Chistets woolly height. Woolly Chistets - soft and tender "sheep's ears" in the garden. Features of cultivation of decorative culture. Growing conditions
Perennial belongs to the Gubkin species. Depending on the classification, it reaches from 20 cm to a meter in height. The flowering period is long: from early summer to mid-autumn. The color palette is diverse: white, purple, yellow, blue, purple. Gardeners prefer it because of its high decorativeness, resistance to the scorching sun and low temperatures. Another name for the plant is stachys (from lat.).
In nature, the herbaceous culture grows in coniferous, mixed forests and in the forest-steppe. It is actively used for medicinal purposes. The leaves are large, elongated. From above they are covered with whitish fluff, which makes them look unusual. Small flowers are collected in dense inflorescences, peduncles of oblong shape. The latter feature leads to the fact that after heavy rain they can bow to the ground.
Use in landscape design
To give home comfort, special coloring and eccentricity of the garden are planted stakhis. The dense closure of massive leaves hides deserted areas of soil. The silver shade is in perfect harmony with other garden plantings in numerous compositions.
The main purpose of this representative of the flora is carpet planting. and without it they look dull, and not magnificent. It fills all the free space between stones and other plants. The unusual fluff on the leaves is a real decoration of the landscape element. Thanks to its ability to advantageously set off stone and plant elements, it is the chistets that sets the tone for the entire ensemble.
An unpretentious, ornamental plant with a long flowering period does not require much attention, and therefore is so in demand among the owners of suburban areas.
Combination with other plants
A winning combination is the combination of a chisel with a two-color cross. Favorably emphasizes and sets off lavender, gets along well with it. With "adjacent" in and framed low curb. Ageratum with chistets are often found in rocky gardens.
The silver stakhis carpet can serve as a backdrop for many cultures:
- orange marigolds;
- cuff;
- euphorbia cypress.
Reproduction
The plant is bred in three ways:
cuttings
This method can be used throughout the growing season. For planting material, the lower stems are carefully cut off. There must be at least 3 leaves on the shoots. The place of separation is treated with ash or bone meal. The most suitable period for this is the end of April.
Cuttings root easily and quickly take root in a mixture of peat and sand, pre-moistened. Most often they are planted immediately at a permanent place of growth, less often - in a greenhouse to get stronger. After 10-15 days, leaves and shoots appear on the cuttings in the open field.
seeds
The most efficient and popular method. Seeds are sown for seedlings in mid-March. For this, a small container is used. To do this, you do not need to make deep grooves, a hole 0.5-1 cm deep. From above, you need to fill the seed with a thin layer of earth, not tightly. After 3 weeks, the first shoots will please. Young shoots practically do not differ from adult representatives. The only difference is the absence of a “downy” coating on the leaves, but this is a temporary phenomenon.
2 months after planting, seedlings are ready to move to open ground. It is produced by the dive method (an earthen clod on seedlings remains unharmed). This will help keep the fragile root system. An open sunny area will allow the garden plantation to show itself in all its glory and the first fluff appears on the leaves.
In autumn, seeds can be planted immediately in open ground.
The division of the bush
This method helps not only for reproduction, but also frees free space for the growth of the cleaner. In the spring, you need to carefully remove it from the ground and separate it with an earthen ball. The rhizome is separated by hand with extreme care. In a new place, the separated parts are planted keeping a distance of 30 cm.
Planting and plant care
Selecting a landing site
Stachys is unpretentious, adapts well to many types of soil. Preference is given to light soil with a moderate degree of fertility. An excess of minerals adversely affects the decorative effect: the silver tint is lost, bright green comes to replace it.
The best site will be well-lit, protected from drafts and stagnation. ground water piece of land. Culture is able to grow in partial shade. It tolerates both open and areas under shrubs.
An unpretentious representative of the flora is able to endure even very hot days. Although optimum temperature for him - 20-25 degrees. Low temperatures are also not afraid of the cleaner. Under a thick layer of snow, it tolerates winter well. The foliage remains for the winter period, but lose their exquisite appeal. Dried shoots are removed in the spring.
Watering and fertilizing
Watering should be applied moderately and as needed. Drought does not frighten him, unlike an excess of moisture. The next watering occurs when the top layers of the soil from the previous one have dried out.
During active growth and flowering, stakhis needs top dressing. This also contributes to a good wintering. At the beginning and at the end of spring they make organic (chicken humus, cow dung, etc.) and ammonium nitrate. The first component can be changed to organic fertilizers.
Pruning and disease
Plants are pruned twice a year: after winter sanitary pruning and after flowering, so that the lush carpet does not lose its decorative effect.
Common diseases - fungal. This is the influence of a damp climate and stagnant moisture. Insect pests almost always bypass the plant.
Types of cleaner
Growing your trees, flowers, fruits at home is a real pleasure for any summer resident. Watching the process of development of new life, which breaks through the earth from a small seed, is the most exciting activity that gives a person energy and vitality, I want to live and move on, despite all the difficulties that await on the way. But this is not only a balm for the soul, but also healthy food for the winter. You can decorate your garden with a corner of decorative beautiful plants.
