Arabis

Family. Brassicaceae.

Origin, where it grows. Temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, tropical zone of Africa.

Description. Arabis is a compact herbaceous perennial plant - a relative of the well-known cabbage and radish. In appearance, the flower is a little reminiscent of these plants.

Bushes with a small, fibrous root system and a basal rosette of leaves.

The leaf blades are oblong - lanceolate, entire or with small teeth, on short petioles. In many varieties the surface of the leaves has rich light pubescence, in others the leaves are glossy and green.

During the flowering period, tall shoots with small, sessile, alternately arranged leaves are formed. The higher such a leaf is located, the smaller its size. If the stems bend toward the surface of the earth, then upon contact with it they easily form roots.

At the tops of the shoots there are branched peduncles with small inflorescences - umbrellas. The flowers are white, pink or lilac, with 4 rounded petals and a honey aroma.

There are varieties with double buds up to 1.5 cm in diameter. After flowering, oblong pods with fairly large, brown, flat seeds appear on the bushes.

Height. Reach a height of 20–30 cm.

Flowering time

The first buds appear in early spring and continue to decorate the plants for 1 - 1.5 months. In the second half of summer or early autumn, a second wave of flowering may occur, but it will be less abundant.

Planting and care in open ground

To grow Arabis, choose a site that is brightly lit by the sun; when grown in the shade, the bushes bloom reluctantly. Areas with fairly strong winds are suitable - the shoots are not afraid of even fairly strong gusts.

Before sending the flower to a permanent place of residence - to the garden, it is worth hardening the seedlings. To do this, cups with young seedlings are taken out into the fresh air for several hours a day for 10 - 12 days, gradually increasing the exposure time. When hardening, you should ensure that the seedlings are not exposed to cold drafts.

How and when to plant

Planting seedlings is usually postponed until the second half of May - at this time there should be no return night frosts. 

The area is dug up and cleared of weeds. Prepare planting holes whose depth and width exceed the volume of the root ball of the seedlings. The distance between the holes is about 40 cm. - It is worth remembering that this flowering perennial grows quite quickly and easily captures more and more new territories.

Arabis bushes 6-8 cm high with 3 or more true leaves are suitable for planting in the garden. To obtain a dense flowering border, plant 2-3 pieces in one hole. Sprinkle the roots with substrate.

After planting, the soil is slightly compacted and watered generously with plenty of water. During the first 2-3 weeks, make sure that the soil remains evenly moist, but not waterlogged.

In the first year of planting, as with most representatives of the family, only a rosette of leaves appears. Peduncles and buds are formed only in bushes of the second and subsequent years of life.

Soil

For growing, select soil that is easily permeable to moisture and air, add river sand or small pebbles to improve drainage. The flower prefers neutral or slightly alkaline substrates and does not like soils with a high calcium content - this slows down its development and the appearance of buds.

How to care

Arabis is unpretentious, but from time to time it will require a little care.

The flower is watered periodically, while it is worth remembering that adult specimens tolerate drought quite easily, but can rot from abundant and frequent watering. Watering is carried out in the morning or evening, trying to avoid water droplets getting on the leaf blades during the day.

After watering, the soil is loosened and weeds are removed. Adult bushes form such dense grassy mats that, completely shading the soil surface, they themselves will fight weeds.

To ensure abundant and long-lasting flowering, fertilize.

To maintain an attractive appearance and prevent the spread of various diseases, it is necessary to promptly remove old and dried leaves.

Peduncles with withering buds are cut at the base with a sharp sterile pruner, which prevents the formation of seeds and self-seeding. In addition, bushes that have not spent energy on the production of pods and seeds can bloom again in the autumn months.

Creeping stems are shortened so that they do not root on their own.

Feeding

To enrich the soil with nutrients, well-rotted turf and leaf humus, cow or horse manure are mixed into the soil.

Plants respond well to the use of mineral fertilizers with a high content of potassium and phosphorus - such compositions help to form a large number of buds.

When grown in open ground, 2 - 3 feedings per season will be sufficient. 

How and when to replant

The rhizome is transplanted after all the buds have faded, for example in August. Plants aged 4 years or more are divided during transplantation, since with age, large bald spots appear in the center of adult bushes. It is best to use transshipment - transfer the seedling to a new place together with the root ball, without destroying it. This method of transplantation helps the root system to adapt faster to the new place.

At first, after transshipment, water in a timely manner and shade from direct sunlight for 5-6 days.

