Erigeron

Family. Compositae.

Origin: South America. 

Description. Erigeron is a small compact annual or perennial plant with erect or creeping stems. The leaves are green or bluish-green, narrowly lanceolate, arranged alternately. The leaf blades have a slight pubescence. Growing, erigeron forms dense herbaceous mats. Flowers appear at the tops of the stems and resemble small daisies - they have a large number of long and thin petals and a yellow center. The color of the buds varies from white to pink, purple and lilac. Flowering is very abundant.

Height: 20 - 60 cm, depending on the species.

Planting and care

Reproduction

When replanting, large specimens are divided and planted in different pots. It is easily propagated by seeds and often by self-seeding. Seeds are sown on the surface of the soil without covering them with soil.

Growing 

Plants with tall, upright stems should be provided with support. Fading flowers are cut off from the plant as they appear - this prolongs the flowering period. Erigeron will appreciate being outside during the warm season. 

Flowering time

Depending on the variety and growing conditions, flowering can begin as early as mid-spring and last until mid-autumn. 

Transplantation

Mature erigerons need to be repotted approximately every 2-3 years, in the spring, before flowering. 

Temperature

In spring and summer is kept at normal room temperature in the range from 18 to 24° C. In winter, a short cool period of rest is desirable. 

Lighting

Place the pot in a slightly shaded place, away from direct sunlight. In the morning and evening, the leaves can bathe in sunlight. In autumn and winter, you can provide a maximally illuminated windowsill.

Soil

Organic, nutrient-rich substrate with good drainage. 

Fertilization

During the growth period, monthly feeding with complex liquid fertilizers is sufficient for the bush.

Watering

Water so that the top layer of soil dries out before each subsequent watering. In the fall, after flowering, gradually reduce the frequency of watering to a minimum - in the winter months, the plants should be in practically dry soil. 

Diseases and pests 

Excess nutrients in the soil leads to abundant growth of green mass to the detriment of flowering. Powdery mildew, rust, leaf spot.

Harmful insects do not visit this flower.

Spraying 

The erigeron tolerates the dry atmosphere of living spaces well and does not require additional moisture. It prefers ventilated rooms with good air circulation, but without cold drafts. 

Purpose

Varieties with recumbent stems can be used as groundcover plants. Erigeron flowers are used for cutting. 

Varieties:

Erigeron karvinskianus

A compact herbaceous, flowering plant reaching a height of 20 - 60 cm. The bushes have recumbent, branched stems and small green, sessile, lanceolate leaves. An interesting feature of the plants is the change in the color of the flowers. Only opening buds are white, wide-open flowers become soft pink, before wilting the petals of the flowers are painted in an intense pink shade. The flowers have many long petals and resemble daisies. 

Erigeron alpinus

Compact, flowering, herbaceous perennials up to 30 cm high. The plant forms a basal rosette consisting of glossy, belt-shaped or oblong-oval leaves. Peduncles are thin, vertical - each leaf rosette is capable of producing several peduncles. The surface of the peduncles has a pleasant thick, silvery pubescence. At the tops of the peduncles are attractive pinkish or lilac flowers with narrow, thin petals.

Erigeron canadensis

An annual herbaceous plant, reaching a height of one and a half meters. At the base of the plant is a basal leaf rosette formed by long, narrow leaves with a coarsely toothed edge. The stems are strong, vertical, and bear delicate multi-flowered, branched inflorescences at the top. The flowers are small, delicate, white, and as they fade, they turn into fluffy spherical heads, like a dandelion.