What is a woolly chase, where to plant it and how to care for it?

Landscape designers widely use monochromatic plants for delightful garden compositions, including woolly. Planting and caring for bushes is hassle-free. Groups of plants create a silvery fluffy rug - the perfect soft backdrop for vibrant floral soloists.

Chistets, or stachis, belongs to the Lamb family, has hundreds of species. Natural habitats - the Balkans and Asia Minor. The most famous in the culture is the herbaceous woolly, or Byzantine. Because of the densely pubescent leaves, the plant is called hare or sheep ears. Cute fleecy bushes not only bring aesthetic pleasure, but are also widely used in folk medicine.

Description

It is a perennial plant with a strong superficial root system. The bush is up to 20 cm high, the stalk of the peduncle rises to 60 cm. Large oblong leaves are opposite, taper towards the base, green, completely covered with villi, due to which the whole plant acquires a silvery hue. Spike-shaped dense inflorescences with a diameter of 1 cm on a high stem. The flowers of the woolen chanterelle are of different shades: pink or purple. The fruits are triangular nuts.

The plant blooms from late May to September, but the leaves are especially decorative. Peduncles after rains, under the weight of the buds, bend to the ground, they are often simply cut off if they do not collect seeds.

Woolly purse is a dry climate plant. In rainy weather, the bushes rot and lose their decorative effect.

Purist in the landscape

The bushes of the woolen chanterelle are planted in flower beds, borders, rock gardens. They create gorgeous serene silvery green lawns and framing.

The drought-resistant plant loves sunny places, but it also withstands partial shade: the chisel is planted as a ground cover under shrubs with sparse foliage, as well as near rose bushes. Shows its charm in combination with decorative deciduous plants: milkweed, hosts, cuff, heycheroi... Focuses on bright, low colors: marigolds, bells, ageratum, lavender, veronica, ornamental bows and other flowering plants.

The coldish, neutral tone of the leaves of the purée is ideally combined with blue, purple, white flowers, and the warm shades on its background look especially bright.

Important!

Fertile soil, excess fertilizer, or thick shade give the leaves of the purée their usual green tint.

Varieties

Several ornamental varieties of woolen beetle are most popular with gardeners and landscape designers.

• Sheep ears - 30 cm in height, lilac-pink flowers.
• Silver Carpet (Silver carpet), the lowest grade, rises only 15 cm, does not form flowers. Looks great in a group solid planting.
• Sheila Macqueen (Sheila McQueen) - Chistets, possibly named after the famous florist of the 40-60s. last century at the British court. Low plant, no flowers.
• Cotton ball - with inflorescences that slightly resemble cotton bolls.
• Striped phantom - a variety with wide light stripes on the leaves.
• Primrose heron - Chisel, whose leaves are yellow in spring. By summer, they become the usual grayish hue, and pink flowers appear.
• Big ears - the plant has 25-centimeter oblong leaves, really, like large ears.
• Silky fleece - a miniature plant with silky leaves up to 10 cm high, the diameter of the spread from the root reaches 25 cm.

Reproduction

It is necessary to plant the woolly chisel in a sunny area with drained soil.Although the plant tolerates frost well, it requires shelter during severe snowless periods. Melted water that collects on the lawn can be a danger to the rhizomes of the purée. In such places, the plant is not planted. Sandy and rocky, well-drained areas with low acidity or alkaline are suitable for the chisel.

For a month or two before planting, the site is fertilized with 10 kg of humus, 20 g of potassium sulfate and 50 g of superphosphate per 1 sq. m.

Advice

A bright silvery shade of leaves will be in a purse planted in a sunny place.

Sowing

Planting seeds of the woolly purse is carried out in February or March.

1. The container with seeds is covered with glass or foil and placed in a warm place - up to 25 degrees.
2. Sprouts emerge in 20-30 days. All this time, you need to make sure that the soil in the container does not dry out, but you cannot overmoisten it.
3. When the sprouts form 4 leaves, they are transplanted into separate pots.
4. Planting in a permanent place is recommended from mid-May to early June, when the threat of return frosts has passed.
5. Between the holes 25-30 cm are kept. First, pebbles with sand are placed, then soil mixed with humus, and seedlings are planted.

The sprouts of the Woolly Woolly do not have fibers. The leaves are pubescent after planting in a permanent place.

Rhizome transplant

Woolly scrub is also propagated by dividing large bushes. Plants are transplanted in spring or in August - early September. In the fall, you can time the planting of seedlings from containers, if the seeds are sown in May. Rhizomes divide easily and take root in a new place. After planting, the plants must be watered so that the leaves do not get wet.

Rooting cuttings

For cuttings, take pieces of stems with several leaves or leaves from the bottom of the bush. The lower part of the cutting is placed in sandy-peat soil. The soil is moderately moisturized so that the leaves do not die. The stalk takes root after 20 days, sprouts.

Care

The unpretentious woolly cleaver requires little attention: dry area, sun, minimum nitrogen.

• Complex mineral fertilizers or organic matter are needed to feed the plant. Instead of humus, herbal infusions are made, for example, from nettle, which is rich in trace elements.
• Water only the soil, protecting the leaves from water.
• Caring for a plant in spring comes down to cleaning the bushes from dry leaves.
• Weeds are regularly removed and open soil is loosened.
• Sometimes flower stalks are cut from bushes when buds appear - this is done so that the bush does not disintegrate.
• Caring for a woolly cleaver mainly consists in periodically trimming the stems, keeping the surface of the bush even and elastic. The stems are cut as low as possible, at ground level.
• After 3-4 years of growing bushes on the site, it is necessary to plant new plants to maintain the decorative effect of the fluffy lawn.

Self-seeding of seeds is possible from not distant peduncles. Purse in good conditions for him is a rather aggressive plant. Rhizomes can invade new territory, and seeds will sprout uncontrollably. If there are no plans to expand its area, the shoots are cut in the soil with a shovel and discarded.

The winter hardiness of the chisel increases when it is fed during spring care. Bushes, covered with agrofibre for the winter, must be opened during a thaw.

Fungal diseases affect the purse in case of waterlogging. Planting prophylactically sprayed with fungicides. Pests do not touch fluffy leaves containing tannins and essential oils.

The scrub will give the garden a spectacular and unusual look. Its elegant color scheme will make any plant more expressive.