When creating a design for the territory of a summer cottage or own home A plant such as aubrieta is very popular among gardeners, thanks to its picturesque, bright flower arrangements. This garden flower looks great on alpine hills, in ordinary flower beds and even on a shady alley.

Description

Aubrieta or otherwise called aubretia is perennial groundcover, which covers the ground with a picturesque carpet. In order for it to please the amateur gardener with its beauty, it needs to be provided with competent, timely care. Flowers garden plant small, but their number is impressive. The color of the flowers is quite varied: white, purple, blue, etc. Aubrieta bushes are low, reaching only 10 to 13 cm. With proper care, flowering occurs 2 times per season. As a rule, this is in late spring - early summer, lasting up to 45 days and in early autumn - about 35 days. The fruits of the garden plant are in the form of a pod containing elongated brown seeds.

In nature there are various varieties and types of aubration, which differ from each other in color, shape and structure of the bush. Types of aubrieta:

• Cascade - enough known species garden aubration. The flowers are mostly blue or red with a yellowish center. The foliage is gray-green.
• Hybrid or cultivated - this type of garden aubriet is distinguished by its early flowering. The colors of the flowers are pink, red and purple.
• Deltoid, otherwise it is also called a lilac bush. The flowers of this type of garden aubrieta are medium-sized violet and purple in color. Since the inflorescences are collected in brushes, herbaceous plant becomes similar to lilac, which is why it got its second name.

Planting and care

For amateur gardeners, it will not be difficult to care for the shaving plant. First you need to choose a suitable area for the flower, adhering to the rules. Rules when choosing a place to plant an aubriet:

• The garden flower is quite heat-loving, so the place should be sunny. If the climate is southern, then it is possible to choose a place to plant a garden plant that is slightly shaded. In a temperate climate, it is necessary to find a sunny place for the perennial; partial shade will not allow the plant to bloom.
• The plant does not like sour, heavy, clay soils. Before planting, the soil in which the garden aubrieta will be planted must be loosened.
• Clear the area of ​​weeds.
• Add fertilizer to the soil. It is necessary to dig up the soil to a depth of 15 cm and mix it with ash or lime.
• Provide drainage.
• If possible, it is better to give preference to a site located on a hill.

After planting a garden plant, it needs constant timely care. Even if the soil is loose and light, it will be very useful to mulch several times a season, that is, mix the top layer of soil with sand in a layer of 3 to 5 cm. It is also necessary to ensure the required watering of the plant, timely feeding and aubration pruning.

Watering and fertilizing aubrieta

It is necessary to water a garden flower as the soil dries out; monitor watering especially in hot weather. Aubrieta does not like moisture, so if it is overwatered, the roots of the plant may rot or the flower will not bloom.

In order for a garden flower to actively bloom, it must be fertilized. Garden plant follows feed mineral fertilizers 2 times per season:

• in spring: fertilizing is carried out before the buds begin to appear.
• in summer: fertilize after pruning the plant to bloom again.

Pruning and cuttings of aubrieta

The flowering period of aubretia is from 4 to 7 weeks. In order for the plant to bloom a second time, it must be pruned. To do this, after the first flowering, the stems are removed at the root. The earth is fed. After these procedures, the plant will actively begin to grow and will bloom again by autumn. The plant should not be pruned in the fall to avoid the death of the plant during the wintering period.

The main rule in caring for a garden plant is cuttings, which should be carried out once a year. This is done so that the herbaceous flower does not degenerate over time and does not become more capricious to care for. For cuttings it is necessary to use young shoots without peduncles. They need to be cut in May and planted in a greenhouse with sand and peat soil. soil mixture. When planting, there should be a distance of 10 to 15 cm between the seedlings. At the end of summer or autumn, the cuttings are transplanted into a flowerbed, but if they are weak, then you can leave them in a greenhouse for the winter.

Preparing for wintering aubrieta

Aubrecia is frost-resistant, so it tolerates winters quite well. But to be on the safe side and provide additional protection to the roots, you can cover them with dry leaves before the first frost.

Growing aubretia from seeds

In order for a beautiful flower to delight the gardener in spring, summer and even autumn with its chic flowering carpets, you need to learn how to properly grow aubrieta yourself from seeds. Ways to grow a garden plant from seeds:

1. in spring by seedlings in a special container;
2. in the fall, when planting is carried out immediately in open ground.