One of the least popular, but very interesting plants is stakhis woolly, which is commonly referred to as "sheep ears".
Growing from seeds
This plant is perfect for growing indoors. as decorative ornament for a slide or garden in fairly warm climates. Outwardly, the "sheep's ears" look very beautiful due to the fact that the whole plant seems to be covered with a white bloom, which is why it has a light color.
If you touch this culture, or even better, step into it with your feet, you can feel like in paradise - it is quite difficult to find such a silky, soft and pleasant to the touch plant. Planting and caring for a woolly cleaner is quite simple., but in order for this crop to appear in your garden in general, it must be properly propagated. This can be done with seeds, since they have a good percentage of germination. The most suitable months for sowing are February or March.
Planting seeds Byzantine cleaner carried out in a pre-prepared soil, which is additionally fertilized with minerals or organics and must be watered with water.
Now there is only build a small greenhouse from transparent oilcloth or old glass. After about 30 days, young plants will begin to hatch from the grains and the greenhouse can be removed.
Stakhis woolly, like other plants, does not differ in the scheme of planting seeds and growing seedlings. After about one month, the plant dives, that is, they are planted in larger pots at a distance of 10 cm from each other, so that each young organism has more area and the ability to release the root system.
Now the culture is completely ready for transplanting into a garden or vegetable garden, into open ground. But first you need to know how to do a transplant Byzantine Chistets, how to choose the best place for a plant and when is the best time to transplant a stakhis.
Location selection
Stahis - quite undemanding plant. The culture will feel great in the open sun and at the same time, it will not fade. It tolerates drought quite well. If you plant a cleaner in partial shade, he will also not mind.
In constant sunlight, the stakhis grows very large distinctive leaves, the color of which is slightly whiter than that of the "brothers" living in the shade.
However, to think that this culture will be able to live in conditions of complete drought, like a cactus, will be a fatal mistake. This threatens to the bush will simply throw off all its leaves to survive, because it will not be able to nourish them with trace elements and water.
Therefore, if the summer is too hot and dry, then the soil must be moistened from time to time. However, pour the plant big amount water will be no less a mistake than not watering it at all. More than a severe drought, the culture does not like only stagnant moisture.
What soil should our woolly friend choose? IN this case most known soil compositions will do:
- sandy;
- rocky;
- alkaline;
- chernozem.
ornamental plant don't take root too deep. Basically, the root system is superficial, which makes the culture so versatile when choosing soil.
In addition to this, you do not have to replant stachis from place to place every year. He will be fine in one place for several years. However, in the fifth or sixth year of the growing season, the middle of the flower bed of the plant may begin to thin out. Chistets will help save additional growing of new seedlings in other places, a complete transplant of a flower bed to a place that is more saturated useful minerals or soil fertilization.
Stachys will be ready to move to another “place of residence” as soon as the spring night frosts are over, but it would be best to wait until May. When transplanting a whole flower bed, it must be borne in mind that each seedling should be at a distance of about 20 cm from its neighbor. Before planting, it is recommended to fertilize the soil, this can be done with manure, humus, or simply add chalk to it.
If you transplant a stakhis that has lived a carefree life for five years, then under it you need to dig out a part of the earth and pour a new one rich in microelements in its place. After that, it remains only to plant our seedlings on a fertile place.
companion plants
As a single plant, stakhis is rarely planted, although in this case it will look advantageous. Usually, it is supplemented with alpine slide or in the garden with other plants or used as a fence for flower beds. Therefore, it is important to know with whom he will compete, and with whom he will make friends. Among the most preferred companions:
Care Tips
Stachys woolly is pretty unpretentious plant in planting and care, when choosing soil and a place for planting. However, even such a culture can keep several important secrets.
Loosening the soil, weeding and watering
As noted earlier, stakhis feels great in dry soil and does not tolerate stagnant water. The crop should be watered only in case of hot and very dry summers. On ordinary spring and autumn days, the plant is not recommended to be watered.
lack of moisture in summer days can be seen by the fall of the leaves. It is necessary to water the culture in evening time when the sun shines far enough away. Several young seedlings can be planted in the soil in the spring, since old specimens can stretch upwards, discarding young leaves, and because of this, voids will form in the flower bed, which are best closed for decorative purposes.
If the leaves and stems are too long or completely dry, then it is recommended to cut them. Do the same with the rhizome throughout the summer, which will get out from time to time.
Coma irrigation in summer time, stakhis soil needs to be taken care of. From time to time it needs to be loosened, even though the culture does not give deep-growing roots. This procedure recommended every two weeks.
The plant can be hilled at your discretion, but you can do this no more than 3 times per season, because in this way you give the stakhis space to develop, and this can lead to overgrowth. It is not worth rushing to loosen the soil. Do this only when the leaves have grown to about 20 cm long.
