Physostegia: planting, care, varieties with photos

It’s easy to decorate your garden with an elegant, bright and unpretentious plant. To do this, it is enough to plant Physostegia - a flower, planting and caring for which is simple, and descriptions of varieties and photos will help you choose suitable specimens for a specific area.

Physostegia is a herbaceous perennial that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Of the several species that exist in nature, one is cultivated in gardening - Physostegia virginiana.

General characteristics of Physostegia virginiana varieties:

• shoots are straight, strong, tetrahedral in cross-section;
• roots are creeping, fast growing;
• leaves are lanceolate, paired, elongated, with uneven, jagged edges;
• buds are tubular, two-lipped. The inflorescences are lush panicles up to 30 cm long, attracting insects with a strong aroma;
• the duration and beginning of flowering depends on the variety and occurs from July to the end of September;
• frost resistance is high.

In mixborders, the perennial is placed in the background. Variegated varieties look advantageous on lawns as a solo plant.

Cut inflorescences retain their fresh appearance for a long time, so they are indispensable for cutting into bouquets.

Types and varieties

   Alba

Alba

• height 0.8 m;
• the buds are large, snow-white, bloom in July-August and bloom until mid-October;
• winter hardiness is average, shelter for the winter is required;
• used for planting in mixed flower beds, looks great in rockeries.

    Variegata

Variegata

• height 0.9m;
• the stems are strong and not susceptible to lodging;
• green leaves are framed with a white border;
• the inflorescences are bright, juicy, long-lasting flowering - up to 50 days;
• used as a solitaire and in mixed compositions.

    Summer Snow

Summer Snow

• height 0.9 m;
• does not require shelter in winter;
• inflorescences are spike-shaped, snow-white;
• used in plantings with conifers, near water bodies.

    Summer Spire

Summer Spire

• height 0.9 m;
• inflorescences are pale purple;
• used in multi-level flower beds, in compositions with echinacea, phlox, dahlias.

    Vivid

Vivid

• height 0.6 m;
• the color of the flowers is soft pink;
• foliage is dark green, glossy;
• requires shelter in winter;
• used for planting next to coniferous plants.

    Bouquet Rose

Pictured is Bouquet Rose

• height 1.2 m;
• the color of the inflorescences is bright lilac;
• not afraid of temperature changes;
• used in compositions with evergreen trees and along borders.

    Pink Queen

Pictured is Pink Queen

• height 0.7 m;
• inflorescences are spike-shaped, pink;
• abundant flowering;
• frost resistance is average, needs shelter for the winter;
• looks beautiful in company with phlox, astilbe, lily, tradescantia.

    Crystal peak white

Crystal Peak White

• height 80 cm;
• blooms with snow-white inflorescences from the first year of cultivation;
• flowering lasts from July to August;
• no shelter required for winter;
• used in mixed flower beds with helenium, meadowsweet, and lupine.

    Miss Manners

Miss Manners

• height 45-60 cm, grows very slowly;
• the buds are large and white. Blooms from mid-July to late September;
• differs from other varieties by controlled growth;
• withstands frosts down to -34 degrees;
• used as borders along paths.

Descriptions of varieties and photos of Physostegia virginiana will help in creating a unique, stylish garden.

Growing from seeds

Physostegia seeds are characterized by high germination and frost resistance.They can be sown in open ground in autumn or early spring.
But you can also grow a crop through seedlings, following the following steps:

• The seeds are sown in March in a mini-greenhouse.
• Shoots that appear after 10-14 days are watered, loosened the soil, protected from direct sunlight and drafts.
• When two true leaves form, the shoots dive, leaving a distance between shoots of 7-10 cm.
• 2 weeks before planting Physostegia in open ground, seedlings are hardened off by briefly exposing containers with seedlings outside.

Physostegia easily propagates by self-sowing. But seeds collected in your own garden may not reproduce the characteristics of the mother plant.

