Tropical plant - Syrian hibiscus Blue Chiffon. Description, fit and care

Hibiscus Syrian Blue Chiffon (Chiffon) is a cultivated tropical flower that can impress with its beauty.

Gardeners use it for landscaping summer cottages and household plots to decorate flowerbeds.

If you properly care for the southern plant, then it will bloom and delight the eyes for many years.

The article tells how to care for a plant in open ground, how to grow from seeds and cuttings, as well as about the diseases and pests of this flower.

Botanical Description

People call it “Swamp Mallow”, “Flower of Death” and “Chinese Rosan”, in Latin his name sounds like Hibiscus syriacus Blue Chiffon. In Hawaii, they love the plant, and local girls decorate it with their hairstyles, so there Blue Chiffon is called the "flower of beautiful women."

In the gardens of Russia, deciduous forms of hibiscus Syrian Blue Chiffon are grown. The shrub grows to 1.5 meters, has ovoid leaves of a bright green color and velvet flowers of a pure blue and pale blue shades without impurities of lilac. The diameter of the revealed inflorescences can reach 20-35 cm. In two days they manage to blossom, fade and crumble.

The homeland of the plant is the subtropics and tropics of the New and Old Worlds. It is believed that Syrian hibiscus was brought to other countries from China. In the natural environment, it grows to 5-6 meters in height and blooms throughout the warm season.

This representative of the Malvaceae family is not adapted to survive in the harsh conditions of the Russian winter. In the southern regions, to protect it from the cold, they shelter it directly in the beds, and in the northern regions and areas of the middle strip, they dig up a flower from the ground and transplant it into pots that they keep at home all winter.

The view is a continuation of the "chiffon" series. In the 18th century, Syrian hibiscus was transported to Europe, where for a long time it was cultivated in botanical gardens and greenhouses, creating new varieties. Blue Chiffon is a young species, it was recently bred.

Outdoor Care

Hibiscus is an unpretentious flower, so it does not cause owners any special trouble. The main thing is to follow the rules of care and regularly rid his bed of weeds.

Temperature

The plant is very thermophilic, but develops well in the climatic conditions of the Russian summer. However, if the temperature drops below 10 ° C, then it will dump all the foliage and stop growing.

It can survive a cold snap to -15 ° C, so in autumn hibiscus needs to be prepared for wintering. In the spring, he wakes up when the temperature rises to 12-15 ° C and begins to build up new shoots and foliage.

Shine

In order to delight others with lush and abundant flowering, hibiscus needs a lot of sunlight. Therefore, it is important to choose a place with good lighting. Also, do not place tall plants near the bush, they are able to block it from the sun.

Priming

The flower prefers fertile, air- and water-permeable soil, rich in humus. In the planting pits, you can fill the substrate, consisting of the following components:

• turf;
• sheet earth;
• humus;
• beautiful pine needles;
• sand and peat;
• some charcoal.

The acidity of the earth should vary between 5.5-7.8 pH, an ideal indicator is close to 6-7 pH. Other ranges will prevent the plant from absorbing nutrients.

Watering

Watering rules Blue Chiffon:

1. It is carried out regularly, as soon as the soil dries up around the flower.
2. During a drought, the plant is watered every day, for this they spend 5 liters of water on each bush.
3. For these purposes, you need to use soft, standing water.
4. From a lack of moisture, the hibiscus will begin to dry and discard the foliage, and overflows can lead to decay of the root system.

Top dressing

The plant prefers top dressing with a high phosphorus content. It is fertilized once every two weeks from June to September during plentiful flowering.

In order for the hibiscus to successfully survive the winter, at the beginning of autumn, potassium top dressing must be applied to the soil.