Rules to follow, planting garden aubretia seeds in the first way:

In the second method, to plant seeds in the ground, you need choose the right landing site and prepare the ground. To do this, you need to loosen it, water it, and then you can sow the seeds. Top layer lightly mix the soil with sand.

Diseases and pests

A garden plant can also die due to diseases that appear on perennial aubration. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to inspect the garden flower and provide it with timely treatment.

Diseases and pests that affect aubrieta:

Growing garden beauty on garden plot, you need to know all the intricacies of its cultivation, planting and care, only then will it reward its intense long flowering . It should be remembered that the low-growing aubrieta prefers loose soil, regular watering, while not allowing it to become waterlogged; it is necessary to feed the garden flower in a timely manner and prune it. And only if you comply necessary conditions for perennial aubration, you can enjoy lush flower carpets that can decorate any place in the garden.

Garden flower aubrieta

Aubrieta is a pretty herbaceous perennial that can amazingly transform your summer cottage plot. It will cover a rockery or alpine hill with a colorful carpet, create a bright background for other flowers in the flowerbed, and decorate vertical surfaces with a cascade. Aubrieta is also good as a potted houseplant. It can be grown as a balcony crop and gets along without problems with all its flowering neighbors on the site. It is best to grow the plant from seeds.

The color of the flowers of this highly ornamental plant can be very diverse. There are varieties with flowers:

• light blue;
• soft pink;
• purple;
• blue;
• raspberry;
• violet;
• lilac;
• purple;
• white.

The aubrieta comes from Southern European and Central Asian countries. This ground cover is suitable for continuous vertical and horizontal decoration of gardens and has been successfully used landscape designers all over the world.

Advice! A plant grown from seeds begins to bloom in May of next year. The flowering period lasts one and a half months. If you trim the shoots of aubrieta immediately after flowering, it may bloom again. This way, it is easy to ensure a flowering carpet throughout the summer.

Varieties of aubrieta

There are about 40 cultivated varieties of this plant. The most popular of them are five.

Variety	Picture	Description
		Plants 10 cm long, stems spreading to the sides. Large-flowered - flowers up to 5 cm in diameter, intensely pink in color. Can be propagated by cuttings and division
		Highly decorative variety. The shoots take root easily. May be blue in color different shades pink
		It blooms lushly and for a long time, about two months. Raspberry colored flowers. Used for vertical decoration– grows well on a frame
		Blue and bright blue flowers. The most frost-resistant variety. Blooms twice. Grows back well after pruning
		May be red, pink and turquoise color, but the most common colors are lilac and purple. Used for vertical decoration, as well as potted plant, in balcony boxes and on alpine slides

Earth, light, water

Aubrieta is difficult to classify as an unpretentious flower. It is demanding on three agrotechnical aspects at once:

1. Soil composition
2. Watering mode.
3. Lighting.

In addition, the plant is almost impossible to propagate by dividing the bush - it tolerates replanting very poorly and the survival rate of the divisions is low. Therefore, the seed method of sowing directly into the soil in a flower bed or alpine hill is optimal.

In order not to risk the loss of seedlings when picking and planting in the ground, when growing seedlings, aubrieta should be sown only in peat tablets. This way, the plant will not be damaged during transplantation.

When to sow

Aubrieta can be sown in the ground both in spring and autumn. In spring it is May. Autumn – October. If the seeds are sown in the spring, germination can be expected in 10-15 days. At autumn sowing the plant sprouts only on next year in the spring.

The seeds are sown immediately permanent place at suitable intervals. Do not thicken the crops too much - the seedlings will not be able to develop normally, and the feeding area will not be sufficient for them. But there is also no need to sow ground cover too rarely. Optimal distance between bushes, depending on the variety, 15-20 cm.

Soil

It is very important to choose the site that best suitable for the plant. Aubrieta looks spectacular anywhere, but it will not grow well everywhere. She needs to be provided with easy nutrient soil with an alkaline reaction. Acidic soils are absolutely not suitable for the plant. Heavy clay soils are also contraindicated for the plant, but the plant likes sandy loam.

Advice! Aubrieta is a very light-loving plant. It makes no sense to sow it in the shade, since the leaves will stretch out, flowering will be sparse and the expected decorative effect will not be obtained.

Before sifting, the soil needs to be prepared.

1. Clear of stones and weeds.
2. Dig to a depth of half a shovel handle (10-15 cm).
3. Add humus and wood ash if sowing occurs in the fall.
4. Add a mineral complex and wood ash during spring sowing.
5. Add chalk or lime (the plant needs calcium for successful development).
6. Loosen the fertilized soil so that there are no lumps and the structure is uniform.
7. Moisten the area.
8. Prepare a soil mixture of peat and sand for filling the seeds.