Reproduction of physiostegia by vegetative methods allows you to preserve all varietal characteristics.

  Rules for planting a flower in the ground

Seedlings or seedlings purchased from a nursery are transplanted into open ground in late May - early June. For seedlings with a closed root system, there are no restrictions on planting time. Physostegia takes root and grows better in well-lit areas, although it can grow in slight shade.

The soil should be loose, nutritious and moist, but without stagnant water. Loamy soil or black soil is ideal. A distance of 45-50 cm should be maintained between seedlings.

The roots of the flower, growing, are able to displace other plantings from the site. To avoid this, shields made of iron, slate, plastic or wood are dug along the border of the flower bed, burying them 30-40 cm into the soil. You can limit the growth of roots by planting a Physostegia seedling in a piece of a wide pipe or a bucket without a bottom.

    Physiostegia care

Physostegia is resistant to pests and diseases. The most likely pests may be aphids and spider mite. To combat them, it is enough to use one of the drugs in accordance with the instructions: Actellik, Biotlin, Antitlin.

The most likely diseases are rust and fungal diseases. For treatment, damaged parts of the plant are removed, and the plant itself is treated with a fungicide.

Caring for the crop is traditional:

Watering. The flower is quite moisture-loving, so timely watering is necessary during dry periods. To prevent moisture from evaporating, the ground around the plants should be mulched. Mulching will help reduce the amount of weeding, loosening and watering. After each moistening of the soil (rain or watering), it is necessary to remove weeds and loosen the soil. With the onset of cool weather, the intensity of watering is reduced to avoid root rotting.

Top dressing. If the soil is fertile, then feeding physiostegia is necessary once a season, before flowering, in the form of a water-soluble complex mineral fertilizer. Fertilizing is combined with watering.

Trimming. Pruning bushes in the fall is also a preparation for winter. It is produced after the stems dry out. The stems are cut off, leaving stumps 5-9 cm high above the ground.

 Reproduction

Physostegia is propagated not only by seeds, but also by vegetative methods:

    Reproduction by dividing rhizomes and root suckers

For culture propagation dividing the rhizome the bush is not removed from the ground. It is necessary to dig up the root of an adult plant and cut it off. The dug root is divided into several parts, each of which contains several buds. The sections are treated with crushed charcoal and planted in a permanent place according to a 50x50 cm pattern. During rooting, the soil around the plantings should be moist. The procedure is carried out in early spring or late autumn.

Lateral shoots develop on creeping roots. They are dug up along with part of the mother root, the above-ground part is shortened to 10-15 cm and planted in the chosen place.

    Propagation by cuttings

It is advisable to take cuttings in June, before flowering begins. Shoots 10-12 cm long with several pairs of buds are prepared as cuttings. For planting cuttings prepare containers with wet sand, which are subsequently kept in a shaded place.

In winter, containers with cuttings are placed in a cool room, and in spring the seedlings are transferred to a seedling bed for growing. After a year they can be placed in a permanent place.

    Reproduction by dividing the bush

To propagate using this method, the bush must be removed from the ground and the above-ground part must be shortened to 10-15 cm. Next, the bush is cut into 2-3 parts, each of which contains several stems and roots. The divisions are planted in a new place at a distance of 50 cm from each other.

Care after flowering and preparation for wintering

Seeds are collected as they ripen from the last days of August to the beginning of October. To dry, the seeds are laid out in a room with good ventilation. Dry seeds are stored in paper bags.

Preparing physiostegia for winter involves cutting the stems at a distance of 5-9 cm from the surface of the ground. In the southern regions, covering the plant for the winter is not necessary; in areas with harsh and long winters, physostegia plantings must be covered with spruce branches, a thick layer of sawdust, peat, and leaf litter.

You might be interested:

1. How to feed perennials in spring
2. What types of ground cover flowers are there?
3. Planting and caring for aquilegia
4. Growing astilbe
5. How to grow anemones correctly
6. Varieties of garden geranium, perennial