Wintering in open ground

In the absence of snow cover, arabis easily freezes, as it can only tolerate light frosts - not lower than - 7 degrees Celsius. In order to help the flower successfully survive until spring, it should be prepared for the onset of cold weather in mid-autumn, before the first night frosts.

The shoots are cut, leaving only 3-4 cm of growth, and the root system is hilled high, sprinkled with earth. From above, the bushes are covered with dry leaf litter, pine or spruce branches or agricultural material.

In the first days of spring, when the sun begins to warm, and the temperature at night does not fall below 3-5 degrees below zero, the cover can be completely removed.

Reproduction

There are many ways to propagate arabis and all of them are not particularly difficult. The choice of a specific method will depend on the species and varietal characteristics of the flower.

Species specimens can be safely propagated by seeds - the daughter bushes obtained in this way will exactly match the appearance of the parent ones.

When propagated by seeds, varietal flowers lose their attractiveness and declared characteristics - they are propagated by any vegetative method - division, air layering, stem and leaf cuttings.

Terry varieties do not form seeds at all after flowering.

Growing from seeds

Sowing seeds is carried out both directly in open ground, before winter, and at home in early April - for seedlings.

When sowing in winter, it is worth choosing the timing so that the first shoots do not have time to appear before the onset of frost. Shoots usually appear together. 

Seed collection

To obtain planting material with good germination, it is necessary to let the pods fully ripen. To form seeds and then collect them, select the largest and brightly colored buds.

To prevent the capsules from opening spontaneously and the seeds from spilling out onto the ground, they are wrapped in gauze or bandage in advance. They try to collect them on fine, warm days.

The collected planting material is dried for several hours in a warm and well-ventilated place, spread out on sheets of paper. After drying, the seeds are placed in paper bags, stored and used as needed for 1 - 2 years.

Sowing 

When sowing seedlings for growing arabis, take special seedling boxes with transparent lids and make drainage holes on them. The first layer is drainage, and then the rest of the volume is filled with nutritious and loose soil, 1/3 consisting of river sand.

The seeds are sown evenly over the surface of the substrate and covered on top with a layer of earth about 5 mm thick.

The boxes are covered with lids or covered with non-woven material and placed in a fairly cool place with a temperature of about 18 degrees. The location should be brightly lit, but out of direct sunlight. 

The shelter is removed daily for ventilation, gradually increasing the time. With the appearance of the first shoots, the shelter is completely removed.

The soil in the boxes is kept evenly moist, but not waterlogged, by spraying water from a spray bottle.

When the first 1-2 true leaves appear, the seedlings are moved into individual cups or pots. The picking is carried out with extreme caution, trying not to pull out the bushes together with the clod of earth and not to damage the long roots.

7-10 days after picking, the bushes can be fed for the first time with nitrogen fertilizers in a very low concentration.

Propagation by cuttings

Since many terry varieties do not form seeds, and in order to fully preserve the varietal characteristics of plants, vegetative propagation methods are used, including cuttings.

Arabis is grown from leaf or stem cuttings.

Leaf cuttings

Leaf cuttings cannot be separated with scissors, but should definitely be torn off with your hands, slightly pulling the leaf down. With this method of separation, a small heel remains at the base of the petiole - the cambial layer on the outside of the shoot.

For rooting, use small flower pots filled with nutritious soil mixture. The leaf petiole is immersed in the soil just a few millimeters and the substrate is kept evenly moist.

After some time, young growth will be visible at the base of the leaf. 

Stem cuttings

Another method of cuttings is the use of stem cuttings - such cuttings are cut after flowering so that their length is 8 - 10 cm.

The lower leaves are removed to reduce moisture loss and the base is dusted with growth hormones. Immerse the cuttings in a moist substrate approximately 1 cm deep at a slight angle.

The tops of the pots are covered with a transparent plastic bag or glass to create a greenhouse effect and maintain high air humidity. 

Place the pots with cuttings in a well-lit place without direct sun access; the air temperature in such a room should be in the range from 18 to 22 degrees.

The cover is removed daily, ventilating the young bushes and wiping off any water condensation that appears. With the appearance of the first roots, the leaves become strong and elastic again, and new, young shoots appear at the base of the cutting. 

Reproduction by air layering

One of the simplest methods of propagation, which is carried out in late spring or early summer. The side shoots of arabis are inclined to the surface of the earth, pinned and dug a little into the ground.

The top of the shoot should remain above the ground and should be pinched a little. The soil surface is always kept moist.