With regard to fertilizers, the crop does not need frequent feeding. It will be enough for her to receive a portion of compost once a season. In the spring, young seedlings can be planted in such soil.
Pruning inflorescences
As you have already noticed from the description of the culture, stakhis is an ornamental plant. He is considered ideal option to decorate borders, lawns or streams. Of course, the deciduous part of the plant is valued much more than its thin stems, on which a hat of unsightly and small flowers is located. It's hard to imagine how much strength the stahis gives in order to release such an arrow.
Naturally, this is all compensated by new shoots that die or if new leaves do not develop. But for decoration, we need everything to be the other way around, what to do?
For leafy velvet to be saved, arrows of inflorescences must be constantly trimmed. The shorter the pruning is, the better it will affect the development of the leaves. The optimal time for such a procedure is the period immediately after the full first flowering.
If it was not possible to have time to cut the plant before, then next year it is necessary to carefully monitor the formation of new shoots from the end of April or the beginning of May - immediately cut them off without regret. As soon as warm sunny days come, the plant will give all its strength to the foliage during the period of active growth, which will eventually cover the ground and will delight the gardening eye with its luxurious appearance until the first frosts.
If winter stood out quite snowy and frosty, it is not recommended to transplant the plant to a new place. Stachys will cover himself with a snow blanket and calmly winter, and in the spring he will again delight his master with velvet shoots.
In the event that the winter turned out to be dry, but frosty, it is recommended to cover the plants on winter season under a dense film, and protect the root system with a layer of mulch.
Sowing seeds in open ground
The plant can be propagated by planting seeds outdoors in the spring, when the threat of night frost has passed, or in the fall, just before the onset of winter frosts. Slightly frozen soil may also be suitable for planting, but it will need to be well warmed up.
It is very important to ensure that the outdoor temperature is not lower than 8°C, but not higher than 20°C. Approximately 10 days after planting the seeds, the plant will give the first shoots. The percentage of germination, as in the case of germinating planting material in room conditions, very tall. After that, it will be possible to plant young crops, observing the standard distance between seedlings of 15-20 cm.
The division of the bushes
Quite often used method of propagation of stakhis. From a developed bush, it is necessary to separate part of the foliage along with the root system. This method will allow enough short time to get a new plant, therefore, it is most preferable to use this method to propagate the culture. You can plant and divide a bush at any time of the year, except for winter, which is another plus of dividing the bushes. The most important thing is that there is no scorching sun outside. Therefore, the best time for breeding stakhis by dividing the bushes is the end of August, since the weather is still quite warm, but not the same as with the scorching July sun.
cuttings
As noted earlier, the plant has rather shallow roots, so propagation by cuttings will also provide you with a quality result. Stakhis cuttings are able to adapt to the new land in a fairly short time.
- We choose the appropriate material for planting from the bottom of the stem of an adult plant.
- We cut the cuttings with a sharp disinfected knife at a right angle.
- We plant the material not too deep into the ground, keeping a distance of 15-20 cm between specimens.
The most preferable task with this method of reproduction remains to monitor the adaptation period of young plants. It is also necessary to carefully monitor the level of moisture in the soil so that the roots of the stakhis are not damaged by rot. At the same time, too dry soil is also undesirable, since it can dry out the roots of a young plant.
It is possible to carry out cuttings and in early spring. In the event that the soil has not yet warmed up, cover it with a film for a couple of days. For this method of reproduction, a warm, but not too hot time of summer, autumn or spring is suitable.
Woolly Chistets is a herbaceous culture of the Lamiaceae family, growing in coniferous and mixed forests, in forest and forest-steppe areas. The plant is also cultivated in home gardens for future medicinal use. Popular names for chistets are hare ears and Byzantine chistets. The first name was coined because of the white edge on the leaves of the culture.
Description
This plant is considered a perennial, has massive elongated leaves, tapering downwards. They seem to be wrapped in light gray fluff, which makes them especially decorative and beautiful. This is the beauty of the woolly cleaner. His photo is presented below.
The flowers of the culture are small, lilac-pink and lilac in color, in dense spike-shaped inflorescences placed on oblong peduncles. Chistets blooms in June-September. Due to the fact that the flower stalks are elongated, they often fall on the soil due to rain.
Growing conditions
The plant is very fond of light, grows remarkably in open and sunny areas, but it can also be planted in partial shade. The culture is winter-hardy, prefers light drained soil with a certain composition of rotted manure or vegetable fertilizer. Woolly Chistets develops very well in dry zones. In moist soil, it quickly rots, and the luxurious pubescence of its leaves is lost. Tubers left in the soil for the winter season do not die. growing season flower - 130-140 days.
Planting a plant
You can start harvesting plots for planting delenok, grown seedlings and rooted cuttings in the middle of summer. For 1 sq. m, you need to add 20 g of potassium sulfate, 50 g of ordinary superphosphate and dig the soil to a depth of 30 cm. Then select the weed roots and add at least 10 kg of organic top dressing.