Sowing

Aubrieta seeds are not very large, flat, brown. Before sowing, especially in open ground, they must be prepared and disinfected. Preparation can be done by soaking the seeds in a growth stimulant (epin, heteroauxin) dissolved in warm water, proportions and time - according to the instructions. Disinfection can be carried out using a dry method, dusting it with a fungicide, or traditionally keeping the seeds for one hour in a solution of potassium permanganate.

When sowing, the seeds are laid out on a prepared, moistened area at a given interval. The crops are sprinkled with a mixture of peat from the sands in equal proportions, and watered with “rain” from a watering can.

Advice! The aubrieta looks very beautiful in a rock garden. You can sprinkle the seeds between large stones (just place fertile soil there first). The aubriet shoots falling from the stones look fascinating.

Growing aubrieta for seedlings

Many people do not want to wait a year before receiving flowering plants, preferring to grow aubrieta seedlings. This can be done without loss if you do not pick the plants and plant them in the ground without removing them from the cup. Peat tablets and pots will help you grow seedlings at home. In this case, you can sow the seeds starting in February. Plants are planted in the ground in April.

Aubrieta grown from seedlings will bloom in June. A week after germination, the seedlings should be fed with a mineral complex for flower seedlings, and subsequently fertilized every 10 days.

Video - How to grow aubrieta from seeds

Plant care

The flowerbed where the aubrieta flaunts must be loosened monthly, all weeds must be weeded, and the plants must be watered by sprinkling or drip irrigation.

This groundcover is very fond of fertilizers, so it needs fertilizing at all stages of growth: from the very first - two weeks after germination, to the last - before the second autumn flowering. If you do not feed, the plants will not bloom as profusely as we would like. When feeding aubrieta, a standard complex of minerals is used (nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium).

At the stage of the beginning of growth, you need to use fertilizing with a high nitrogen content, then switch to a diet with a high content of phosphorus; at the stage of the beginning of flowering, the plant needs potassium most of all.

Feed on fertile soils The plant is needed at least three times every two months. If the soils are not very nutritious, fertilizing will be needed every two weeks. Also, once every two weeks you need to fertilize plants in rock gardens and alpine slides and cascade varieties intended for vertical decoration.

Advice! In addition to mineral complexes, young plants can be additionally fertilized with sodium humate twice a month (at different times, between main feedings).

Three times during the growing season, the soil under the aubriet must be mulched with fine sand. After trimming the faded shoots, it is good to mulch the ground with a mixture of sand and peat.

Frequent watering is not required. Overmoistening of the soil will lead to the forcing of leaves to the detriment of flowering. However, in hot weather it is necessary to water the flower, at least twice a week.

Pruning can be done at the end of each mass flowering. You need to cut the stems sparingly to the very base. The plant will immediately send out shoots that will bloom again.
To this ground cover plant was blooming and healthy, it must be treated with colloidal sulfur against powdery mildew, which often occurs in aubrieta. It can also be treated with insecticides against pests.

An undeniable advantage

In addition to the long, abundant, beautiful flowering this plant has another important advantage - it is not afraid even of extreme cold. Aubrieta does not shed its leaves in winter, and freezes only at very low temperatures, below 30 degrees below zero. Therefore, the decorative effect remains all year round for many years.

Aubrieta is a luxurious plant, the care of which causes some trouble, but the result is decorative effect The amount this flower produces in the area is well worth the effort.

Aubrieta is a very popular perennial plant in modern gardening. It is used to decorate flower beds and create a living flowering carpet. Planting aubrieta, propagating and caring for it in the open ground is a pleasant and interesting activity, and the variety of varieties will allow you to emphasize the individuality of your garden.

Aubrieta: varieties and varieties

The second name for aubrieta is aubretia. Plants are perennial, grown primarily for use in landscape design. The crop is classified as a ground cover because of its growth pattern: the bushes grow, covering the ground, forming a very beautiful living carpet.

The flowers of aubretia are not large, but their number is impressive. The color varies from white to purple and blue. Flowering occurs in two stages - from the end of May (about 45 days) and in September (30-35 days). In the photo you can see that the plant is not tall (10-13 cm), and forms beautiful flowering pillows from evergreen leaves.

The varieties and types of aubretia differ not only in the color of the flowering, but also in its shape, as well as in the structure of the plant itself. The choice of aubrieta variety depends only on the personal preferences of the gardener.

