Hosta is a popular plant with a dense rhizome.It can often be seen in shady yards and parks. This perennial with large foliage can become a highlight of a flower bed, decorate itself with a summer residence or a garden. The blue host differs foliage of an unusual blue tint. Even florists use it to create unusual bouquets. The host is loved by landscape designers and is often used to decorate flower beds.
The blue host is a ground cover plant andcan serve as a protection for themselves and neighboring crop plants from weeds. In the natural environment grows in the Far East, Korea and China. For the Japanese, it is considered sacred and has been cultivated in gardens for thousands of years. Previously, the tradition did not allow residents of eastern countries to import the host abroad, because in Europe this perennial was learned only in the XVIII century.
Very unusual looks blue host.Her sheet is heart-shaped and large enough. An interesting blue-green color of the leaf plate gives a wax coating. It becomes less visible under the influence of sunlight. The plant blooms in September. On the photo of the host, a plant with bright foliage, in a flourishing state it seems like the real queen of the garden. Inflorescence - collected in a brush bells of lilac, white or lilac. Flowering lasts from June to October. When all the buds are wilted, the flower stem should be removed.
Hosts are universal plants for shady places.They perfectly coexist with most plants and are undemanding to care. The plant is unprincipled to the soil and perfectly tolerates a lack of light. The host is combined with ferns, aquilegia, medinitsa, astilba and other flowers. A special charm is the composition of this perennial and coniferous plants, as well as group planting next to fountains, artificial waterfalls or around the pond. Thanks to a variety of varieties, one can use their creative abilities and combine different plant forms with each other, coming up with unusual combinations. Good looking together are different varieties of blue hosts and low green bushes. On the curbs and paths are often planted large bushes, combining them with tall plants. Beautifully flowering perennials beautifully set off the unusual coloration of the leaves of the blue hosts. You can grow the host as a container plant, moving it around the garden.
Посадка хосты весной начинается с подбора места.When planting on a sunny area, the leaves lose a bluish tinge and become simply green. Therefore, you should choose penumbra. Perennial prefers places under the crown of large plants or trees. Where to put the blue host? On sandy and loamy soils, it is baddevelops. The ideal soil is weakly acidic and moist, but a thick drainage layer should be placed in the planting pit. Place for the plant should be protected from drafts. When group planting, the distances between plants should be at least 80 cm. They are watered only at the root, otherwise the leaves may be spoiled.
Before landing in the spring,The soil needs to be loosened up to 30 cm deep, then mixed with a complex fertilizer to stimulate the growth of the root system. Then the ground is removed, a small hole is dug out, twice as wide as the root system of the plant. The root cervix should be flush with the soil when planting. The roots are straightened when planting, and then they are covered with soil. The earth is rolled up, mulched with bark, and the blue host is watered abundantly.
The plant gets a decorative look on the thirdyear of life. The leaves turn blue in two years. In fertile soil, the perennial must be fed not earlier than a year after planting. In autumn it is sufficient to cover the soil around the plant with compost. If the plant does not have enough nutrients or it grows on poor soil, for fertilizing use fertilizer in the granules, scattering it around the bush.
Feed the blue host up to the middlesummer, otherwise it will only build up the green mass, and not blossom, and will not have time to stop growth before the start of frost. The soil around the plant is constantly moistened, so that the foliage retains its decorative qualities and does not begin to darken at the edges. Water should be in the early morning, lifting the leaves. Then the ground is mulched - this will hold moisture inside. To perennial look neat and do not lose shape, young peduncles are removed. In late autumn, the leaves are cut off: in spring new ones will appear.
On the photo of the host, the plant is blue, oftenstands out against the background of other perennials. Because it is so popular to use landscape designers for their work. This perennial has many interesting varieties, and in the garden you can plant several different blue hosts at once.
Classical varieties include:
Reproduction of blue hosts is possible by divisionbush, cuttings and seeds. Bushes are divided during transplantation in the fifth year of plant life. This allows you to keep their shape. The best period for separation is early spring or early autumn. The host is excavated and the rhizome is cut, leaving one or two rosettes on each plot. Places of cut sprinkle with pounded charcoal. Damaged and decayed roots are removed, and plants are planted in a permanent place. Hosts take root usually within two weeks. Therefore, it is desirable to have time to arrange them before the temperature decreases.
Размножение черенками позволяет сохранить сорт plants. This method is used in the summer, from June to July. As cuttings, shoots with leaves are used. The sheets should be shortened by a third to reduce the evaporation of moisture from the surface. Cuttings shelter from direct sunlight and constantly moisten the soil around.
Seeds appear after the plantwill bloom. In place of the buds remains a box with which you can collect the seed. The disadvantage of this method of reproduction is the loss of variety. The seeds of the hosts do not differ in their strong germination; before sowing, they are soaked in growth stimulants and treated with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. The soil is also disinfected to destroy fungal spores and other pathogens of various diseases. You can do this by burning the soil in the oven or by treating with the same solution of potassium permanganate. Soil for sowing seeds are baking powder and peat. It must be breathable and light. The host is sown superficially in moist soil using disinfected containers. At the bottom put a thick layer of drainage. Seeds lightly sprinkled with substrate, covered with foil or placed in a greenhouse and put in a place protected from direct sun.
The optimum temperature for germination is + 20-25 ° C.The first seedlings appear after 2 weeks. Then the greenhouse is transferred to a well-lit place and begin to air periodically, accustoming the plants to the open space. It is important to monitor the soil moisture and prevent it from drying out. At the stage of the first pair of leaves, the seedlings are pickled by placing them in different containers. Pots put in a large pan with water and watered through it. Topsoil covered with sand and continue to monitor the humidity. When young plants get stronger, they begin to harden, lowering the air temperature to +18 ° C. Hosts develop very slowly and almost always lose their varietal qualities during reproduction in this way.
Голубую хосту чаще всего повреждают улитки и slugs. They eat juicy leaves and spoil their appearance with their silvery footprints. The main means of dealing with them - traps and bait in the form of pellets. Small rodents can spoil rhizomes. To protect it, it is better to hold it in a tank with a net or sprinkle around a poisonous bait. Especially often pests attack the host in winter. If in the spring the plant does not have fresh leaves, it may indicate that insects have damaged the root. To check it is dug and inspected.
For the winter, the host does not need a special shelter, butSome experienced gardeners try to protect themselves by mulching the soil around the plant. If the soil is damp, such places become ideal for breeding field mice. They dig holes around and spoil the root system of the plant. Another danger for blue hosts is the caterpillars. They can destroy the bush in one night. Against these insects use special chemical preparations - insecticides. A dangerous pest that destroys hosts is a nematode. These worms live in the ground, but can crawl onto plants and feed on leaves. Lesions look like brown stripes on leaf streaks. Aphids can also settle on a blue host. Then small spots appear on the sheet plate, similar to punctures with a pin.
Among the common diseases of theseperennials in the first place are fungal. They are struggling with fungicides. Plants may be infected with viruses. The signs of a lesion are yellow spots and points on the leaf plate. It is useless to fight viruses, a diseased plant is dug out and destroyed, otherwise the virus will spread to neighboring trees and shrubs. A tool that has come into contact with a diseased plant must be sanitized.
Phylosticctosis - a disease caused by a lesion.fungal infection. It is often found in perennials weakened by severe wintering and when the tops freeze during return frosts. The lesions look like large merging brown spots with a grayish bloom.
The blue host can also get sick with anthracnose. Infection affects plants weakened by a lack of nutrition and an excess of moisture in the soil. It is possible to cure the disease with the help of systemic fungicides.