In August, it is already possible to plant the future woolly chistets in a permanent place, distributing it at a distance of 30-40 cm between crops. The earth should be light (ideally - loamy and sandy), drained, not very wet, without stagnant water, properly fertilized.
Care
In principle, the flower does not require any special care. This is a completely unpretentious plant, and it is easy to care for it. All soils are suitable for him, with the exception of those that contain too much moisture. The woolly handsome man is not only cold-resistant, he also perfectly withstands drought and does not need constant watering. At the same time, it is undesirable to water the leaves, it is enough to moisten the root system.
After flowering, the flower stalks should be disposed of. Cut them off as far as possible. You can also remove the damaged lower leaves to allow the new ones to recreate the lush and wonderful look again.
Already an adult woolly cleaner who spent the winter on open area, needs special feeding. A mixture of mullein or chicken manure with ammonium nitrate will do for this. Such top dressing will be enough to fertilize the flower twice in the spring.
Young seedlings planted at the end of the spring season will need to be filled mineral fertilizers once every 15 days. If organic nutrition absent on the farm, it can be replaced by herbal extract. Nettle, for example, contains all essential trace elements. The plant can become even more decorative and beautiful if its flower sprouts are cut off at the time of bud formation. And it will take on a very spectacular appearance of a woolly cleaner (the photo below demonstrates this).
reproduction
Such a culture is bred by three methods: cuttings, dividing the bush and seeds. For cuttings, for the most part, the lower place of the escape is used. They require limited moisture to root and must be controlled to ensure they do not rot. The method of dividing the bush is good in any season, except for winter. For separation, it is not necessary to dig out the whole bush, you can simply cut off a part and transplant.
Woolly Chistets: growing from seeds
Basically, this flower is grown from seeds. Most best time for sowing seeds for seedlings - this is March. Not even 3 weeks will pass, as the first shoots appear. A young plant is slightly different from an adult. Its leaves are not hairy at all, which is why at first many gardeners may think that they messed up the seeds.
Around the end of May, when the seedlings of the culture grow up and get stronger, it can already be planted in open ground. It should not be forgotten that the soil lump on the flower should in no case be destroyed.
The Chistets unfolds all its amazingness and charm in an open and abundantly sunlit area. After some time, the leaves of the culture begin to droop a little, acquiring their natural appearance and silver color. By the end of the summer period, you can already see a real living carpet in the garden, which will not lose its beauty even in winter. The plant remarkably withstands frosts and looks very unusual against the backdrop of snow.
Those who want to grow something original and very unusual in their garden can safely plant a magnificent flower - woolly chistets. Planting and caring for such a marvelous culture will not be difficult, but will bring great pleasure to gardeners.
Byzantine Chistets, also known as Woolly Stakhis, also known as Sheep Ears, is a charming and unpretentious plant with silvery fluffy leaves.
Woolly cleaner. Photo by the author He settled in my garden a long time ago: a neighbor shared shoots, which have since turned into chic fleecy "rugs" and spread out in different flower beds. Of course, in new garden these "ears" also arrived.
The plants are still small, but next season they will form a pretty lawn, and in a year it will be possible to settle the chistets further.
A young plant of chistetsa. Photo by the author There are countless options for using this plant in flower beds. It's great border: bushes without peduncles are low, grow very densely and, due to the elegant silvery color of the foliage, create a spectacular frame for a flower bed or garden path.
Looks great and feels great woolly cleaner in rockeries, on retaining walls, V rocky gardens. It is undemanding to the soil, tolerates drought easily, loves light - an ideal plant for rock garden.
On the other hand, it also grows well in partial shade, and therefore it can be successfully planted under shrubs. In such a composition, the cold color and unusual texture of the leaves can become a winning accent. It is only important to make sure that the shadow is not too thick, and that the neighbors are undemanding to food. On too fertile soil and with a lack of lighting, “sheep ears” can turn green, losing their charm.
Endless scope for imagination is left by all sorts of combinations of cleaners. with other ornamental foliage plants. Here, for example, how he settled down with me between the hosts and cypress milkweed on the shore of the pond
Chistets with hosts by the pond. Photo by the author The Chistets' own flowers are nothing special, and tall, often unstable flower stalks make plantings untidy. So I try to cut them off; when the plant is grown as an ornamental leaf, this procedure is highly desirable. Especially, caring for cleaner that is where it actually ends.
But how expressive is the luxurious, silky foliage against the background of other flowers! Due to its neutral color, the cleaner is appropriate in almost any composition, and every time it will look new. I especially like restrained, noble combinations with blue and white colors, but red, yellow, pink, lilac look, perhaps, no worse. Here, admire, for example: Chistets against the background of flowering chives
Chistets woolly on the background of chives. Photo by the author By the way, for planting woolly chistets Suitable for both spring and autumn. At the same time, old, overgrown plants can be divided, the rooted shoots of which are easily separated and take root well in a new place.