Cascade. Enough popular variety aubriet. Perennial plants have beautiful flowers blue or red with a small yellow core. The leaves are gray-green and remain that way all year round, decorating the garden even in winter period. For this species, pruning is recommended immediately after flowering, which occurs in early or mid-summer.

Hybrid or cultural. The earliest of all types of aubration. The blooms are pink, purple and sometimes red, rising above the green foliage. It looks very beautiful in stones, in cracks in walls and fences. Among all the varieties of hybrid aubriet, the following are distinguished:

• “Charming Morocco” is a variety with the largest flowers (up to 1.5 cm in diameter), the color is varied - from blue to pink and red;
• "Doctor Mules" is a rather tall variety (14-16 cm tall), with delicate blue-violet flowers;
• "Borshies White" is the only variety with large white inflorescences.

Deltoid. People call it “Lilac Bush”. Under natural conditions, varieties of this species are found in South-Eastern Europe. The flowers are purple, blue or violet, medium-sized (1 cm in diameter). The inflorescences are collected in clusters, which makes the plant similar to lilac.

Planting a plant

As soon as the warm spring sun has warmed up outside the window and the night frosts have receded, you can plant the aubrieta. This is usually done at the end of April - beginning of May (depending on the region). You should carefully choose a landing site. Growing is recommended in large quantities sunlight. The brighter the place, the more abundantly the aubretia blooms, and the blooms acquire a more saturated hue.

The plant thrives in light, not very fertile soils. The presence of lime or chalk is welcome. Oily soils, peat and clay soils are not to the liking of Shaver, and it will be capricious on them, if it takes root at all.

The plant is buried in the ground in accordance with the length of the root. The distance between the bushes is at least 5 cm. The planting pattern is arbitrary, depending on the goal pursued by the gardener.

Important! To reduce acidity, lime or wood ash is added to the soil.

Planting the plant on a hill is encouraged - a wall, blooming waves.

Shaving care

Although the plant is unpretentious, it should not be ignored. Planting and care include several main points.

The first and only abundant watering is carried out when planting aubretia in open ground. Further watering is carried out in rather meager portions. Excess moisture in the soil harms aubrieta flowers. They crumble and the plant looks dull.

Aubrieta does not tolerate moisture, but it does not tolerate drought very well, so the soil under the plant is mulched with sand, in a layer of 2-3 cm. At the beginning of summer, the mulch is renewed, and at the end of August, mulching is carried out again.

To prevent the aubrieta from losing its decorative effect, faded buds must be removed. Since the plant is perennial, the bushes must be pruned at the end of flowering. Next will come abundant autumn bloom, after which pruning is not recommended. It is necessary to prune bushes and remove damaged leaves before the next season - in spring.

With the arrival of autumn, the flowers do not shed their green mass, but if frost intensifies, the leaves may fall off. Some gardeners advise covering the plant with dry leaves or straw.

Advice! To prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged, take care of drainage at the site where the aubrieta is planted.

Fertilizer and feeding

Plants don't really like fertilizer. Fertilizing is required no more than twice per season. Mineral and potash fertilizers are best absorbed. You can limit yourself to adding wood ash.

Advice! You can only feed grown seedlings before flowering.

If the aubrieta has been fed with nitrogen-containing fertilizers, its cultivation becomes more difficult. It is also not recommended to feed young seedlings after transplanting into open ground. It is most advisable to apply fertilizer before flowering and after pruning the bushes.

Plant propagation

Reproduction of aubrieta is carried out by several methods, each of them is good in its own way.

Diseases and pests

Aubrieta is a plant resistant to many bacteria, viruses and pests. The greatest harm can come to her overwatering: rotting of the root system and death of the plant. The wrong choice of soil can also cause harm. Among insects, the plant is most often affected.

The most common disease among all varieties of aubrieta is powdery mildew. Plaque appears on the affected areas, and leaf deformation is observed. They fight the problem with the help of colloidal sulfur. Most often, affected plants are removed and burned.

Advice! Carry out proper care When growing and the plant will not be afraid of either diseases or pests.

Aubrieta: combination with other plants

Most often, aubrieta's partners in the garden are plants that creep along the ground. Pairs perfectly with milkweed or Caucasian rhizome, red soapwort or alyssum.

The combination is carried out according to color scheme. Varieties that have all shades of red will complement perennial dwarf ones, in which a blue tint predominates in flowering, or Douglas phlox.

