Aubrieta stands out for its unusual beauty, which stems from the fact that it grows like a carpet and can even stretch along walls. Many designers use it in landscape design, but not everyone hires designers, as beautifying a property with their own hands is much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to grow it and thinks it's very difficult, but this is not true. After reading this article, you'll learn how to decorate your yard with aubrieta: growing it from seed at home. After all, as the saying goes: the eyes frighten, but the hands do.
Aubrieta is a genus in the Brassicaceae family. It's a perennial plant that prefers to grow on rocks or riverbanks. Its flower buds come in three colors: pink, purple, and white, but crossing two species produces new colors. Its leaves are alternately arranged, with serrated edges. This beautiful plant is grown from seed, but before planting, you need to choose the right location, which requires the following guidelines:
- do not plant it in clayey or acidic soils,
- choose a sunny spot, as in the shade it will not bloom and will start to stretch upwards,
- When digging the flowerbed, add ash or chalk to enrich the plant with calcium,
- it does not like waterlogged soil, so the soil needs to be constantly loosened,
— the plant requires a large area, as it grows quickly.
Since it's a perennial, it can be planted not only in spring but also in autumn, when frost is still far away. If you want to plant it in spring, start seedlings in February, as the seeds take a long time to germinate. Afterward, the seedlings need to be kept indoors for about a month to strengthen. When planting the seedlings in the ground, dig a hole no deeper than 5 cm, as their roots are short.
Aubrieta doesn't require much care, but it does need to be fertilized twice a year: in the spring to promote proper bud formation, and in the summer after pruning. It rarely needs watering, and only frequently overwaters in very hot weather.
This wonderful plant can bloom twice per season. The first bloom lasts 4 to 7 weeks, after which the mat will need to be trimmed back to the roots for the second bloom. However, it becomes more demanding each year, so gardeners use cuttings to prevent the plant from becoming too finicky. In the fall, aubrieta mats should be covered with dry leaves to prevent the roots from freezing during the winter.
Aubrieta can also get sick, and the most dangerous disease is powdery mildew, which can quickly destroy the entire plant if not treated promptly. When the plant becomes infected, a brown coating appears on the leaves, and after a while, deformities begin. To cure the plant, you'll need colloidal sulfur, which you'll need to spray on the affected areas. If you're late and can't treat the plant in time and the entire plant becomes infected, you'll need to remove it to prevent the infection from spreading to other shrubs. Besides powdery mildew, aphids can also attack, but they can be easily repelled with a nettle infusion, which you should also spray on the aubrieta.
Gardeners have their favorite varieties of aubrieta flowers:
red king,
crimson sea,
enchanting Morocco,
cascade.
If you want a carpet of colorful flowers blooming on your property all summer long, this is the plant for you. Don't be afraid to experiment and plant new flower varieties in your flowerbed, even if they require more care. After all, every plant, like people, loves to be cared for, but some need it less than others.
You can read about other equally beautiful hanging flowers in this article - https://growwise-en.techinfus.com/foto-i-nazvaniya-ampelnyx-rastenij-dlya-sada.html.