I have read that in regions where winters are harsh, light cover is recommended for the plants, but mine overwinters fine without it. And in early spring, it’s enough just to remove the old, browned and dried foliage and take care that the cleaner does not stagnate at the roots water is his main enemy causing root rot and plant death.
And I also like to stroke the leaves, soft and unusually pleasant to the touch. Great mood lifter!
Chistets is the name of a whole genus of ornamental herbaceous and semi-shrub plants. There are about 300 known various kinds, most of which have been cultivated. In household plots and gardens, as ornamental plant very often you can find a woolly cleaner, or as the people call it sheep's ears.
Woolly Chistets - refers to herbaceous plants of the lamb family, which in the wild love to grow in coniferous and mixed forests. On their plots, many people breed it for aesthetic decoration and broad medicinal purposes.
A photo in which you can see a woolly cleaner. A white edge is noticeable on the foliage, because of which the grass is called sheep's ears.
general description
This plant is perennial, has oblong leaves of large size, which taper downwards. Thanks to the light fluff, they look very beautiful and in a special decorative way.
The flowers that a plant has can have a different color, depending on the variety. So the Byzantine cleaner blooms with small pink and lilac flowers, and the annual cleaner, for example, white. Flowers growing on the grass are placed on elongated peduncles, which often hang down to the ground, especially after rain. The flowering period falls at the beginning of summer and continues until autumn itself.
Not all types of this beautiful plant are valued by gardeners, as there is one kind of cleaner, which is a kind of weed - the annual cleaner. The plant is 2-lobed, also belongs to the lamb. It grows in very vast areas, especially in forest-steppe zones. To a large extent, it litters and harms orchards, orchards and fields with grain crops.
Chistets annual (photo below) prefers loose soil with a moderate level of humidity. Most often grow in areas with active sunlight. High drought tolerance. The roots are taproot, the stems are straight, pubescent or glabrous, capable of branching. The height of the weed is 20-50 centimeters. The leaves are oblong, opposite, with blunt ends, not covered with down. The flowers are white or pale yellow with red spots, hiding behind the leaf axils. The flowering period falls on June-September. The fruit is a nutlet, tetrahedral (2 mm by 1.5 mm).
One year old cleaner.
Growing conditions
A prerequisite for growing woolly chistets is the presence of a large amount of light, so experts advise planting it in open areas of land where it gets well. sunlight. The grass thrives in light, well-drained soil that has been fertilized with manure or vegetable fertilizers before planting.
Byzantine Chistets takes root well in areas with a dry climate, since in very damp soil it begins to rot quickly, and all the beauty of its leaves and flowers is lost. Those tubers that remain in the ground for winter period they do not die, but on the contrary, they tolerate frost very well. The vegetation period of the flower takes 130-140 days.
plant care
The woolly cleaner does not have any particularities regarding care. The plant is absolutely unpretentious and very easy to care for. All types of soil are excellent for it, except for too wet. Sheep ears not only survive severe frosts well, but also cope well with drought, which in turn does not require constant watering. It must be remembered that watering the leaves is not desirable, just enough to moisten the root system.
After the flower stalks fade, they need to be cut. The cut point should be as far from the top as possible. In addition, spoiled foliage at the bottom of the grass should be removed to allow young leaves to grow, which will restore the splendor and beauty of the plant.
The adult Byzantine chistets, who have been in open areas throughout the winter, require mandatory feeding when it gets warmer. For this you can use mixtures organic fertilizers with saltpeter. For best result, in the spring it is advised to make two top dressings.
Young specimens that were planted at the end of the spring season should be fertilized with mineral fertilizers every 2 weeks. Top dressing of organic origin can be replaced with herbal extracts (nettle is well suited for this, which contains all the necessary trace elements).
Planting a plant
It is best to prepare the soil in the area where the woolly cleaner will be planted in the month of July. For 1 square meter land, you need to apply about 20 grams of potassium sulfate, 50 grams of superphosphate, and dig all these components to a depth of 30 centimeters. In the presence of weed roots, it is necessary to completely select them, and add another 10 kilograms of organic top dressing.
In August, all young plants will be ready for transplanting to a permanent place. It is necessary to plant a cleaner at a distance of about 30-40 centimeters between two grasses. The soil should be light, well-drained and without excessive moisture (especially without stagnant water).
reproduction
Chistets gets divorced by three various methods: cuttings, division and seeds.
- To create a cutting, the lower part of the shoot is usually used. In order for them to take root well, you should monitor the level of moisture, as they easily rot.
- The division is good because it can be used in any season except winter. For separation, you do not need to dig out the whole plant, just cut off part of the root and transplant it to a new place.
- Growing from seeds is the most basic breeding technique for the woolly chisel. March is considered the most favorable sowing period. After sowing, it takes about 3 weeks to the first shoots. Young sprouts have some differences from adults, this is especially evident on the leaves. The young sprout does not have hairy foliage, which is why more than one gardener thought that he made a mistake with the choice of seeds.
Somewhere at the end of May, the seedlings should grow and get stronger, which will make it possible to safely transplant it to an open plot of land. Do not forget that the soil lump should remain untouched.