Aubrieta in landscape design

In landscape design, aubrieta most often acts as a living flowering carpet in a border or rock garden, where it will create an inimitable backdrop for plants that bloom a little later. Aubrecia looks very beautiful in flower beds decorated with natural stones (). Some gardeners manage to plant a plant in the cracks of the walls, creating cascades of indescribable beauty.

Growing aubrieta from seeds: video

Types of aubrieta: photo

Aubrieta, a low-growing perennial that covers the ground with a continuous carpet of small delicate flowers, will be an excellent decoration for a flowerbed or alpine hill. This crop is ideally suited for creating vertical compositions. We will tell you how to grow aubrieta in this article.

Brief description of the plant

Aubrieta perennial belongs to the flowering crops of the cruciferous family. This ground cover plant got its name in honor of the French artist Claude Aubriette. Aubrieta is widespread in European countries and Central Asia. Small bright inflorescences are painted in different tones of blue and purple; there are also plants with white, red or pink buds. Short shoots of aubrieta intertwine with each other, forming a dense, impenetrable mat on the ground. The foliage of this crop is small, oval, slightly pointed.

The flowering period of the plant occurs at the end of spring or at the beginning of summer and lasts for 40-50 days. In place of faded buds, fruits appear in the form of small pods with oblong brown seeds.

Thanks to abundant flowering, as well as the ability to preserve foliage even in winter, aubriet is widely used in our country as an element landscape design. This plant looks great in rock gardens, ridges, borders and vertical flower arrangements. Cascading obriets can serve as decoration for a loggia, balcony, or veranda.

Crop varieties

Among the many varieties of this plant, the following types are the most popular in the gardens of our country:

1. Aubrieta deltoid is a low-growing perennial plant, the bush of which reaches a height of no more than 12 cm, and grows up to 60 cm in width. The shade of the flowers of Aubrieta deltoid varies, the most common are pink and purple, less often you can find red or blue varieties. This crop is divided into several varieties:

• "Aureovariegata" has light buds of a lilac hue, and its leaves along the edges are decorated with a golden border;
• "Alix Brett" is distinguished by double inflorescences of a bright crimson hue;
• “Astolat” is an aubrieta variety with rich purple buds and variegated foliage;
• The inflorescences of the “Bressingham Pink” variety have double pink petals;
• The stems of the Doctor Mules aubriet are decorated with small purple flowers;
• The Red Carpet variety looks very impressive thanks to the bright red hue of the buds.

1. Aubrieta cascade is a crop variety often used to create vertical flower arrangements. The dense interlacing of short stems bears many evergreen leaves that cover surfaces like a carpet. Cascading aubrieta blooms in late spring and early summer, producing single buds in blue or red shades. Flowers consist of 4 petals and a yellow center. This culture is used to decorate rocky slopes, building walls, fences, and borders. garden paths and flower beds. The height of the bush reaches 15 cm.
2. Aubrieta hybrida has small flowers of various shades. Depending on the specific variety, you can find buds of pink, red, purple or white color. The hybrid aubrieta bush grows up to 10 cm in height, and in width it occupies up to 50-60 cm of space. The culture thrives in open, sunny areas and can tolerate both hot weather and slight frost. There are several varieties of this plant:

• aubrieta “Enchanting Morocco” is the most common type of hybrid culture. It has quite large flowers, painted in a variety of colors: blue, blue, red, pink, purple. The size of the buds is 1.5 cm, the bush grows 10 cm in height. The flowering period of “Charming Morocco” occurs in May and June;
• the Royal Cascade variety produces stems reaching a length of 25 cm and decorated with light pink flowers. Ideal for decoration vertical surfaces, multi-level flower beds;
• "Red Cascade" has inflorescences of a rich red hue;
• the “Lizzie” variety grows up to 15 cm in height, the shoots of the bushes are decorated with red buds, the diameter of which is approximately 1 cm;
• The Deborah variety also has red inflorescences, but the bush of this crop grows up to 20 cm;
• The “Fruit Assortment” varietal mixture looks quite impressive in garden design, which produces multi-colored buds painted in various shades pink and red colors.

Methods for propagating aubrieta

Planting aubrieta with seeds

The most popular method of propagating the crop is by seeds. Buy seed material at any flower shop will not be difficult, but you can also store the seeds yourself if you have already grown this crop before. When propagating from seeds, it is important to take into account that the plant will not produce buds in the first year after planting, but will bloom only after a season.

