Probably, few of us are familiar with such a flower as hyssop. But this is a unique medicinal plant! His homeland is the Mediterranean. Grow it as a decorative and medicinal plant, as well as an excellent medonos. Hyssop differs by a tart spicy-bitter taste and strong camphor flavor. The second name of hyssop is blue St. John's wort.
The hyssop plant is a long, low bush, absolutely unpretentious, drought-resistant and winter-hardy. He grows on any soil, but does not like too wet land. Numerous shoots of medicinal hyssop reach a height of up to 80 cm. In one place, hyssop can sometimes grow up to 10 years.
Blossoms hyssop blue, pink, white, blue, purple flowers. And on one inflorescence the flowers unfold gradually, due to which the plant remains decorative for a long time.
Flowering hyssop is in July-September. However, if you cut off blossoming inflorescences in the summer, lateral branches with new buds will appear on the remaining shoots. Such a cut will promote a long flowering of the plant, up to the onset of frost.
Just gradually, beginning in September, small dark-brown seeds of hyssop, which are in yellow capsules, ripen.
Planting a hyssop
The hyssop is most often propagated by seeds. In order to collect them, the inflorescences are cut at a time when the tips of the shoots begin to be bored. Inflorescences are laid out for ripening on paper. When the seeds are sufficiently dry, they must be gently shaken out of the boxes. Hyssop seeds retain their germination for 3-4 years. As practice shows, growing hyssop from seeds is not difficult.
Cultivation of hyssop from seeds can be both seedling and uncultivated, when they are immediately sowed in open ground. To grow seedlings, hyssop seeds must be sown in March, and in the garden they can be sown in May. Stratify seeds is not necessary, and in a couple of weeks you will get amicable shoots of this plant.
When growing hyssop at the dacha, the seeds should be sown in rows with a distance of 20 cm between them. Seeding the seeds in the soil should be shallow, about 1 cm. When a 5-6 leaf emerges, shoots must be weeded out, keeping the distance between them at 25-30 cm. Hyssop shoots are responsive to fertilizing with mineral fertilizer or ammonium nitrate.
If you decide to grow hyssop through seedlings, which will accelerate the beginning of flowering, then the seeds must be sown in boxes, which then put in a greenhouse or a greenhouse. When there are 5-6 of these leaves, seedlings can be planted in a permanent place in the garden.
Hyssop officinalis - cultivation and care
Care of the plant is simple: water as necessary, loosen the soil under the bushes and weed the weeds . With such planting and care, hyssop begins to bloom for the second year.
Cut young shoots of hyssop during full flowering: at this time the plant contains a maximum of essential oil, due to which it is appreciated. During the summer season, you can cut the hyssop shoots 2-3 times.
If you want to grow hyssop for collection as a medicinal raw material, then it is better not to allow self-sowing, since it weakens
In autumn, you can prune hyssop shrubs at a height of about 10-15 cm. Such a procedure will promote the appearance of a thicker plant and abundant flowering next year.
Hyssop is not subject to any disease. The only thing that can happen to him when stagnating water in the soil is rotting roots. To prevent it, plant the plant on dry sunny areas.