Lobularia - growing flower carpet

Lobularia, cultivated on a production scale, captures new areas and conquers the hearts of more and more amateurs. White, pink, purple colors create a vibrant living wavy carpet.

Lobularia is notable for a long flowering period (from early May to November, to the first frosts). Lobularia, cultivation and care of which is not difficult, is very unpretentious in conditions. This culture grows in open sunny places, well tolerates slight shading and prefers humid soil. The soil should be moderately heavy, preferably loamy with an admixture of peat and sand, well drained. Otherwise, water will stagnate and rot roots. With excessive moisture, flowers are affected by fungal diseases (powdery mildew). To combat the pathogen remove diseased leaves, and the flowers are sprayed with a solution of green soap, thinning thickets of alissum (this is another way called lobularia).

In March, lobularia seeds are sown in a greenhouse without closing, but only pressing them down, since the change is very small. Seedlings watered and loosen the soil. After 10 days, seedlings appear, and after 35 days the lobularia blooms. Young shoots thin and dive. In a permanent soil planted with a clod of earth 15-20 cm. The distance should be observed to prevent crowding, because growing, the bush will spread along the ground, and if there is a lack of space, shoots will stretch upwards, which will deprive them of decorativeness and reduce flowering. During a prolonged period of vegetation, it is necessary to feed plants with mineral substances once a month. To obtain early seedlings, it is possible to sow the lobularia in November, but in connection with wintering, the stems are stretched and the plant is more susceptible to diseases. Lobularia, which grows in autumn or early winter, is already blooming in March. It is worth noting that when harvesting Lobularia from lawns in November, she splendidly dissipates herself.

Runaway lobularia after the first wave of flowering should be pruned 5-7 cm, especially shortening the side shoots, which will definitely stimulate the apical growth, and rapid flowering will begin again after 10-15 days. A week after the pruning, when the stress for the flowers passed and they re-established, it's time to carry out complex mineral fertilizing.

These flowers are cross-pollinated, therefore, the lobularia, the cultivation of which requires compliance with the cleanliness of the lines, must be planted from each other with a space break of at least 200-250 m. Otherwise, after such pollination, hybrids that are less sensitive to fungal diseases and with lower ornamentality may grow. Lobularia, cultivated widely and everywhere, is suitable for the greening of roadside lawns. They are also decorated with alpine hills, rockeries. They are also suitable for decorating loggias and balconies. Flowers lobularia are well combined with other colors in the lawn composition: they can often be planted as the first tier at high peduncles, to mask the errors of the soil, are used as ampel plants.

The soap is similar in appearance to the flower of the lobularia. The shoots are up to 50 cm in height, but the inflorescences are larger. The most decorative terry sorts are soap. Soap, which is not too difficult to grow, is a good flower stalk. It is sown in March in greenhouses for obtaining seedlings, which in a month is ready for planting in open ground. It is better to transplant a young shoot after 20 days after emergence, as older adults react poorly to this procedure. Cold-resistant, so the spring frost is not terrible to her. Perennials of the soap house reproduce by dividing rhizomes, in contrast to annuals. It is well established on poor soils, in stony crevasses. Poor response to fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. In the rest, care for the soap is the same as for the Lobularia.