Levkoy - a flower with bright petals that will fill the garden with fragrance. Many flower growers dream of growing it in their suburban area.
Mattiola (left-handed) is a flowering plant from the Cruciferous family (Brassicaceae, Brassicaceae). It is a small bush 100 cm high. Straight branches are densely covered with foliage. Down below, near the roots, they harden and become stiff. The plant has long elongated leaves of a saturated green hue. Their edges can be smooth or jagged. Fragrant flowers of an unusual shape consist of 4 petals. Their color is incredibly varied: Levkoy flowers can be white, yellow, red, purple, blue, brown, pink, etc.
Mattiola blooms profusely. Different types and varieties of levkoy are both annual and perennial. The most common annuals are all varieties of levkoy summer. Perennial Mattiola is represented by many different species: fragrant, winter, gray-haired, etc.
Levkoy, matthiola, night violet
The word "left-handed" in translation from ancient Greek means "white violet". The scientific name of this flower was in honor of the Italian doctor and botanist Pietro Mattioli. The plant is also called "night violet."
Levkoy fragrant
Popular types and varieties
About 400 varieties of matthiol are known. They differ from each other in the color of the petals, the shape of the leaves, the duration of flowering and other signs.
Description of species and varieties:
- Left-handed gray-haired (Matthiola incana) - has a branched stem 20-50 cm high, but sometimes plants up to 80 cm high are found. Leaves of grayish-green color grow up to 5-18 cm in length and 1-4.5 cm in width. The stem and leaves are covered with fluff. Flowers are double or simple. They are collected in inflorescences of 10-60 pieces each. Each flower consists of 4 sepals (1-1.2 cm long), 4 petals (2-3 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide), 6 stamens and pestle. The color of the petals can be lilac, pink, white, red, purple. Widely known variety "Bush" gray-haired left-handed.
- Scented Levkoy - a rare species listed in the Red Book. This is a perennial plant with a height of 20-50 cm, covered with a thick white fluff. It has yellow or brown petals 2-2.5 cm long. The leaves are located close to the roots.
- Autumn Levka - suitable for planting in a greenhouse or in the open ground. It is planted in March or April, and it blooms only at the end of summer and blooms until frost.
- Winter - it is desirable to grow it in indoor pots. Seeds should be sown in mid-summer, then it will begin to bloom in the spring of next year. When the weather is warm, you can transplant it into open ground.
- Mattiola bicorn, left-winged long-petalled (matthiola longipetala) - is famous for its extremely strong aroma. It has a straight stem densely covered with leaves and small flowers of white, blue or light lilac shades.
- Variety Thumbelina - a miniature bush with a height of 35 cm is covered with terry flowers of various bright colors.
- Summer - ideal for outdoor cultivation. It can be planted in the spring, it will bloom throughout the summer.
Appearance of levkoy gray-haired (matthiola incana)
On a note! No less popular among gardeners are such decorative varieties as Step, Royal Mix, Temptation and Caprice.
In turn, the summer Levka is divided into several groups:
- Bouquet - inflorescences are located on the same level and form a lush bouquet of thick double flowers with a diameter of 3.5 cm.
- Gigantic - a wide pyramidal bush, covered with thick leaves and large double flowers.
- Single-stemmed - a straight plant with a single stem 80 cm high. Its leaves in the shape of a rhombus may have wavy edges. Flowers with a diameter of 6 cm bloom in June for a month.
- Pyramidal - large branched bushes, similar in shape to a pyramid. Among them, dwarf, semi-tall and large-flowered giants are distinguished. They all grow bright lush flowers.
- Quedlinburg - terry varieties with light green leaves. Among them, there are tall and short, bushy and pole-shaped varieties that can bloom in early summer or autumn.
- Erfurt (short-branched) - bushes are densely covered with leaves and very branched. Small but numerous flowers delight with their flowering from July to September.
- Large-flowered gigantic tree-like - the stem begins to branch from the middle. The plant reaches 1 meter in height. Dense flowers with a diameter of 6 cm bloom for 2 summer months.
- Spreading - a wide bush with sprawling branches grows up to 40-60 cm in height. Among them, there are repair, late large-flowered and terry varieties.
Mattiola the bicorn
Seed cultivation
A magnificent decoration of the garden will be such a beautiful and fragrant flower, like a left-handed one. Planting and care will require responsibility and attention from the grower.
A lot of work, time and effort will be needed to grow Levka. Growing from seeds is a painstaking work, which is why they rarely resort to this method of reproduction.
When and how to sow
Sowing time is the last days of March or the beginning of April. For cultivation in the greenhouse, the left-handed summer sow in January. Autumn varieties can be sown in July or August.
How to sow:
- Soak each seed in water for 24 hours.
- Wrap the seeds in wet gauze and refrigerate for 2-3 days.
- Prepare the soil in a box: mix three parts of turfy earth and one part of sand. Before sowing, the earth is watered.
- Make a groove in the ground 50 mm deep, sow the seeds and sprinkle them with a substrate.
- Cover the box with plastic wrap and put it in a shaded place where the temperature is constantly maintained at 20-22 ℃ above zero.
- Seeds can sprout in 5-14 days.
Note! By the shape of the pods and the ripened seeds, you can determine whether the flower will be double.
- short and small pods;
- seeds arranged in 2 rows on a pod;
- fragile weak bushes.
