Perennial letter: seed propagation and methods of growing in the garden. Perennial capital cap grandiflora - features and roles in compositions Cap cap grandiflora in landscape design

Initial letter (Betonicagrandiflora) – The plant is herbaceous and lives for many years. Belongs to the family "Lamiaceae" or sometimes you can find "Lamiaceae". The name comes from the shape of the flower. It looks like two lips. Very common in the Caucasus, in the mountains. It grows to a height of about 60 cm with pink and lilac flowers. Blooms from bottom to top starting in July. If you trim faded flowers in a timely manner, they will delight you for a long time, until frost appears. The leaves are dense, oval-shaped and green.

Approximately 15 species of Lamiaceae are known. Many species are cultivated and grown at home. In Europe, the most popular are large-flowered and medicinal Bukvitsa . Both types are a little similar, but the medicinal flowers are much smaller and have a specific smell. Subsequently, preference is given to the initial decoration with large flowers. The plant looks good in various garden settings.

Initial letter – care:

Lighting:

The initial letter is quite unpretentious. That's why many people like to grow it. Grows well in sunny areas of the land. But it will not behave aggressively if you place it in partial shade. In the sun the plant will be beautiful, straight and tall.

Temperature:

The initial letter tolerates frost; it does not need to be covered for the winter. But subsequently, the plant’s love for light responds well to high temperatures. The average temperature of its existence is 10-15 °C. Relates well to sudden changes in air temperature.

Watering:

You need to water the plant quite carefully, but moderately. The letter does not tolerate if the soil is waterlogged. Then she may lose her decorative abilities. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor the soil of the plant.

Humidity:

The flower survives dry weather quite well. Subsequently, the leaves may become hard. It is not recommended to spray them with water. Optimal air humidity is 45%.

Feeding:

From the beginning of flowering, Bukvitsa can be fed. Minerals are good. You can fertilize with organic fertilizers, rotten leaves, sand, peat. You don’t need any special substances. But there must be minerals in the soil.

Transfer:

The initial plant can be replanted during warm seasons. Somewhere with the arrival of spring or autumn. But it does not require frequent transplantation. Feels quite good in one place for a long time. When transplanting, add organic fertilizers. This promotes good and fast plant growth.

Reproduction:

These flowers reproduce by dividing bushes and seeds. If you want to sow your own seeds, you can store the inflorescences of the Bukvitsa until seeds form in them. Then you can self-sow by collecting them closer to winter. It is worth considering that these seeds will bloom in 3 years. You can divide the bush only 2 times every 10 years.

Some features:

Medicinal Initial Letter is widely used in medicine and has healing properties. Included in various preparations, creams, medicinal teas. Tea is good for migraines. You can dry the leaves of the plant. For decoration, you can use the Initial Letter in various ekibans, bouquets, or dry it. The flower will look very beautiful in the garden. They make borders out of it, many are planted in small groups, and I make flower beds. The plant does not grow very much into foreign territories and does not behave aggressively. For any gardener, or just a flower lover, this is a suitable flower for various compositions.

Initial letter – diseases and pests:

The initial letter is very rarely susceptible to pests and diseases. If this happened, then she was struck by a slug. But it does not spoil it, since the leaves contain essential oils that have a specific smell and it repels them.

“Each initial letter is individual and unique, just as each leaf on the tree of life is unique.” This quote refers to the Slavic alphabet, in which letters were called initial letters. But the humble plant from family Lamiaceae by name drop cap is also not without a strong personality.

It’s easy to find among Russian forbs medicinal initial letter (Betonica officinalis): an excellent honey plant, a popular healing agent, a dye for wool. But no matter how useful the medicinal letter is, no matter how original its pink flowers, like flowers with a bent lip, are, it is better to give it a place in the apothecary’s garden.

But there is another type, unpretentious and decorative, - capital letter grandiflora (Betonica grandiflora = B.macrantha): plant of the alpine meadows of the Caucasus. It has a thick and short rhizome with a large number of adventitious roots - this is important to consider when transplanting and dividing an overgrown plant. The height of the rosette of leaves is 20-30 cm. And large pink flowers are located on a leafless peduncle (up to 50 cm in height). There are varieties with different colors of inflorescences and different flower sizes: Alba, Superba. In particular, there are initial letters with unusual lilac inflorescences, which are rare in the garden palette.

The initial letter begins to grow early - in early May. And flowering occurs at the end of June - beginning of July and lasts, depending on the weather, for two to three weeks, which is a lot for a herbaceous perennial. If you remove the faded inflorescences, you will be left with a “tussock” of dark green leaves that remain decorative until frost. The letter grows in one place for a long time, without crawling to the side and maintaining compactness, this is an ideal plant for any garden composition.

