watering
Perennial is not demanding on watering. To a greater extent, planting located in sunny areas needs this. If enough natural precipitation falls in the spring and summer, the soil can be optionally not moistened.
If the seasons are dry, the main watering is carried out several times: during the budding period, during flowering and a few weeks after it. To preserve soil moisture, it must be mulched using peat, sand or sawdust.
Top dressing
The first top dressing is introduced in early spring, using mineral complex fertilizers. A good option would be the composition "Effekton for flowering plants", which nourishes the soil with all the necessary substances for good growth of frankincense. A solution is made from the drug, diluting 2 tbsp. l in a bucket of water that watered the garden bed. Approximate consumption - 10 liters per 2 m².
2 weeks after flowering, repeat the procedure. During this period, it is better to use the tool "Kemira-combi", which is bred at the rate of 1 tbsp. on 10 l of water. This portion is enough to process 2 m² of land. Such top dressing will ensure the growth of new leaves.
Transfer
Badan can grow for a very long period in one place. However, in order to ensure persistent decorative flowering, in adulthood (6–7 years), it is recommended to transplant it to a new, fertilized area. Also, the need for transplantation can be caused by redevelopment of the site or a disease of the culture. Transplant involved in early fall, although in principle its transplantation in spring and even in summer, in mild weather, is quite possible. First, prepare the landing pit.
Then the bush is dug up from all sides and, together with the earthen lump, is transported by transshipment method to a new landing site. If the transplant is accompanied by a division of the bush, the rhizome should be washed from the ground after digging. After this, several fragments with strong shoots are separated, and the old rhizome is discarded. After transplanting for 2-3 weeks, you need to actively water the plants. If you transplanted them in the summer, do not forget to mulch the soil and shade the planting.
Pruning
Immediately after winter and throughout the season, sanitary scraps are carried out. The bushes should be well examined and if they find dried, withered or painful shoots, immediately cut them off. In addition, inflorescences are removed in the fall, and in the early spring, all overgrown shoots that will overly thicken the territory.
Breeding
There are several ways to propagate a beloved variety of incense. The division of an adult bush is considered the simplest, and sowing the seed is the most painstaking. In addition, the culture is also grown from root or green cuttings.
Video: the cultivation and propagation of frankincense
Dividing the bush
The division of the bush is one of the most common methods of propagation of incense. Due to the fact that the powerful rhizome of the plant is located horizontally in the soil at a shallow depth, the culture quickly expands in breadth and can pose a threat to the surrounding plant. This makes it necessary to periodically divide the bush. From one adult plant you can get 3-4 young seedlings.
The best period for dividing is September. An adult bush is carefully dug up with a shovel and removed from the ground. Root should be washed with water. Then, with a sharp knife, the bushes are separated so that at least one strong shoot remains on each. The old rhizome can be discarded. Before planting in new pits, it is advisable to treat the roots in a growth stimulator using, for example, Epin. After planting, they are abundantly watered and mulched with a thick layer of peat.
Root cuttings
To propagate the incense with root cuttings in spring, you need to dig a bush, rinse with water, and then divide the rhizome with a sharp knife into several fragments. Each segment should have a length of about 3-4 cm and one kidney. The resulting material is buried in boxes with prepared soil from peat and sand - here the process of rooting will take place. When new shoots appear above the ground, they can be planted in new growth boxes until the real seedlings grow stronger. After that, they are dived and planted in open ground.
Cuttings from shoots
To propagate the incense with cuttings, you need to choose shoots of middle age (4-5 years). The branches should have apical buds and rosettes. Cuttings in early spring. Each of them should be about 10 cm long. The lower leaves are torn off, leaving only 3-4 leaves.
Containers with peat are prepared for planting. Cuttings are planted to a depth of 4-6 cm. Usually rooting occurs rather quickly, within a week. At the end of spring, they begin to adapt to street conditions, periodically taking them to fresh air, and at the end of summer it can be transplanted into the open ground.
Seeds
The cultivation of incense from seeds is the longest procedure, but at the same time allows you to get a lot of planting material at a time. Seed is harvested after flowering. In September, you need to collect the inflorescences, bring them into the room for drying, and then open the seed boxes and shake out the material.
They sow incense in late autumn. To do this, prepare containers with floral soil in advance. For planting, grooves are formed with a depth of about 5 mm at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other. They are poured with warm, settled water, then filled with seeds and close up. The box is best taken out into the yard and placed under the snow.
Did you know? Badan belongs to centenarians — in one place, the plant feels great for about 15 years and even more.
In early March, the container with sowing is brought into the room, installed in a dark place with an air temperature of about + 20 ° C, watered. After 20-25 days, the first shoots will appear. The entire period of their growth is necessary to moisten and loosen the soil, thin out seedlings. The first signal for loosening is the appearance of a green coating on the surface of the soil, which means that a sufficient amount of oxygen does not reach the roots of the plants.
So seedlings grow until mid-May. Then they are dived into the box and grown until the end of summer, periodically taking out into the fresh air for hardening.In August, they can be transplanted into the open ground. To do this, dig holes about 10 cm deep and in diameter. The bushes are arranged according to the scheme 40 × 40 cm. After planting, the bushes are abundantly watered, and the soil is mulched.
Diseases and pests
Under favorable growing conditions and proper care, frankincense is rarer. Nevertheless, cases are not excluded when the plant is affected by a fungal infection or it undergoes attack by insect pests. Most often, the culture suffers from a long stay in damp, on the basis of which ramulariosis develops. This disease can be diagnosed by the appearance on the upper side of the leaves of brown spots with a red border. At the same time on the lower sides you can notice a slight whitish coating. If treatment is not started on time, the leaves will begin to dry, crumble, and eventually the plant will die.
To cure the culture, you must first remove all the damaged leaves, and treat the plant itself with a chemical preparation containing copper. This may be Bordeaux liquid, “Fundazole”, etc. As for pests, you need to be careful about nematodes and slobbery pennies. It is not difficult to get rid of pennies - for this, the plant is sprayed with insecticides. For example, you can use "Aktara", which is treated twice with bushes at intervals of 7-10 days. Nematodes are more difficult to fight. It will be necessary to dig up the affected plant, rinse the rhizome and hold for 30-40 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate.
After this procedure, the bush is transplanted to a new place, and the land where it grew earlier is treated with an insecticide ("Actellik"). In this place it will be possible to plant other crops only in a year. Planting incense on the site is a good choice for gardeners. The plant will adorn any corner of the house territory with dignity, and its undemanding will save the owners from the many troubles that accompany the cultivation of most decorative crops.
