At the end of summer in the gardens and squares you can see an unusual plant with bright colors of various shades. This is hibiscus garden (Syrian), which looks like a low tree or shrub, depending on what form it should give. The flowers of garden hibiscus are similar to all the familiar " Chinese rose ", which is also called hibiscus, and can be red, pink, purple, blue and white with a crimson center.
Previously, this plant was characteristic only of the southern regions, but then spread everywhere, because, despite its heat-loving nature, it can grow in the middle belt and even slightly north.
Hibiscus garden - growing and grooming
To be able to admire your garden or country plot with this beautiful plant, you do not need to be a great agronomist. Despite the overseas origin, garden hibiscus is fairly simple to clean and completely unpretentious.
Planting of garden hibiscus is best done in the spring, after the earth has receded and warms up a little. Thus, for the warm season, he will be able to build up a good root system and safely survive his first winter. In the markets and in specialized stores at this time you can buy seedlings with roots. It is undesirable to plant a plant in the fall, because then the probability of its survival is not high. The place for planting is better to choose sufficiently illuminated, then hibiscus will prove itself from the best side, laying a lot of buds, which are revealed daily one after another for several months. Although the lifespan of each flower is only one day, but this is completely unnoticeable, because the bush is studded with hundreds of such buds, ready to just open.
Hibiscus garden - reproduction by seeds
Some growers prefer to propagate their plants not by cuttings, but by the seed method. This method is loved by those who are interested in the process of growing a flower, starting with pecking the grain and ending with the flowering of the plant's own efforts.
Collecting and drying the seeds of last season, before planting, they soak for 12 hours in water with the addition of a growth stimulant. In the soil prepared from peat and sand, the seeds are sown, slightly deepening them, and covered with glass. The capacity should be kept on a solar window at a temperature of about 27 ° C. After the plant has two pairs of leaflets, they need to be broken into separate containers and transplanted into the ground with the onset of warm days. Such a plant will blossom in 2-3 years.
Much easier and faster results from the planting of cuttings. They are cut off at the beginning of summer and kept in water until roots appear, and then planted either in the ground and for winter sheltered, or left to winter in a cool room in the pot with the ground.
Care of garden hibiscus
As already mentioned, this plant is quite unpretentious and does not require you to constantly care. All that is needed is regular watering and loosening of the soil, and it's quite simple and the same actions we constantly conduct with other green garden inhabitants.
Several times during the growing season, hibiscus should be fertilized with mineral fertilizers . This is especially important in the early spring, when the beginnings of the future flowers are laid. For a flowering plant to look neat, you need to regularly remove the dried flowers on the bush and on the ground below it. Winter hibiscus is well tolerated, and therefore does not need shelter.
Hibiscus garden - pruning for the winter
Many gardeners prefer to trim the plant before the onset of cold weather, so that during the beginning of the sap flow, when it's still cold enough on the street, as many kidneys as possible can be planted. For this, the pruner cuts three quarters of the length of each branch. Do not be afraid of pruning, because it as nothing else stimulates abundant flowering.
Trimming hibiscus is also practiced to give the desired shape to the plant. This can be done two or three times in the summer before the beginning of flowering. Cutting part of the branch, we stimulate the development of lateral shoots, and accordingly, the plant will have a more rounded attractive shape.