Aubrieta

Family. Brassicaceae.

Origin. In their natural habitat, plants are found in Central Asia, the Mediterranean, and also in South America.

Description. The genus Aubrieta includes about 12 evergreen species.

These attractive, abundantly flowering herbaceous perennials have highly branched creeping shoots that form a continuous flower carpet.

The leaves are green, oblong-oval, sessile or on short petioles with a smooth surface or weak light pubescence. The leaf blades are whole or with small teeth along the edges. Currently, numerous variegated varieties have been bred, the edges of the leaf blades of which are decorated with yellow or white stripes.

During the flowering period, branched peduncles appear on the tops of the shoots, on which numerous bright buds are located. The buds reach only 1 cm in diameter. Modern breeders have bred numerous large-flowered varieties, the diameter of the buds of which can reach 2 cm.

The shades of the petals include lilac, blue, lavender, purple, white or pink. Each flower has 4 wide petals and a center that is often yellow or orange.

After flowering, oblong seed pods with small brownish seeds are formed.

Height. The height reaches 15 - 20 cm - shoots spread along the soil surface. The length of the shoots is 30 - 60 cm.

Flowering time

The flowering period begins early - in the second half of April and, depending on the variety and external conditions, can last until the beginning of June. With proper care, flowering is so abundant that the wide-open petals can completely hide the foliage.

In the autumn months, a second wave of flowering is possible, but it will be less abundant.

Planting and care

For planting aubrieta, choose areas exposed to direct sunlight - when grown in partial shade, flowering will be much less abundant.

Places with stagnant moisture and close groundwater are not suitable - in such conditions, the flower quickly rots. The best soils are those with a lot of sand and small stones.

Do not add fertilizers when planting plants in the soil - representatives of the genus easily tolerate soils poor in nutrients and develop and bloom well on them. With an excess of nutrients, the bushes become loose, form fewer buds and often get sick.

A substrate with a slightly alkaline or neutral pH is preferable - the soil is watered with lime milk, crushed chalk is added, and even better - wood ash and charcoal.

In this case, crushed, washed and dried eggshells are also excellent - they not only naturally regulate pH levels, but also loosen the soil, promoting better drainage of moisture from the roots.

When and how to plant in open ground

The seedlings are planted in open ground in the spring after the last frosts have passed — in a harsh climate, the best time for planting will be the second half of May.

Prepare the area by loosening and weeding the soil. Heavy loams are made looser and more permeable to moisture by mixing river sand into them.

Prepare the planting holes so that their depth and width are greater than the root ball. A layer of river sand 2-3 cm thick can be placed at the bottom of the planting holes. The minimum distance between the bushes should be 7-10 cm.

The seedlings are placed in holes directly in peat pots. If the seedlings were grown in plastic cups, a few hours before planting or even a day before, water the flowers generously with warm water so that the soil moves away from the walls of the cups better. Transplant in such a way as to minimally disturb the root ball.

After the seedlings have taken their place in the holes, they are sprinkled with earth and then watered generously. The soil surface is mulched with small pebbles or river sand.

In the first 2-3 weeks after planting, it is worth watering the plants regularly so that they take root faster in a new place.

How to care

Caring for the flower will not take much time and effort - aubrieta is unpretentious and tolerates a variety of living conditions well.

Watering is necessary only with the onset of a long hot and dry period. Water in the morning or evening, since the sun's rays, falling on wet leaves, can cause a burn.

Partially, the bush copes with weeds on its own, forming such a dense grass cover that the surface of the earth constantly remains in the shade and the weeds become uncomfortable in such conditions.

After rain or watering, it is worth thoroughly loosening the soil - the root system needs to breathe, weeding is carried out simultaneously with loosening.

Feeding

Top dressing should be limited - it is carried out only 2 times per season, using mineral fertilizers for flowering species with a high content of potassium and phosphorus in the composition. In the autumn months, it is better to use potassium fertilizers that strengthen the root system.

Nitrogen fertilizers will cause rapid growth of leaves and less abundant flowering. The use of nitrogen fertilizers is permissible only for seedlings.

The mineral solution is usually diluted to half the dose recommended on the package. The first top dressing is carried out in the spring, before the buds open, and the second - after flowering, in the autumn months, to prepare the bushes for winter.

How to trim

After mass flowering, the entire above-ground part is cut off, leaving only 5-7 cm of growth. Such pruning rejuvenates the plants and allows them to put out new shoots in the summer. In the autumn months, buds and flowers may appear on the new shoots.

During sanitary pruning, all old and diseased branches that thicken the plants are cut off.