All its unusual beauty, the woolly chistets shows it by sprouting in an open area of \u200b\u200bland, where the sun often shines. After some time, the leaves begin to pubescent, acquiring their natural appearance and silver color. At the end of summer, the gardener can already admire a real, living carpet that will delight him even in winter.
For those gardeners who want to have something unusual on their site, and at the same time beautiful plant, it is advised to plant a woolly cleaner. For planting and caring for a plant, it does not require much expense and effort, and in return it will bring only aesthetic pleasure from its specific appearance.
Byzantine Chistets (Stachys byzantina), more popularly known as woolly stakhis or sheep's ears, is a representative of the genus Stachys, which has about 400 species of herbaceous plants. This species grows in Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Iran.
The genus name was assigned by the botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and in Greek means "ear" with reference to appearance inflorescences.
Woolly stakhis is completely unpretentious in care, and its unusual appearance will adorn almost any flower arrangement.
The young leaves appear in early spring and are immediately covered with thick, silvery, felt-like hairs.
The plant has creeping low stems, and at the beginning of summer a peduncle appears, the height of which is about 30-40 cm. Growing, the perennial forms dense dense curtains. The leaves are thick, soft, elongated - elliptical, pubescent. Small pink-violet flowers do not have much decorative value.
Stakhis woolly is not very picky about lighting, however, sunny exposures make the silver color of its foliage more saturated. The most suitable soils are sandy, rocky, well-drained. The plant tolerates drought well, on heavy and wet soils it becomes susceptible to decay, especially in winter.
In conditions high humidity cleaner is susceptible to damage powdery mildew. Does not need regular feeding and watering, pH also does not play a significant role.
To maintain a compact shape and rejuvenate plantings, it is better to cut flower stalks immediately after flowering. If you are not interested in the appearance of flowers, then cut off at the beginning of the formation.
Grade "Silver Carpet"
reproduction
The best way to propagate chistetsa is to divide the bushes in spring or autumn. Once every few years, you can divide the curtains to encourage the growth of new foliage and shoots. The plant reproduces well by self-sowing. Young, strengthened seedlings are dug up and planted in a new place. Stakhis planting is carried out in the spring at a distance of 20-30 cm.
Application in landscape design
The silvery perennial looks good on,. It is planted for around flower beds, along paths. Bright color marigolds, phlox, or garden begonia dilutes the silvery restraint of the stakhis.
Sort "Fuzzy Wuzzy"
The fluffy handsome man creates naturalistic compositions with catnip, hyssop, and monard. It looks great against the background of barberry varieties with red-purple foliage.
The most famous ground cover variety that does not form flowers is "Silver Carpet". Its height does not exceed 20 cm. Growing, it covers the ground with a magnificent silvery carpet. It goes well with some creeping types of stonecrop, cross,. "Striped Phantom" is a variegated variety. 'Fuzzy Wuzzy' is a cultivar that forms a dense carpet of soft and large felty silver-green leaves.
Chistets (lat. Stachys), or stakhis- a genus of semi-shrubs or herbaceous perennials and annuals of the Lamiaceae family. "Stakhis" means "ear": this is exactly what the inflorescences of the chistets look like. Homeland stahis - Asia Minor and the Balkans, from where it spread through Europe and Asia and eventually became cultivated plant. There are more than 300 species in the genus, growing today everywhere except New Zealand and Australia. Chistet is grown as an ornamental and medicinal plant.
Planting and caring for a cleaner (in short)
- Bloom: August for about 4 weeks.
- Landing: sowing seeds for seedlings in early March, planting seedlings in open ground - in the second half of May.
- Lighting: bright light or partial shade.
- The soil: moisture-absorbing sandy and rocky soils of alkaline and neutral reaction.
- Watering: regular, but moderate: the plant is watered only during the dry season; in normal weather, natural precipitation is sufficient.
- Top dressing: twice a season with rotted compost.
- Hilling: at the very beginning of flowering.
- Reproduction: seeds, cuttings, tubers and dividing the bush.
- Pests and diseases: the plant is very resistant.
Read more about growing chistets below.
Chistets flower - description
All ground parts of stakhis are distinguished by dense pubescence, including leaves, which is why it is called "sheep's ears". Stakhis reaches a height of 1 m. Its leaves are opposite, serrated or whole, the flowers are lilac, purple, pink, yellow or white, collected in false whorls, forming spike-shaped inflorescences. The fruit of the chistetsa is a trihedral oblong or ovoid nut.
Growing chistetsa from seeds
When to plant a cleaner
The herb grass is propagated by seeds, tubers, cuttings and dividing the bush. Chistets seeds have high germination. They are sown in a seedling substrate in late winter or early spring. Crops are watered, covered with a film and placed in a warm place. Shoots appear within a month, and after the seedlings form the first pair of leaves, they swoop down.