There are many options for using initial letters in a decorative garden. It makes good borders and looks impressive when planted in large groups. Since the large-flowered initial letter comes from mountainous regions, it belongs in a rock garden or rock garden. Here it successfully coexists with carnations, sedums, saxifrages... It is good to use a drop cap in a mixed composition. She wins in partnership with plants with white inflorescences or silver foliage.

For its life in the garden, the letter does not require much - it would be an open sunny place (although it can tolerate partial shade). In the sun, the plant is taller and the stems are straighter. Grows well on ordinary garden soil. She does not need frequent watering - she easily tolerates drought (at the same time, the leaves become hard and are not liked by gnawing pests). But it does not tolerate waterlogging well: it loses its decorative effect and suffers from slugs. Overwinters without shelter - survives even after the harshest winters.

Vegetatively - by dividing the bush - it is better to propagate the initial plant in the spring (it may not tolerate planting and division in late autumn and will die). You can break out shoots that have grown 5-10 cm and use them for green cuttings. This plant is also propagated by seeds. Although they do not need stratification, it is still better to sow them before winter or in winter in containers and bury them in the snow. When sowing in spring, seedlings may become sparse. Initial plant grown from seeds blooms in the third year.

Prefers a sunny place, but tolerates partial shade. In the sun, the plant is taller and the stems are straighter.

Grows well on ordinary garden soil.

It does not tolerate waterlogging and easily tolerates drought: the leaves become hard and are not liked by gnawing pests.

Bukvitsa is a flowering herbaceous plant for open ground with a pleasing appearance and remarkable character. This perennial is unpretentious, winter-hardy, easy to plant and care for, easy to propagate, not aggressive and retains its decorative appearance throughout the entire garden season. The natural and uncomplicated beauty of this plant fits perfectly into a landscape designed in Provencal style. A modest and discreet initial letter will also do an excellent job as a decorator of garden paths. It is a pity that it is so far undeservedly rare in Russian garden plots, but its popularity is steadily growing.

General description of the plant with photo

The letter belongs to the Yasnotkov family and is a perennial. Its short and straight thickened rhizome produces many adventitious roots. The heart-shaped leaves, softly serrated at the edges and pubescent on both sides, resemble mint. The stems are distinctly tetrahedral, hairy, erect, and in more rare cases, ascending. The lower leaves are long-petioled, but as they move upward the petioles become shorter and shorter as the leaves become sessile. The flowers also have a sessile appearance without peduncles, collected in whorls of up to 20 pieces. The inflorescence has a spicate or capitate type. The petals are often colored blue and blue-lilac, but can be white, pink or, rarely, yellow. The lower lip of the flower is characteristically larger than the upper.

Fruit capsules look like nuts located inside the calyx of the flower. Their ripening is long, from August until October.

Initial letter is a medicinal plant widely used in folk medicine.

Varieties of initial letters with photos

The perennial is represented by ten (according to some sources - 15) species that can be found on almost all continents of the globe. For gardeners and herbalists, two of them are of greatest interest.

Medicinal initial letter

Quite often there are other names for this plant - stachys or chistets (medicinal). The variety is more interesting for its medicinal properties than for its decorative qualities, however, it can fit perfectly into the landscape landscape and the apothecary garden. The flowers are usually pink and make a good honey plant. This variety can reach 1 m in height, but its flowers are smaller.

In earlier times, cap grass was often used as a dye for wool, giving it a beautiful brown-green color.

Initial letter grandiflora

Places of natural growth - high alpine meadows, dry slopes. It is widespread in the Caucasus and the Asian region. In planting and caring, the large-flowered cap is simple and unpretentious, has a high decorative effect, due to which this particular variety is recommended to be planted in personal plots. The flowers can be crimson, pink, or lilac; the inflorescences of this herbaceous perennial look like a miniature orchid. The large-flowered variety is inferior in height to the medicinal variety, usually not rising more than 60 cm, but is much superior to it in the splendor and beauty of its flowering.

The plant is often popularly called wild sage.

Choosing a place to plant the initial letter

Any garden soil with good drainage properties is suitable for growing. Of course, the crop would bloom best in a fertile area exposed to the sun, but, as a rule, these places are needed for more important crops, so the letter may well be content with little. It can be planted where more demanding crops will not bear fruit or bloom. These may be partially illuminated areas between large fruit trees and berry bushes. However, you should know that the less light its bushes receive, the looser and less decorative they will look. While in a sunny area they grow compact, bloom luxuriantly and cover the ground with a continuous carpet.

Growing, care

To successfully grow a drop cap, you must follow the usual rules of agricultural technology for herbaceous perennials.

Watering

You should be very careful with watering, since this crop is most afraid of stagnant moisture. It is easier for her to endure a short drought than being kept in damp conditions. The construction of drainage or drainage grooves in places with dense, poorly permeable soil is mandatory.

Infrequent moderate watering helps the initial plant resist rodent pests that can eat up its stems. With this watering regime they become tough and unattractive to them.