Sometimes overwintered creeping stems are cut off, since in harsh conditions they can lose their attractiveness. Such pruning is carried out in early spring, immediately after the snow melts, with sharply sharpened and sterilized pruning shears or a garden knife.

Autumn care, wintering in the garden

After the second wave of flowering, perennials are fed, preparing them for the cold months. Aubrieta is distinguished by excellent winter hardiness and tolerates frosts under snow well. Additional shelter for this perennial flower will be needed only in regions with little snow and harsh winters. The flower does not need pruning in the fall - it will overwinter with green shoots and leaves.

Before the onset of night frosts in early October in the northern regions, the bushes are simply sprinkled with dry fallen leaves or covered with a layer of pine or spruce branches.

Transplant

Transplantation to a new location is carried out in early spring or after the buds have faded, only if necessary - aubrieta takes a long time to take root in a new place.

There is no point in transplanting flowering specimens - they have spent a lot of energy on forming buds. Spring transplantation can also negatively affect flowering. Autumn transplantation should be carried out at a time so that the bushes have time to properly take root in a new place - about a month before the onset of the first night frosts.

When transplanting, try to minimally disturb the root system - dig up and transfer the seedlings together with a lump of earth, without destroying it.

In a new place, regularly water the flower for 7-10 days, making sure that the soil does not dry out. It is also advisable to protect the shoots and leaves from direct sunlight at this time.

Reproduction 

Several methods of propagation of these plants are possible - vegetative - by dividing adult bushes, air layering and cuttings, as well as generative - by sowing seeds in the spring.

Growing from seeds

Seeds can be sown directly into open ground. You can use your own planting material for propagation, but in this case, the daughter bushes may not match the varietal characteristics of the parents.

Seeds are collected in dry and warm weather, separating only fully ripened pods from the plants.

The collected pods are opened, the seeds are taken out, poured onto a sheet of paper and sent to a warm and well-ventilated place to dry for several hours.

The planting material is stored for 1-2 years in a dry and cool place, in paper bags. In this case, germination can significantly decrease even with proper storage.

Immediately before sowing, you can soak the seeds for 1 - 2 hours in warm water with the addition of phytohormones.

To avoid plucking young bushes and immediately plant seedlings in the garden, sow the seeds in separate small peat pots or peat tablets. Pre-soak the peat tablets for several hours in warm water to swell, and thoroughly moisten the surface of the soil in the peat pots with a sprayer.

Place 2-3 seeds in each pot or tablet and lightly sprinkle river sand on top with a layer of 2-3 mm. Spray the crops with warm water from above and cover with a plastic lid to maintain high humidity.

Place the greenhouse in a warm (18-20 degrees Celsius) and well-lit place without direct access to the sun. Every day, lift the lid, wipe off the condensation from it and air out the seedlings, gradually increasing the airing time.

When the first shoots appear - 3-4 weeks after sowing the seeds, the cover is completely removed. At this point, you can additionally add a layer of river sand.

If 2-3 plants have sprouted in each tablet or pot, then the weaker specimens are simply removed with tweezers.

If there is not enough natural light, the seedlings are illuminated with LED or fluorescent lamps.

The soil is kept uniformly moist, but not waterlogged - over-watering can quickly kill the seedlings. Watering is carried out directly under the root - moisture on tender shoots and leaves is undesirable.

After the formation of 4-5 true leaves, you can feed the first time with nitrogen fertilizers in a very weak concentration.

When planting en masse in flower containers, the plants are picked in the phase of 2-3 true leaf blades, but they do not tolerate this well - they get sick for a long time. If necessary, the bushes are transferred together with the root ball.

The first buds will decorate plants obtained from seeds only in the second year of life.

Sowing seeds in open ground is carried out 2 times a year - in early spring, as soon as the snow melts and the ground warms up a little, and in the fall - so that the shoots do not have time to appear before the onset of frost. When planted in autumn, the seeds undergo cool stratification naturally.

The soil is prepared for sowing by loosening and removing weeds. Shallow furrows are made - about 2 cm deep, with a distance of 10 - 15 cm between the furrows.

The seeds are sown so that a distance of about 3-4 cm is maintained between them. Since the planting material is quite large, this does not cause any particular difficulties. The seedlings are covered with a thin layer of river sand from above. When the shoots appear (with autumn sowing, this happens only the following year), they are thinned out, leaving only the strongest specimens.

Cuttings

Cuttings about 10 cm long are rooted in small greenhouses. The container is filled with soil, half of which should consist of river sand. The bases of the cuttings are treated with growth hormones and immersed in well-moistened soil by 1 - 2 cm.