How to plant a cleaner in the garden
In the second half of May, when the threat of return frosts has passed, the seed cleaner is planted in open ground. The best place for him - a sunny area or partial shade, and the plant is undemanding to the composition of the soil: it grows well on both sandy and stony soils of a neutral or alkaline reaction. The only thing required condition– high moisture content of the soil.
The holes are placed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other, drainage material is laid on the bottom of each of them - pebbles, pebbles or coarse sand, which is sprinkled on top with a layer of soil with humus. Then the seedlings, together with an earthen clod, are transferred to the holes, and after embedding, they are watered abundantly.
Caring for a cleaner in the garden
How to grow a cleaner
Planting a cleaner and caring for it is not laborious. You will need to regularly water the plant, remove weeds around it and loosen the soil, and spud at the very beginning of flowering.
Watering should be moderate: moisture should not be allowed to stagnate in the roots, so the plant is watered only during the dry season, otherwise the cleaner may shed its leaves.
Fertilize the cleaner with rotted compost, which is applied to the soil once a season.
Cultivation of a cleaner requires pruning of shoots spreading beyond the site, otherwise the plant may capture territories not intended for it. Keep in mind that weed weed will be hard to get rid of as it propagates easily by self-seeding. To prevent the seeds from waking up to the ground and germinating uncontrollably, cut off the flower stems during the budding period. It is also necessary to remove nondescript inflorescences because they reduce the decorative effect of the flower bed.
In one place, chistet flowers can grow for several years, but over time, a void forms in the middle of the outlet, so once every 3-4 years, young chistetsa rosettes are planted in the center of the bush.
Pests and diseases of the cleaner
Pests and diseases are rarely affected by pests and diseases.
Cleaner after flowering
The perennial Chistets tolerates cold well and requires shelter only in very cold and snowless winters: to protect it from frost, it is covered with spruce branches. But even if the cleaner endures the cold winter normally, it can die in the spring from waterlogging if its roots stay in melt water for a long time. Keep this in mind when choosing a place for stakhis.
Types and varieties of cleaner
Not many types of chistets are grown in culture. Most often in the flowerbeds you can find a woolly cleaner, or a woolen cleaner, or a Byzantine cleaner, or a sheep's ear cleaner (Stachys byzantiana). This plant comes from the Transcaucasus, the northwestern regions of Turkey and Iran, and from the south of the European part of Russia. It is a rhizome perennial from 20 to 60 cm high with tetrahedral, erect and slightly leafy stems, thick spatulate or oblong-linear leaves, narrowed towards the base and densely pubescent with white felt. The flowers of this species are small, lilac or pink-lilac, collected in dense spike-shaped inflorescences. Cultivated since 1782. The most famous variety of the species is Silver Carpet - a plant only 15 cm high, forming a dense silvery carpet.
distributed in Europe, Asia Minor and Western Siberia. Its stems are from 15 to 35 cm high, simple or branched, usually bare below, shortly pubescent above. The lower leaves are crenate, oblong, wedge-shaped at the base, the upper ones are sharp, serrate, lanceolate, sessile. Whitish-yellowish flowers are collected in long spike-shaped inflorescences. The fruit is a nut. Chistets annual is a honey plant.
grows naturally in Turkey, the Caucasus, Europe, Central Asia, China and Russia. The plant reaches a height of 35 to 120 cm. Its stems are straight, ascending, soft-haired. The stem leaves of the forest chistetsa are petiolate, crenate-serrate, pointed towards the top, ovate-heart-shaped, and the apical leaves are sessile, oblong, entire, light green on the upper side, gray-green below. Inflorescences are long, six-eight-flowered.
or prickly, or blackberry, or chariot, or tenacious, distributed throughout Europe, in parts of Asia with temperate climate from China to Iran, in Turkey, in Siberia and the European part of Russia. The plant reaches a height of 120 cm. It is densely pubescent with rough long hairs. The lower leaves are oblong, sharp, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, finely serrated along the edges, and the upper leaves are entire, ovate-lanceolate, sessile, long-pointed. Spike-shaped inflorescences consist of 6-10 purple-lilac flowers.
grows in the Caucasus and Asia Minor. This is a perennial with a height of 20 to 30 cm. Its leaves are long-petiolate, heart-shaped or rounded, crenate along the edge. large flowers collected in capitate inflorescences and are located on a leafless peduncle up to 50 cm high. This plant has several decorative forms, for example:
- alba- with white flowers;
- superba- with flowers from pink to purple.
is a Eurasian species with a wide range of habitats from 50 to 100 cm high with crenate, oblong, heart-shaped ovate leaves at the base. The basal leaves are long-petiolate, the upper ones are almost sessile. The spike-shaped inflorescence consists of purple or dark pink hairy flowers.
In addition to the described species, fluffy, alpine, lavender-leaved, straight, narrow-leaved, field, Germanic, Cretan and many others are also known.
