Garden violet: planting and care

The flower of a pansy, scientifically - a garden violet, is an ornament of each flowerbed, where it lands. Care of this plant is simple and is available to any newcomer in the flower-growing business. And what a variety of tones and shades! This previously prevailed only lilac-purple scale, where the name came from. Modern garden violets will flower the flower bed in red, blue, violet, yellow, pink, orange and even white colors. If you want something special, the velvet black petals of flowers will definitely attract attention.

What kind of plant is a violet?

The name of this flower comes from the Old Roman "Viola" and was used in the creations of Pliny and Virgil. Violet garden, photo varieties which are presented in this article, is the oldest garden culture. Its two thousand years ago, the Romans and Greeks used in wreaths to decorate the premises.

At the end of the eighteenth century, the botanist from Russia PS Pallas, who studied the Altai flora, brought this flower from Altai to Petersburg for the first time.

Violets are herbaceous one-, two- or perennial plants. The leaves are arranged in turn or collected in the basal rosette. The flowers are single, the upper petals are smaller than the lower ones, they have outgrowth in the form of a horn or sack at the base. The fruit of the violet is a box, the seeds retain the ability to rise up to two years.

The genus of this plant has about 500 species that have spread all over the world. There are wild species, and cultivated.

Varieties of violets

Many amateur gardeners grow on their flower beds violets of garden varieties, most often biennial or annual plants. A characteristic feature of such varieties is that they bloom early in the spring and sink with flowers under the snow. Better than the others from this species, Vittroca's violet has taken root in Russia.

But there is another kind - the violet garden perennial. She is quite capable of decorating a flower bed or flower bed for many years. But perennial garden violets delight the view with a generous and luxurious flowering only in the spring, as in the summer they lose their decorativeness due to the formation of a multitude of seed boxes. Such a procedure, like the timely extraction of wilted flowers, will help lengthen the flowering period. Usually, as perennials, a fragrant violet and a horned violet are grown.

Rare Violet

It is worth noting the rare long-term variety of this plant. It is a violet white garden. In nature it grows on forest glades, fringes or on steppe meadows.

This is a beautiful small plant up to 12 cm high, rosettes of leaves are like a triangular heart. Flowers have a characteristic fragrant aroma. The white violet can reproduce vegetatively or by seeds, which are in a capsule, in a hairy ovary.

Blossoms violet from March to May, and from May to July fructifies. It grows in Podillya, Ukraine (in Transcarpathia) and here and there in the Crimea.

The problem with this species is that the white violet garden (photo above) disappears. This is because the steppe and meadow slopes are being plowed up, shrub thickets are being destroyed, and natural conditions are changing. And since the populations of white violets are mostly isolated, it is difficult to move it to other zones.

The populations of white violets are restored under special conditions - in botanical gardens - and are under protection.

Growth conditions

Garden violet gives preference to sunny or slightly shaded places that have fertile, perfectly drained soils. In dry weather, the plant needs watering, otherwise the flowers are shallow and the bloom may stop altogether.

Despite the fact that violets are moisture-loving plants, they can not tolerate a surplus of moisture and are capable of simply perishing in the period of spring thaws.

This plant is easily tolerated by weak shading or diffuse light, but the formation of many flowers and abundant flowering is possible only in a well-lit area. In places that are hidden from the sun and subject to dampness, the violet may be subject to spoilage by slugs.

Violet perennial garden more and more conquers the souls of flower growers. Only grow it as an annual or biennial. For the most part, this is due to the fact that with time the stems of the violet are very strongly extended, and the flowers are reduced in size. It is obvious to all that it is easier and faster to plant new plants.

Annuals

The root system of annual violets is filiform, that is, there is no main root, but there are a great many small roots. They sweep the upper layer of the soil with a wide net and do not go deep into it. Stems branched, on each branch, several flowers are usually opened. The annual flowers are very large, reaching 10 cm. The annual garden violet is a neat decorative bush up to 20 cm high.

The most popular are the following types of peers:

1. Chalon Supreme - a series of varieties with ryushevidnymi tsissantimetrovymi flowers of extraordinary beauty.
2. Rose Shades - a variety with delicate pink petals and a purple central spot.
3. Cherry Pie Mix - purple or maroon flowers with a white border.
4. Flame - a species with fiery red flowers, bordered with orange edging.
5. Cats - an interesting series of varieties. It differs in that in the center of the flower there is a picture that looks like a cat's face.
6. Jema is a series developed especially for hot regions.

Perennial varieties of violets

The garden violet is perennial, photos of which show its beauty, is popular among amateur gardeners. Especially common are the following varieties:

1. Viola odorata is a fragrant violet. A fairly simple, very fragrant plant, about 15 cm tall. It has creeping stems, which easily take root, the leaves in the shape of the heart are gathered in bundles. Flowers about three centimeters in size can be terry or simple and usually have a purple or blue color. The fragrance intensifies in the evenings.
2. Viola cornuta is a horned violet. This perennial plant is approximately 8 to 20 cm tall. The flowers of this species are distinguished by the characteristic presence of spur on the back side. The size of flowers of this plant is from one to four centimeters, the color mainly has a white-blue-yellow range.