Aubrieta seedlings can be grown in an apartment. If you are going to transplant the sprouts to a permanent flowerbed in last weeks May, then you can start sowing seeds in February. When growing aubrieta from seeds, prepare light, fertile soil. You can buy land for flowering plants in specialty store. Place the soil in a wide container and sprinkle a thin layer of fine sand on top. Sow the grains into the ground, trying to keep the same distance between them. Lightly moisten the soil with a spray bottle and cover the container. plastic film and leave for 3-4 weeks for germination. When the first shoots break through the ground, remove the plastic from the container.

While the seedlings are developing and strengthening root system, you should take good care of them. Do not allow the soil to dry out, provide the plants with access to air and sunlight. You should also not water too much. When irrigating sprouts, it is advisable to use a spray bottle so that the stream of water does not erode the soil at the roots and damage them.

After about a month, when the weather is warm outside and there are no frosts at night, the aubrieta seedlings can be transferred to open soil. If after a month the weather outside still does not allow planting the plants in the flowerbed, the sprouts will need to be distributed into separate containers so that they are not crowded in a common container. However, you can avoid unnecessary work if you plant the seeds of the crop immediately in a permanent place of growth. It is best to do this in September, but you need to be sure that night frosts do not begin prematurely. In addition, weeds should be carefully removed from the flowerbed, otherwise the young shoots of the aubrieta will die.

Vegetative methods of propagation

Some gardeners prefer to propagate the crop using cuttings. To plant aubrieta using this method, you should inspect the bush and find shoots that are not fully ripened. Then the sprouts are cut off, cleaned of soil and sand, and torn from them lower leaves. After this, the cuttings are planted in a greenhouse, having previously prepared a soil mixture of peat and sand. It is best to transplant rooted cuttings into a flowerbed at the end of summer. Don't forget to make sure that roots form on the sprouts. When planting cuttings, keep a distance of 12-15 cm between them. Since aubrieta becomes weaker and capricious over the years, many gardeners recommend cuttings every year - this way you will constantly maintain the high decorative qualities of the flower garden.

Reproduction of a crop by dividing a bush is theoretically possible, but in practice this method is used extremely rarely. Aubrieta does not tolerate this procedure well; the damaged roots of the plant may dry out and the flower will die. This method is resorted to only in extreme cases by those gardeners who have great experience working with plants.

Shaving care

When planting a plant in open ground, it is important to prepare correct composition soil. Garden soil preferably mixed with fine sand. When sowing seeds or seedlings, place the bushes in even beds so that they do not get lost among the weeds.

Aubrieta likes to grow in open areas well lit by sunlight. In addition, the site must be spacious enough. Place flower beds with south side buildings, on open slopes. The plant is not too demanding on soil, but for good growth and development of aubrieta, it is advisable to saturate the soil with chalk, ash or a small amount of lime. The ground around the plants can also be mulched from time to time. thin layer fine sand.

Aubrieta does not need too frequent or abundant watering. With excessive moisture, the bushes grow a lot of green mass, but bloom poorly. You should also not allow the soil to dry out. On hot days summer days If there is no rain for a long time, the plant must be watered.

Young aubrieta bushes need to be fed with sodium humate. It is dissolved in water and the flowers are watered twice a day: morning and evening. Sodium humate stimulates the growth of roots and shoots, making the plant stronger and more resilient. The first feeding is carried out when at least 2 true leaves appear on the seedlings. Older crops are periodically fed complex fertilizers for perennial flowering plants. They are applied to the soil 2 times per season: before the aubrieta begins to flower and after its pruning.

Pruning the crop is also an essential part of care. Each time after the end of the flowering period, the shoots of the plant are removed almost to the ground. In such a case, the aubrieta produces new stems in place of the cut stems, which after a short time are also covered with flowers. Pruning the crop allows you to maintain its decorative effect throughout the summer.

Diseases of this crop include powdery mildew. If you notice that the stems and leaves of the bushes are covered with a whitish coating, treat them with a solution of colloidal sulfur. If after treatment the signs of the disease have not disappeared, you will have to get rid of the damaged plants so that powdery mildew does not spread to healthy areas of the flowerbed. Diseased bushes should be uprooted and burned.

Aubrieta is a perennial evergreen ground cover plant from the Cruciferous family.

Its homeland is Asia Minor and Southern Europe. Because of his high decorative qualities aubrieta has become popular not only in its native lands, but also in other countries and continents.

Claude Aubriette, a botanist and artist from France, first described 20 species of this beautiful flower. This plant was named after him. Later, the number of aubrieta species decreased to 12. The most popular are 2 types: deltoid and cultural aubrieta.