Pruning

This procedure stimulates flowering, as the buds are formed only on young branches. Step-by-step instruction:

1. A year after planting, plants need to remove old and dry shoots with a sharp knife or garden pruner.
2. Then pruning is done every spring before the start of sap flow, for this healthy branches are shortened by 2/3, leaving 2-3 buds.
3. In order for the bush to grow lush, the processes around the main shoot are cut to different lengths.
4. 5-6 years after planting, the trunk of the bush is shortened to 6 buds, and branches to 2.
5. It is important not to forget to regularly clean diseased, damaged and dry shoots, as well as remove buds that have already withered.

The plant undergoes pruning without serious consequences, if you try, you can give it an interesting shape, for example, a pyramid, ball or cube.

Winter hardiness

In central Russia, hibiscus can die during the winter. There are two ways to help protect the flower from the cold:

1. A small bush is dug up and transplanted into a large pot or container, after which it is placed on a closed balcony or veranda. To fall into hibernation, Blue Chiffon needs to be in a cool place with an air temperature of 12-14 ° C.
2. A frame around the overgrown Chinese rosan is built and a special covering material is pulled on it, for example, agrotex, lutrasil or spanbond.

Transfer

The transplant should be carried out in the spring, immediately after pruning, but before the sap flow begins. Instruction:

1. Dig a bush, if it has grown greatly, you can divide it into several parts.
2. Choose a suitable place, it should be well lit and protected from strong winds.
3. Dig a hole twice as large as the root system of the bush.
4. Fill the bottom with a small layer of drainage material, for this you can use broken brick, expanded clay, clay shards and river pebbles.
5. Fill the pit with a nutritious substrate, place a bush in it, cover it with earth and tamp.
6. Water well, after a year the plant will bloom.

How to grow from seeds and cuttings?

To propagate the Syrian hibiscus Blue Chiffon even the beginner grower can do. For this, seeds and cuttings are most often used.

Cuttings

Step-by-step instruction:

1. In July, harvest cuttings, for this, cut strong, young shoots with 2-3 internodes from an adult bush.
2. Treat the bottom cut with Kornevin or any other similar means.
3. Fill the box or container with peat mix and stick the cuttings into it.
4. Build an impromptu greenhouse by covering the shoot container with a thick film.
5. After 4 weeks, roots form on the cuttings, after which they must be planted in separate containers. To do this, you need to prepare a nutrient substrate from sand, peat, leaf and sod land, I mix the components in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 1.
6. Water the young flowers regularly, and when they grow and get stronger - plant them in open ground.

Seed planting method

To propagate hibiscus seeds in open ground, you need to prepare seedlings. Step-by-step algorithm:

1. Seed in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes.
2. After that, immerse it in Epin's solution, it should only slightly cover the seeds.
3. Fill the container with a mixture of sand and peat, and then drop off the material.
4. Cover it with glass and put it in a warm place.
5. Once a day, ventilate the plantings and remove condensate, water as the soil dries.
6. After the seedlings give the first real leaves, plant them in separate pots.
7. In mid-May, move them to the open ground.

Briefly about diseases and pests

Hibiscus is highly resistant to diseases and pests. But during a drought with insufficient watering, ticks, whiteflies and thrips can attack it. Insecticides will help get rid of insects.

Blue Chiffon can catch chlorosis, that is, old leaves begin to crumble, and young ones acquire a pale yellow hue. This means that the plant lacks iron and nitrogen, so start adding iron chelate to the water for irrigation.

Similar flowers

A distinctive feature of the hibiscus of the Syrian Blue Chiffon is the color of its inflorescences - blue or pure blue. The buds of the following garden flowers have the same shade:

• Clematis Kiri Te Kanawa;
• letter-cell meconopsis;
• Damask nigella or Nigella;
• thick terry aster "Gala Blue;
• garden geranium Blue Blood.

Unpretentious Syrian hibiscus Blue Chiffon will decorate the garden with its bright flowers. Due to its high decorative properties, it looks good next to any plants. Provide the bush with the necessary conditions, and it will delight others for about 10 years.

Watch the video: Hibiscus syriacus Rose of Sharon, Rose of Althea, Syrian Rose (April 2024).