Cleaner properties
Among the types of cleaner there are those that have useful properties and are used, if not in the official, then in folk medicine. For example, woolly chistets is not a pharmacopoeial plant, but it is widely used among the people, since it has a cardiotonic, hypotensive, hemostatic and antispasmodic effect. And its preparations (decoction, tincture or dry extract) are used to lower blood pressure, with colds, disorders nervous system, tuberculosis, eczema, mastopathy, scrofula and other diseases.
Cleaner is herbaceous plant, which can be found in coniferous and mixed forests. It is also grown on personal plot as medicinal product. Chistets has several other names. Due to the fact that the leaves of the plant are covered with fine white fluff, it is called hare ears or sheep ears. There is another name - Byzantine Chistets or Byzantine Stakhis.
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In this article, we will focus on this plant in more detail.
Byzantine (woolly) cleaner: description and characteristics
Chistets Byzantine is perennial plant. Its leaves are large and beautiful, covered with white fluff, as if with wool. This woolly plant can be safely planted in your garden, not only for medicinal purposes, but simply for decoration.
The flower of the Byzantine stakhis is small, combined with many others. garden plants. The flower can be either pink or lilac. Stakhis begins to bloom in early June, and finishes flowering only at the end of September.
Planting and care, as well as methods of reproduction
Byzantine Chistets is a light-loving plant, so it should be planted in sunny areas. The soil should be light and fertilized with manure or any other vegetable fertilizer. This plant does not tolerate moisture, it may die. Byzantine stakhis easily tolerates severe frosts, so it can be left in the soil for the winter.
Landing.
Bunny ears can be planted either by seedlings or cuttings. This should be done in the middle of summer. The soil must be fertilized before planting. Add superphosphate, potassium sulfate and organic fertilizers to it, and then dig up the prepared soil. If there are weeds, then they need to be removed. The distance between the bushes of the cleaner should be at least thirty centimeters.
Care and cultivation.
Bunny ears is an unpretentious plant, so it needs minimal care. It needs to be watered infrequently so that water stagnation does not form. Watering should be done very carefully under the root, water should not fall on the leaves. This can lead to their death. Byzantine chistets perfectly endure not only frost, but also drought.
As soon as the flower fades, the flower stalks must be cut off. Along with it, you need to remove bad leaves. This is necessary in order for new leaves to grow.
At the beginning of spring woolly chisel must be fed. For this, chicken manure, saltpeter and mullein are suitable. These three ingredients need to be mixed and top dressing is ready. You need to feed the cleaner twice.
If you plant new seedlings in the spring, then they must also be fed with mineral and organic fertilizers. This must be done at least once every two weeks. If there are no organic fertilizers, then the following extract can be made: take nettle, soak it for several days in water. The resulting solution must be watered the plant.
reproduction.
Woolly cleaner can be propagated in three ways:
- cuttings;
- The division of the bush;
- Seeds.
Let's take a closer look at each method..
Propagation of Byzantine stakhis by cuttings.
This breeding method is suitable only in warm weather. To do this, cut off several shoots with leaves. Plant them in specially prepared soil: peat and sand. Plant cuttings there, water. Make sure they don't rot. After a few weeks, new shoots should appear. They can be transplanted already to a permanent place. The distance between the bushes should be at least 20 centimeters.
Reproduction by seeds.
Sheep ears can also be grown from seeds. They can be planted directly in the soil or at home in a special box.
If you decide to plant the plant with seeds directly into the soil, then this should be done in the spring. The seeds will germinate only after fifteen days, and the leaves will not have a white fluff. It will appear over time.
If you want to plant seeds at home. Then this should be done in early spring in special boxes with fertilized soil. When a few leaves appear, the cleaner can already be planted in a permanent place. This should be done no earlier than May. The distance between seedlings should not be less than twenty centimeters.
Reproduction of the Byzantine stakhis by dividing the bush.
This method is the simplest. To do this, the plant must be dug up, and then the root system must be divided into roots by hand. The resulting seedlings can be planted in the ground. The distance between plants should not be less than twenty centimeters and not more than forty centimeters.
Medicinal properties
Woolly Chistets is a medicinal plant that our ancestors took. Flowers, leaves, roots, and stems were used to make the medicine. But even now, stachis is also used. Let's look at its medicinal properties:
But the plant also has contraindications for use:
- Pregnant and lactating women should not take it.
- Chistets is contraindicated in children.
- Not suitable for people with allergies.
How to prepare a medicine?
Infusion of woolly chistets.
Grind the dried leaves, flowers and stems of the plant. Pour one tablespoon of this mixture with a glass of boiling water. Let it brew for two hours, after which it must be filtered. This infusion helps with uterine bleeding and high blood pressure. Take one tablespoon twice a day.
Root tincture.
Pour a tablespoon of roots with 300 milligrams of boiling water. Roots before this must be crushed. The solution should be boiled for about four minutes. After this, the infusion should be left for two hours in peace, so that it brews. Before use, it must be filtered. This remedy is excellent for intestinal colic, stomach pain and gastritis. It is necessary to take the remedy three times a day for half a cup after meals.
woolly plant