Using garden violets in the design of the house

A violet garden, planting and caring for which do not present difficulties, is indispensable for use in the design of alpine gardens. On slides or flat rockeries created from stone, it looks especially beautiful and elegant because of its small size, which is even more emphasized by rock.

In the garden, violets are also used to decorate flower beds, flower beds and curbs. Not bad feel these plants among the bushes and trees, near the ponds. They are also suitable for growing in a variety of garden vases, containers and balcony boxes. Very interesting are all kinds of braids with these romantic flowers.

Excellent behave violets in a limited amount of soil - in pots or pots. This plant is the best for use in multi-level stands and creating small and large pot groups.

A scented violet is perfectly planted near the resting places or in front of the windows in the front garden.

Garden violet in the urban landscape

In the landscape of cities, the violet vine is actively used for many years. Photos of flower beds with this plant are extraordinarily picturesque.

Violets are rightly considered to be beautifully flowering herbaceous perennials, but their use in the design of urban ensembles is very limited. Basically, restrictions are imposed by their small size and rather short flowering time. This creates difficulties in selecting partners and placing violets in compositions.

For beauty and saturation, violets are always placed in groups or spots. The more significant massifs they plant, the more revealing the decorativeness, aroma, the beauty of flowering.

This is one of the most unique plants for bordering beautifully flowering bushes, rose bushes or the formation of landscape carpets, which gives the picturesque and delicate beauty to the whole ensemble.

Also good are violets along the edges of flower beds or mixborders, where the flowers are planted in the first line so that they can be seen. Well, if the period of their flowering coincides with the flowering period of a plant that is planted in the depth of the flower garden.

Planting and reproduction of violets

Regardless of variety and species, perennial garden violets, the care and reproduction of which do not give you special problems, are well dispersed and self-sowing. Manually they are propagated by cuttings, sowing seeds or by layers (by dividing the bush):

1. Cuttings cut from May to June. Stems of violets are divided into five centimeters. Any such piece of shoot should be with three knots. All the flowers and part of the leaves (you need to leave three) come off, and the cuttings under the slope deepen into a container with fertile moist soil of 1 cm. A month later, the rooting takes place and the plant can be transplanted to a permanent place with a distance between bushes of 10-30 cm.
2. For picking, choose a long stem from the side and bend it to the ground, reinforcing the pin and sprinkling it with soil. In a month the withdrawal will take root and it can be separated.
3. Another way of reproduction - by dividing the bush - has a horned hornbeam because of the special rhizome, branching in all directions, from which young bushes grow. The common bush is excavated and divided into parts.

Seeding of the seeds of violets

Perfectly multiplies by seeds a violet garden perennial. Planting and caring for her begin in the autumn. Fresh seeds are sown in September, and shoots appear next spring.

Sowing seeds of Vittroke violets depends on the purposes of planting:

1. For annuals, seedlings are sown in early spring, when the temperature rises to +10 ° C. After sowing, the seeds are lightly ground and covered with a film. Approximately a week later shoots will arise. When the seedlings have at least four leaves, they are planted in a permanent place.
2. For a two-year planting, the seeds are sown in June to the plantation plantation. Immediately on the flower bed they do not sow, as it is not known how many shoots there will be. If they do not all get up, there will be a "bald spot." After a couple of weeks, the shoots are pecked, after the appearance of two true leaves, the seedlings are dived. At the end of summer, young plants are planted in a permanent place with a distance of 10-15 cm. They will only be blossom next year, but the flowers will be larger and larger.

Care of violet

In general, the viola is an undemanding plant. But there are a number of conditions that need to be considered when growing it.

Violet is extremely necessary for sunny places. But it is able to grow and in the penumbra, only its stems begin to stretch intensively and the bush loses shape.

It is necessary to water this plant often: it adores moisture. But if the bed is arranged in the lowland, then you need to take care that there is no stagnation of water.

Every couple of weeks, any fertilizer for flowering plants can be used to dress the violets, but avoid fresh organic: they have a bad reaction to the viola.

Flowers that wither, you must systematically snap, so the plant will continue to caress the eyes with blossom.

In very hot weather, the stems of the viola grow intensively and the bush loses its decorativeness. In order to return the plant to a compact form, it must be cut off. It is worth cutting even the appendages with flowers. Should remain stems about 8 cm long. Already after a couple of weeks the viola will revive and again continue flowering.

Do not like the raw and cold winters of violets. Planting should be easily covered with boughs of fir branches or woody foliage.

Pests and diseases

Like any garden plant, the violet is prone to damage from diseases and pests. The main ones are:

1. Stems, leaves and buds affect powdery mildew, a cobweb and black dots appear. It is treated by spraying with antifungal agents.
2. Leaves affect the spotting, the plant withers, the infection can persist even in seeds. It is necessary to destroy and dig up a bed, to process with chemistry.
3. The stem base is thinned and darkens. This is a black leg. The reason is thickening of crops, the regime of light and moisture is disturbed. The bed should be loosened, ripped and treated against the fungus.
4. Flowers are covered with gray rot - fuzzy plaque with decay. The reason is little light, a lot of moisture and nitrogen. Treatment consists of thinning, airing, fertilizing. Also need chemical treatment.
5. The plant is affected in May-June by caterpillars of clover scoop and mother-of-pearl violet. It is necessary to spray with infusion of tobacco and chlorophos when young caterpillars appear.