Thumbelina as a decoration of the garden
Seedling Care
After the sprouts sprout, they are opened by removing the shelter and put the box on the windowsill so that the plant is light. Seedlings can be kept at a temperature of 10-12 ℃ above zero.
2 days after the appearance of sprouts, they are watered. Then you need to wait another 10-12 days until the seedlings get stronger. Then it is necessary to make a pick: each sprout is transplanted into a separate small pot. A drain hole must be made at the bottom of the picking tank. Then the soil is poured there. It will take 2 parts of leafy land, 2 parts of turfy land and 1 part of sand. To strengthen the roots of the young left-handed, a hydrogel should be added to the soil. Seedlings of late varieties of matthiol are planted immediately in open ground.
When each sprout grows 2 leaves of the plant, it is necessary to feed. For this, a solution is prepared: 0.3 g of boric acid, 0.3 g of copper sulfate, 0.1 g of manganese sulfate and 0.1 g of zinc sulfate are dissolved in 1 liter of water.
It's important to know! 10-14 days before planting in open ground, levkoy needs to be tempered. Every day, for several hours, open the window on the balcony, where there is seedling.
Pure gold
Landing
At the end of May, left-handed people are transplanted. Outdoor planting and care will take time. It is advisable to plant seedlings in the evening or on a cloudy day, since bright sunlight can burn it.
You need to choose a bright area where moisture does not stagnate. Soil acidity (pH) should be neutral or slightly alkaline. Soddy loamy or soddy sandy loamy soil is ideal.
You can’t plant with a levok in those places where other plants from the Cabbage family used to grow, because they can suffer from a cruciferous flea.
It is necessary to water the ground with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and the drug "Khom" in order to protect the plant. Then prepare wells with a depth of 5-10 cm at a distance of 15-30 cm from each other. These holes are poured with water, seedlings are planted in them, the roots are covered with earth and compacted tightly.
Watering and loosening the soil
Mattiola is very sensitive to any changes in the humidity of the earth. This plant is difficult to tolerate both drought and stagnation of moisture. It is necessary to regularly water a flower in the morning under the root with a small amount of water.
Note! After watering, it is advisable to weed the weeds and loosen the ground with small rakes. In the second year after planting, you can mulch with pianoforte perennial pine bark or sawdust.
Levkoy is often placed on a flower bed
Breeding methods
Mattiola is propagated only by seeds. They are purchased in a store or harvested from ripened fruits. After flowering, the levka produces fruits - small pods filled with seeds. These seeds can be collected and prepared for planting next year. Terry varieties of levkoy, as a rule, do not bear fruit. But such flowers often grow from seeds left by frail plants.
Feeding and transplanting
In spring, Mattiola is fed with complex mineral fertilizers. As a top dressing, ash is well suited. When the left-handed blossoms, it needs to be additionally fed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer.
Important! Levkoy transplants are not only not useful, but also harmful. This plant has a delicate root system that is easy to injure.
The only transplant that needs to be done is planting seedlings in open ground.
Composition in landscape design
Pests and diseases
Levkoy is a strong, hardy plant, but it also needs to be protected from dangerous infections and insect pests.
Hazards:
- Cruciferous flea is a pest that threatens Mattiola. It is necessary to treat with the left-handed ash solution three times with a break of 4-5 days between each spraying. With a large number of insects, the flower is treated with insecticides.
- The black leg is an incurable disease that affects the root and lower part of the stem. For prevention, before planting, the ground is watered with the Hom preparation.
Occasionally, flower growers encounter a problem when there are few left-handed flowers and they are all very weak. Then it is very important to find out why it does not bloom with the left. This is extremely rare. Most often, the reason is poor soil, which lacks fertilizer.
How to prepare for wintering
In the cold northern climate, annual levkoy is most often grown. In autumn, the plant is removed from the ground along with the root and thrown away. Dig up a place of growth. Perennial flowers are transplanted into a tub or pot and put them in the room.
Additional Information! In a warm climate, Mattiola can not be dug up, but simply cut off its branches and cover with fir branches and a heater.
Winter Levka
Flowering period and care after
Levkoy blooms for 1-2 months. If you plant several early, medium and late varieties at once, you can enjoy flowering and aroma all summer and the first half of autumn. During the flowering period, it is worth feeding with left-lean fertilizer, which contains a lot of phosphorus and calcium.
In September or October, Mattiola pods become brown. Then the seeds are collected. The plant is removed from the ground along with the root and laid to dry. Then the seeds are shaken from the dried pods.
The color scheme of the petals is diverse
Use in landscape design
Levkoi - the flowers are beautiful and bright. They can be grown individually or make up compositions from them. It will look great in tall flowerpots, in hanging flowerpots, in flowerbeds, in flower beds. Levkoi can decorate the terrace, balcony, gazebo, porch and even the shore of the pond.
On a note! Mattiola goes well with flowers of other species. Annuals look good next to lavender, rosemary, reseda, thyme. It is advisable to plant perennial levkoy near phlox, Dalmatian chamomile, and nyvnyak.
Garden decoration
Levkoy is a wonderful flower that will fill the garden with a magnificent aroma. Amateur gardeners are sure of the left, because perennial flowers always justify themselves by long flowering. It is easy to grow perennial matthiola in a summer cottage. Annuals and winter biennials are kept in indoor pots and flower pots.