The seedlings are covered with a lid on top to maintain high air humidity and are aired daily, increasing the hardening time. Rooting occurs within 3 - 4 weeks.

You can judge that young roots have appeared under the soil surface by new, young leaves. As soon as the bushes get stronger, they can be transplanted into the garden. If the cuttings have not had time to properly take root and produce young shoots, then it is better to leave such plants indoors during the first winter.

Division 

Aubrieta does not like either transplantation or division and should be done only when necessary. As a result of division, all parts may die.

The plants are dug out of the ground and the roots are lightly shaken from the remaining soil. The bushes are cut into parts with a sharp sterile knife or pruning shears so that as a result, each part has its own, well-developed root system and above-ground green part.

The wound surface formed as a result of division is treated with wood ash or charcoal powder for drying and disinfection.

The cuttings are planted on the site, trying to water them very sparingly at first - excess moisture getting into the wounds can quickly destroy the seedlings. For the same reason, you should not feed in the first 2 - 3 months after division.

Formation of air layers

At the beginning of summer, the shoots of the aubretia are pinned to the soil surface and covered with a thin layer of soil. For a couple of months, keep the soil in this place evenly moist. During this period, roots will appear in the leaf nodes under the surface of the soil, and young shoots and leaves will appear on top.

The layers are completely separated and planted from the mother bush only the following year - in the spring.

Use in landscape design

Aubrieta is ideal for rocky slopes of alpine slides - this flower can withstand a lack of nutrients in rocky soil and does not tolerate excess moisture.

Often these plants are used in landscape design as a ground cover species - they form a dense grass cover, completely drowning in buds.

The ability of the root system to attach to any surface, including cracks in brickwork, is extremely interesting. Bushes that accidentally grow on a wall in this way are used for vertical gardening.

Aubrieta is good as a border plant - bushes can serve as a frame for flower beds and flower gardens.

Bushes with long, hanging shoots are often used as ampelous - they are grown in hanging baskets and flower pots.

Due to the fact that green leaves remain on the shoots during the winter months, this perennial will become one of the first decorations of the flowerbed, long before other plants turn green.

The bushes look interesting near the water - they can be placed along the banks of a garden pond.

Representatives of the species are indispensable in balcony landscaping - they will delight their owners with lush flowering even in cramped pots.

Home care

Thanks to its compact size and extreme unpretentiousness, this bush is easy to grow at home and use as, for example, an hanging plant, planted in hanging pots. 

Conditions of detention

For growing, it is worth choosing the most illuminated place - only in such conditions will the bushes retain their compact size and bloom profusely. The flower pot is placed on the southern, south-eastern or south-western windowsills. Every week, the container is turned a quarter of a turn so that the bush remains dense and does not stretch towards the light source. With a lack of light, the shoots stretch out and become loose.

Watering should be done in such a way that between waterings the top layer of soil dries to a depth of 2 - 4 cm. Of course, the flower pot should have drainage holes in the bottom and a generous drainage layer. For watering, use well-settled water, the excess of which is drained from the pan immediately after watering.

Top dressing is carried out only during the period of growth and budding. Fertilizers are applied only after abundant watering, under the root, into a moist substrate. Do not use organic matter as top dressing - it will cause abundant growth of green mass and weaken flowering.

In the autumn months, a cool rest period should be provided - the pot can be brought into a room with a temperature of about 5-7 degrees and the frequency of watering can be reduced to a minimum. In the winter months, the soil is kept barely moist, just not allowing it to dry out.

Diseases and pests

In case of rainy and cool weather, as well as when planting too densely, aubrieta may suffer from powdery mildew. If there is a large amount of moisture and planting in too dense soil, the bushes may rot.

Of the insect pests, aphids and cruciferous flea beetles liked the leaves and young shoots. 

Varieties and types:

Aubrieta deltoidea

An attractive flowering perennial up to 15 cm high with shoots up to 60 cm long, originating from southeastern Europe - often found in the Mediterranean. Plants bloom in late spring - early summer, their buds are purple, pink or white. Flowering is very abundant. The variety is distinguished by enviable frost resistance.

Aubrieta x cultorum

Artificially bred large-flowered plants, specially designed for growing in parks and gardens. The height of the bushes can reach 10 cm, and long shoots grow up to 60 cm. The variety is easily propagated by seeds and often self-sows when grown in open ground.

Aubrieta gracilis

Miniature ground cover perennial that can withstand the harshest environmental conditions. The species has very lush and long-lasting flowering, when the plant itself hides in buds for several weeks. In its natural habitat it is found in the Balkans.