If you follow this agricultural technology, in a couple of weeks the first young leaves will appear from the buried part.

On each layer, several root systems can appear at once - according to the number of buried leaf nodes. When such a layer gets stronger, it is completely separated from the mother bush, divided into sections with separate roots and planted. 

Dividing adult plants

If necessary, in case of transplantation, you can divide the overgrown arabis bushes into several parts.

Division is carried out after complete flowering - in the second half of summer. The bushes are dug out of the ground and the roots are shaken off from remaining soil.

The plants are cut into several sections with a sharp knife, making sure that well-developed roots and leaves remain in each piece.

The wound surface is sprinkled with crushed charcoal and the cuttings are planted in the desired location. 

Diseases and pests

With good growth, plants rarely get sick; most often, fungi and viruses appear on weakened specimens.

When a viral mosaic appears, the leaf blades acquire an uncharacteristic shade - plants affected by the virus cannot be treated. Flowers are dug up and destroyed, they cannot be sent to the compost pit either. The area where the infected Arabis was found is poured with boiling water.

Sometimes downy mildew and rust appear.

Like most related plants, arabis is susceptible to cruciferous flea beetle infestations. Of the small rodents, shrews can annoy plants. 

Application in landscape design

Its compact size and abundant and long-lasting flowering have made arabis very popular among modern gardeners. Bushes are often used as edging for paths and flower beds, planting them in the foreground.

Thanks to early flowering, representatives of this genus become one of the main decorations of the spring alpine slide.

As a ground cover species, it is grown at the foot of large trees. For this, you can use variegated varieties - bushes with bright leaves will look attractive without abundant flowering, which will not be in the shade.

Even after flowering, low rounded bushes remain one of the main attractions of the garden.

Thanks to the large number of buds with a sweetish aroma, Arabis is an excellent honey plant and attracts many useful insects to the site.

Varieties and types of Arabis:

Arabis alpina

 Plants are native to southwestern Europe and the Mediterranean. This flowering perennial reaches a height of 20 cm, bushes grow up to 1 m in diameter. The leaves grow all year round, flowering occurs in April - May, and the seeds ripen in June - July. 

Arabis caucasica

This species is often considered a subspecies of Arabis alpine. In nature, plants are found in the Caucasus, Turkey, and Crimea. A perennial herbaceous plant up to 30 cm high with fine-toothed, oblong-oval leaves. The flowers are quite large, reaching 1.5 cm in diameter. 

Caucasian Arabis Little Treasure Deep Rose

 A charming variety of Caucasian Arabis with bright, pink flowers that adorn the plants in April - May.

Arabis ferdinandi-coburgii

 Ground cover perennial up to 20 cm high with entire, oblong-oval leaves, often having the so-called variegated color. The leaf blades have white or yellow stripes along the edge.

Arabis blepharophylla

 An American species characterized by bright lilac or pink buds that form in the spring and remain attractive for several weeks. The leaf blades are covered with hard, straight hairs.

Arabis androsacea

Low-growing ornamental perennials resembling moss. The leaves are green, collected in small whorls, and covered with long white pubescence. The flowers are simple, white, funnel-shaped, collected in dense inflorescences at the tops of the peduncles.

Arabis suendermannii

 Bushes up to 10 cm high with dark green, glossy, oval leaves collected in small rosettes. In April - May, the plants decorate themselves with small white flowers with oblong petals.

 Arabis kelleri

The species has small rosettes of dark green leaves with contrasting white pubescence. During the flowering period, it produces stocky vertical peduncles with white buds.

Arabis procurrens

 Evergreen or semi-evergreen in harsher climates, perennials with thin, upright flower stalks and loose inflorescences consisting of white, fragrant buds.

Arabis Funkii

The pointed leaf blades of this species are collected in basal rosettes and covered with long, sparse, light pubescence. Peduncles are tall, numerous, with white buds at the tops.

Arabis x arendsii

 Miniature flowering perennials up to 10 cm high with rounded bushes. During the flowering period, the foliage is almost completely hidden under numerous buds of white, pink or lilac.

Arabis bryoides

 A species with creeping shoots on which compact leaf rosettes of dark leaf plates are formed. Numerous large, white flowers contrast perfectly with the dark leaves.

Arabis nordmanniana

This species has become widespread in Turkey, the Caucasus and Georgia. Quite tall plants of this species reach 30 - 50 cm and have glossy leaf blades with small teeth along the edge. At the tops of strong shoots there are rounded umbrellas with white flowers.