Top dressing

There is no need to enrich the soil with organic matter, but the plant will respond with lush flowering to the addition of mineral complexes. A frequency of 1-2 times throughout the entire season is sufficient. When choosing a composition, it is recommended to pay attention to the content of the nitrogen component; it should not be abused.

Wintering

The culture is cold-resistant and there is no need to take special measures to winter it. For a more neat appearance in the next season, you can cut off tall flower stalks in the winter, and in the spring, clean the planting from last year’s foliage and non-viable shoots.

Reproduction

Despite the fact that “wild sage” is not aggressive and is not prone to displacing neighbors, it has the ability to self-sow and can gradually grow, occupying free territory. In addition, there are seed and vegetative methods of propagation.

Seeds

The initial planting is done immediately in open ground. Purchased seeds are planted in autumn or spring in grooves or depressions no deeper than 2 cm, since the plant has a superficial type of germination. If you intend to plant with self-collected seeds, you can take a simpler route. After flowering ends, do not cut off the flower stalks, but leave them to ripen. In the fall, prepare the soil around the bushes by weeding it well and loosening it. The ripened seeds will fall to the ground themselves, and in the spring they will give excellent self-sowing, which can be planted anywhere.

When planted with seeds, the initial flower blooms in the third year.

By dividing the rhizome

The procedure is traditionally carried out in spring or autumn. The bush is carefully dug up and divided into parts, preserving part of the rhizome and upper shoots. The survival rate of the cuttings is usually good. Flowering may occur already in the current season and most likely in the next one.

By cuttings

This method is more troublesome and requires some gardening experience. The cuttings are cut in late spring and they take root according to the usual pattern.

If you remove faded flower stalks in time and continue to care for the planting, it will look like a beautiful bright green spot until the cold weather.

Collection of medicinal raw materials

The medicinal letter described above is suitable for use for traditional medicine. It is easily distinguished by its taller growth and smaller inflorescences. Of interest, first of all, are the above-ground parts of the plant, grass. Roots are now used much less frequently, although previously it was the other way around.

Harvesting occurs during flowering, which usually lasts 2-3 weeks. The collected raw materials are dried in a well-ventilated place. The dried herb has an unpleasant, rancid taste and seems to “scratch” the throat. This is normal.

Medicinal properties of the medicinal letter

The most significant beneficial elements in the plant are bitterness and tannins, but it also contains many other useful components. The initial letter is not included in the State Pharmacopoeia of our country, partly due to its lack of knowledge. In our pharmacies you can only find sneezing powders based on it. At the same time, it is widely used by official medicine in Germany, France and a number of other countries. It is used as a laxative and emetic for poisoning, for pathologies of the respiratory system, and for rapid healing of wounds. Dried herb powder causes sneezing, treats runny nose, and helps relieve headaches. The list of indications for use is far from complete.

This herb also finds its use in the production of dietary supplements and in homeopathy.

One day I was lucky enough to purchase an interesting plant at the market with lilac-violet inflorescences, reminiscent of nettle flowers. It turned out that this is a garden letter. Growing it on the plot is a pleasure. The plant is unpretentious, and if you follow the nuances when planting and caring, the initial plant will delight you with bright blooms and a tart aroma.

Garden initial letter: description

The letter is an amazing, quite rare plant. The flower looks equally advantageous among roses and in a group with wildflowers.

Unlike the medicinal one, the garden letter has large, tall peduncles.
They grow up to 80 cm in the Moscow region and make a lasting impression.

Plants are a bit variable,
from one mother plant, mostly specimens with mediocre peduncle size are obtained and only a few of them are impressive.

Photo: medicinal letter

Garden letter: planting

Soil for planting

The letterhead prefers fertile soil: I prepare it with compost, other than which I do not add any other fertilizers.

Landing place

It is better to choose a place for planting in the sun.
If you place the plant in the shade, the flower stalks will be somewhat elongated, and their tone will not be so bright.
Light partial shade is also suitable.

Landing dates

On the choice of time for planting in the conditions of the Moscow region, a letter undemanding.
If planting occurs on hot days, the plant is necessary shade and water abundantly every 2 days.
It is advisable to be on time for boarding until September 10 so that the plant has time to take root before frost.

Garden letter: care

The letter is unpretentious in care, withstands rain and wind well, and does not lose its beauty under any circumstances.

I use it as a spring nitrogen fertilizer. herbal infusion. I dilute in a ratio of 1:8 and water until early June.
In late August- turn for potassium-phosphorus feeding. I make an ash extract and water the plants 1:8.
The initial letter winters well, does not need shelter. I cover only the separated plants in the first winter, placing several spruce branches on them to retain snow.

Garden letter: reproduction

The plant is quite easy to propagate by dividing the rhizomes or sowing seeds.