Aubrieta deltoid has bluish-green deltoid foliage. The flowers are violet or lilac in color. They form loose racemose inflorescences. Aubrieta of this species is the ancestor of all cultivated varieties.

Aubrieta cultivated includes quite a few varieties and hybrids, varying in color, size, shape, fullness of flowers, length of stems and color of foliage. Cuttings of this species root poorly. Most often, varieties are propagated by seeds.

The aubriet grows up to 20, less often 35 centimeters in height, and reaches 1 meter in width. Stems creeping. It has small lanceolate or spatulate drooping leaves. They are located alternately. Their color depends on the time of year and can be bluish-green (summer) or bright green (winter).

This herbaceous plant is densely covered with bright pink, maroon, lilac, crimson, lilac, violet and white four-petaled flowers. There are large-flowered, double and semi-double varieties with variegated leaves. Some flowers are suitable for cutting and creating bouquet arrangements. They are 1-2 centimeters in diameter (some varieties can reach 5 centimeters). They are collected in small loose brushes.

The plant blooms in April - May or autumn and this period lasts one and a half months.
The fruits produced from the flowers are pods with flat, brown seeds.

Varieties

Breeders have developed quite a few varieties and hybrids of aubrieta. They differ in color and size of flowers, length of stems and color of leaves.

Variety Lizzie

The flowers are bright red. Their diameter is 1 centimeter. Plant height is 15 centimeters.

Variety Fruit assortment

Flowers on the same bush can be red or pink, and vary in shade. Their diameter is 1-2.5 centimeters. The height of the stems is 20 centimeters.

Variety Red King

Plants are 10 centimeters tall. Flowers with a diameter of 5 centimeters. Their color is pink.

Variety Alix Wrett

The flowers are crimson in color, semi-double and double. Stems are 20 centimeters high. The plant easily tolerates partial shade.

Variety Doctor Mules

This is a variegated variety. The flowers are dark, blue-violet. The height of the stems is 15 centimeters.

Campbell variety

The color of the flowers is bright blue. The height of the stems reaches 10 centimeters.

Variety Charming Morocco

Flowers of this decorative variety very lush. They are blue, red and pink color with longitudinal stripes on the petals. Their diameter is 1.5-2 centimeters. The plant grows up to 25 centimeters in height.

Variety Deborah

Flower color is red. The stems reach a height of 20 centimeters.

Variety Astrolat

The flowers are purple. The leaves are variegated. The height of the stems does not exceed 12 centimeters.

Côte d'Azur variety

The flowers are sky blue. The variety is characterized by frost resistance and the ability to quickly recover after pruning.

Variety Royal Cascade

The color of the flowers is light pink with a yellow center. The diameter of the flower is 1-2 centimeters. The stems are drooping and grow up to 25 centimeters. The leaves are bluish-green all year round.

Variety Red Cascade

Variety Red Cascade

The flowers are densely arranged, dark red in color. The diameter of the flower is 1 centimeter. The heart is small, yellow. The plant grows up to 30 centimeters in height. The leaves are bluish-green.

Variety Blue cascade

The height of the stems is 15 centimeters. Blue flowers. The diameter is 1 centimeter. This variety has hanging stems and is planted on retaining walls and rockeries. The leaves are bluish-green.

Growing aubrieta - planting seedlings

Aubrieta propagates by seeds and cuttings. For these purposes, you can collect the seeds yourself (if it grows on the site) or buy them in the store. It is not advisable to propagate a flower by dividing bushes. He does not tolerate this procedure well.

Seeds are sown in open ground in May or September - October. They are planted in a sand-peat mixture and covered with film. Indoors, seeds should be sown at the end of February.

The soil should be light, with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction and a small content organic matter. Clayey, acidic or fatty peat soils are not suitable for shaving.

Seeds can be sown using seedless or seedling methods. But sowing seeds directly in a flower garden can lead to splitting of varieties and loss of decorative qualities.

Sowing seeds indoors is done in peat tablets or peat humus pots. 2-3 seeds are distributed on the surface of the moistened soil and sprinkled with a 3-5 centimeter layer of sowed sand. The sown seeds are moistened warm water from a spray bottle. The crops are covered from above transparent film or glass.

The optimal temperature for seed pecking is 19-21 degrees.

Crops need to be ventilated every day. The soil is moistened if necessary (after the top layer of soil has dried). The seedlings hatch in 21-30 days. After the seeds have sprouted, the cover from the seedlings can be removed. Watering should be moderate.