Collected seeds sow for seedlings in April, either in May to a bed specially designated for this purpose. Next spring, young plants are transplanted.
TO rhizome division I'm getting started In the end of August, not later. I carefully dig up the plant and with my hands pull the rhizome into sections, each with shoots.

The perennial with delicate pink or lilac flowers has become popular among gardeners for its ease of care. Among the people, it received the most affectionate names: initial letter, wild sage, darling, God's little hands. The modest, discreet beauty of this plant perfectly decorates many garden plots and parks, frames country houses and sidewalks of city boulevards. It blooms throughout the summer season. Today we will tell you about how to grow such a wonderful plant on your site, and what kind of care it will require.

Morphology of a drop cap

In wild, pristine nature, the initial letter can be found growing in meadows, among the bushes of deforested forests, along the dirt roads of Siberia and the Caucasus. Description of the main parts of the plant (see photo):

the root is straight and short, the thickened rhizome has a large number of appendages;
the stem is tetrahedral, erect, completely covered with elastic hairs, the length can reach 1 m, at the very top of the stem a flower rosette is formed, its height is up to 30 cm;
leaves - the lower ones are larger and longer than the upper leaves, the edges are jagged, the leaf blade is compressed, closer to the petiole they have a rounded ovoid shape, then along the length they turn into an oblong blade with a sharp end;
flowers - collected in peculiar spikelets, shaped like cylinders, petals are collected in a bell-shaped cup of pink or lilac color;
fruits are nuts that form inside the calyx of flowers; their full ripening lasts from August to October.

Flowering initial letter

The perennial plant in nature reproduces by seeds. The nut-boxes, when ripe, burst and release small brown seeds, triangular and smooth, convex on the outside, into the soil. When planted, these seeds retain all the genetic properties of the plant.

The drop cap is valued for the healing properties inherent in this plant. It is used to prepare decoctions and tinctures to treat headaches, insomnia, feelings of anxiety and irritation, and to normalize intestinal function.

Growing a letter from seeds

The initial plant can be propagated by dividing the rhizome or by seeds. Propagation from seeds is carried out in several stages:

Selection of initial seeds: only high-quality and undamaged seeds are selected for sowing. Their fullness can be determined by soaking. To do this, pour water with potassium permanganate into the container, pour out the seeds, and stir the liquid. After 2 hours, the seeds that float to the surface are removed; they are not suitable for sowing.
Soaking: the seeds that have settled to the bottom of the container are washed and filled with fresh water, a growth stimulator is added, just a little, and kept in this solution for a day.
Sowing seeds: spread the swollen seeds on a napkin and give them time to dry slightly (1-2 hours). Using tweezers, distribute evenly on the bed or in a tray for seedlings, and pour a thin layer of loose soil on top.
Watering: moisten the soil very carefully; you can use a small watering can with small holes or a spray bottle. To preserve moisture, cover the beds with polyethylene or other moisture-proof materials. When the first shoots appear, the film can be removed.

Attention! The perennial letter has one peculiarity. Autumn planting (before winter) is more favorable for this plant. In this case, in the spring the seedlings produce friendly shoots with strong stems. When sown in the spring, such a trend is not observed; seedlings will be more rare. September and October are the best periods for sowing.

Planting the initial letter and subsequent care

Depending on the place you choose to plant the initial letter, you should prepare grooves or holes. Their depth should be no more than 2 centimeters. Prepared seeds are sown in spring, summer or late autumn. When propagated by seed, flowering begins in the third year, when planted by shoots or by dividing the root - already in the next season.

Plants such as perennial capsicum do not require any special conditions for growing; they can grow on any soil, even not very fertile soil. In garden conditions, for planting it, you can choose places where more demanding plants will not grow. These are shaded areas among fruit bushes, loamy or sandy soils. But even the most undemanding plant in the garden should look healthy and fit well into the landscape. To achieve this, several conditions must be met:

plant the capitula in loose soil with a sufficient amount of fertilizer;
water moderately, do not allow water to stagnate at the roots; if necessary, perform drainage so that irrigation or rainwater flows freely from the area of planted plants;
fertilize 1-2 times per season, do not get carried away with applying nitrogen-containing fertilizers, everything should be in moderation;
remove weeds in a timely manner, use chemicals if there are a lot of them;
carry out preventive spraying against diseases; perennial beetroot rarely gets sick, but such a measure would not be superfluous;
carry out pest control if necessary.

Advice. Rare and moderate watering of the cap will allow the plant to withstand the onslaught of rodents. With such moisture, the leaves and stems of the initial plant become tough and inaccessible to eating.

The healing properties of this modest-looking plant have long been known to many gardeners from different countries. You can also safely add the initial letter to the list of plants grown in your garden. Find her a place among other green pets: in the garden, on an alpine hill, on the border of the house paths. You will never regret it.