The plants have weak roots and do not tolerate transplantation well. Seedlings are not picked. 2 weeks before transplanting grown seedlings into open ground, the plants are fed with a weak solution of any complex mineral fertilizer.

Aubrieta is light-loving plant and a bright area is selected for planting seedlings. To do this, you can choose elevated areas of land and rocky slopes. The site must be protected from flooding or provided with good drainage. Plants are planted in prepared beds in mid-May or September - October. The soil for planting should be loose. If the soil is highly acidic, ash or slaked lime is added to it.

The plant is transplanted together with a lump of earth. The gap between plantings should be 15 centimeters.

If you want to sow aubrieta directly into open ground, you first need to prepare the place. Sow the seeds in moistened soil, cleared of weeds and debris, fed with complex fertilizers and ash, dug to a depth of 15 centimeters. Sowing is carried out at a distance of 5 centimeters from each other. The seeds are sprinkled with a sand layer 3-5 centimeters thick. The sown seeds are carefully watered from a watering can. Seedlings sown in spring germinate in 10-21 days, and those sown in autumn will appear next spring.

Cuttings are cut from the branches after the plant has finished flowering. By the end of summer, the rooted cuttings are planted in a permanent place according to a 15 by 15 centimeter pattern. Before winter, the flower takes root and easily tolerates the cold. Rare varieties remain in the greenhouse for the winter.

Planting aubrieta seedlings in open ground: video

The soil under the obriet is covered with a 3-5 centimeter layer of seeded sand. This mulching is carried out 2-3 times in spring and summer.

The plant should be watered moderately and only in dry, hot weather, since excess moisture leads to poor flowering and rotting of the root system. At the same time, lack of water also adversely affects the flowering of the plant and its growth. Regular (2 times a week) moderate watering is needed for young, developing plants. Then the flowers are watered no more than once a week.

After each watering, a mandatory procedure is to remove weeds.

Aboveground part after spring bloom The aubrieta is cut off almost to the root. This procedure promotes the formation of new shoots, which will subsequently bloom in the fall. To preserve decorative qualities, faded flowers are cut from the plant. Flowering in autumn period not as abundant as in spring, but at the same time pleases with a more saturated color of the leaves.

In spring and autumn, plants are fertilized mineral supplements. At the beginning of the growth of aubrieta, you need to apply nitrogen fertilizing, then you need to switch to phosphate fertilizers, at the beginning of flowering, plants need potassium.

The first feeding is carried out in the spring, before the formation of flowers. Flowers on fertile soils need to be fed every 20 days. If the soil is infertile, fertilizing is carried out every 2 weeks. Once every 2 weeks, flowers growing on alpine hills, rockeries and cascade varieties are fertilized.

Between the main feedings for young plants, additional feeding is carried out with sodium humate.

The flower overwinters open or under cover. In frosty winters with little snow, the aubrieta is covered with straw or dry leaves and pine needles. In the spring, after the snow melts, the shelter is removed from the plants.

Most often, aubrieta is affected by aphids and powdery mildew.

Aphids are not difficult to recognize on plants. This pest feeds on plant sap and contributes to the spread of viral diseases. Insects can be destroyed using drugs such as: Karbofos, Biotlin, Fufanon and Arrivo. In case of extensive damage, spraying is repeated up to 4 times. For prevention, plants can be treated with insecticides.

Powdery mildew covers the plant with a whitish coating, which turns brown over time. As a result of the disease, the aubrieta loses its decorative effect. Plant growth slows down, and the damaged areas begin to turn black and subsequently die, and winter hardiness decreases. You can get rid of the fungus by treating the bushes with a solution of colloidal sulfur. If the disease has damaged a large part of the plantings, then the most damaged areas are removed.

Aubrieta looks beautiful on alpine hills, rockeries, and borders. Some varieties are planted on balconies or in hanging planters. It grows well in wide crevices of walls with dry masonry, in rocky gorges. Sometimes the flower is used in mixborders. The plant is combined with white Iberis, red soapwort, yellow alyssum, Caucasian rhizome, subulate phlox, dwarf irises. Some varieties of aubrieta are cut and used to create bouquets.

This beautiful plant can decorate not only a flower garden, balcony or flowerpot, but also vases. Freshly cut flowers look very beautiful in combination with other plants. Aubrieta planted in a flower garden grows over time and covers the area with a dense carpet of flowers. All that is required to grow it is proper care.