Camassia

Camassia: flower description

Camassia flower: plant photo

Camassia (Camassia) - to bulbous perennial plants and the Liliaceae family. The diameter of the scaly bulb is 5 centimeters. In height, this plant can grow up to 1 meter, but it can also be quite miniature - 20 centimeters. The leaves are collected in a root rosette and have a belt-like shape. They are colored green with a slight bluish bloom. The spike-shaped inflorescence is made up of small, star-shaped flowers. They can be white, brown, purple, blue and beige.

The plant is widespread in nature in Canada and the United States. They are strewn with mountain meadows, grassy slopes, where it is dry in the summer season and a lot of moisture in the spring.

The Camassia flower is a long-lived plant, despite its exquisite beauty, is picky and does not require much attention. On the territory of our country, it can be considered an exclusive plant, since it is not often grown in gardens.

Bloom:

In Central Russia, the flowering of Camassia begins in the last days of May, just when many plants are already fading. Lovely flower-shaped stars are gathered in brush-shaped inflorescences. Their beauty is a little cold, as if the moonlight appears through their stars, with which they are filled.

Camassia: flower reproduction

You can propagate Camassia by seed and by separating the bulbs of the daughters. Such procedures are carried out in the autumn. Before planting, you need to prepare the site in advance by turning it over and adding about 4 kg there. humus or peat per 1 sq. m.

Seed growing method:

Seed material of Camassia must undergo a long and obligatory stratification within 5 months. Sowing is best done in the last days of September, then this procedure will take place naturally. They must be sown in pre-prepared furrows to a depth of 2 centimeters. After the emergence of seedlings, they must be thinned so that there is a distance of 30 centimeters between them.

How to grow seedlings

To get good seedlings in the spring, you need to start preparing seed material in the fall. To do this, you need to use raw sand, with which the seeds are mixed, put in a bag and put in the refrigerator in the vegetable compartment. The seeds should be there for 5 months. Sowing begins between February and March.

Camassia seeds are large in size and therefore they can be planted in different pots, several pieces at a time. This will allow you to do without picking. The seeds must be immersed 1 centimeter deep into the ground and watered abundantly.

Next, you need to water moderately. Seedlings should be grown in bright diffused light during long daylight hours. This will prevent the seedlings from stretching out unnecessarily. During the entire period, complex fertilizers can be applied no more than two times. A special complex can be purchased at a garden center or nursery. Before planting plants in the garden, they must be hardened. To do this, you need to take the plant outside every day, increasing the time spent there, every day, starting from a couple of hours and ending with 24 hours. As soon as stable warm weather is established, the threat of frost will disappear, they can be transplanted to a plot in the garden by the transshipment method. A 30 centimeter distance must be maintained between them.

The seed-grown plant will begin flowering after 4 years.

Propagation using child bulbs:

The most popular breeding method among gardeners is with the help of Camassia daughter bulbs. They are formed in the third year of the plant's life, and there can be up to 8 of them.It is necessary to dig them out after flowering ends and then remove them in a dark place where the temperature does not drop below 20 degrees and where there is good ventilation. They should be here until mid-September. Separate the daughters from the mother plant on the day of planting. Then they must be treated with a manganese solution.

With light soil, the planting depth of Camassia bulbs should be 15 centimeters, and with heavy soil, 10 centimeters is enough. Plants will look natural when planted in groups.

Seat selection:

For the Camassia flower, both sunny and slightly shady areas are suitable. In a small shade, the height of the peduncles will be greater and the flowering will be longer.

Camassia loves soils with good water permeability, prefers loams, where the top layer contains many nutrients, but can grow anywhere. The plant is very picky here too.

Camassia: flower care

Camassia flower: plant photo

Caring for Camassia is extremely simple, even watering should be done only if there is no rain. When watering, it is important to ensure that there is no stagnation of liquid in the soil, as this may cause the bulb to rot.

If the soil is poor, fertilizer should be applied. This should be done at the very beginning of spring when leaves appear and when flower stalks begin to form. Top dressing should be carried out with complex mineral fertilizers.

From time to time it is necessary to remove weeds and loosen the soil, thus giving more oxygen to the plant.

Frost resistance:

Kamasia is highly resistant to winter cold. She does not need any shelter for the winter. As for young plants, it is better to insure yourself and insulate them with a seven-centimeter layer of mulch made from dry peat or dry leaves.

Possible diseases, pests and control methods

Camassia has a strong immune system, so it is not afraid of diseases and pests.

It is extremely rare that fungal diseases can occur, entailing rotting of the bulbs. In order to prevent this from happening, before planting them, it is necessary to carry out processing with potassium permanganate. If the disease could not be avoided, then it is necessary to dig them up, remove the diseased areas and treat them with a fungicide. It is possible to save the plant only if the bulb is slightly damaged.

The appearance of the bulb mite in Camassia is possible and very dangerous. Its appearance can be determined by deforming sheet plates and white bloom. When they appear, the bulbs begin to shrivel and white spots form on them. Also, their appearance can be determined by the mold and rot that they leave behind.

If they appear, the affected bulbs cannot be saved and must be disposed of immediately. The rest of the plants must be treated with insecticidal preparations. You can also use an infusion of nettle, which is poured over the ground near the roots. It is not difficult to prepare it. You need 1 kg. Pour nettle with five liters of boiling water and let it brew for 5 days. Next, it must be diluted with water 1 to 10 and processed.

It is extremely rare for this plant to have slugs. To get rid of them, you need to use traps and collect them yourself.

Variety of species:

There are only 6 types of camassia in the world. Only half is used for cultivation.

• Camassia leichtlinii Camassia leichtlinii - This type is the most popular. In their natural environment, they grow in the western regions of the United States. It has a powerful flowering stem about one and a half meters high. In one inflorescence, 60 beautiful flowers are collected, whose diameter is 5 centimeters. They are painted in shades of blue, and sometimes surprise with purple. He does not need transplants and divisions for 5 years of life.

Camassia flower: plant photo

Such varieties have gained particular popularity as:

• Coerulea - the flowers of this plant are painted in bright blue colors;
• alba - this variety has white, like snow petals with a slight shade of green;
• Semiplena is a variety with cream-colored terry petals.
• Pink - The pinks of these large, star-like flowers add charm and a romantic atmosphere to the garden.
• Sacajawea is a plant with charming white to off-white flowers and leaf blades tinted white at the edge.

• Camassia cusickii - in this species, plants can be found both 35 centimeters in height and 100 centimeters. In the inflorescence of these plants, about 100 flowers of a delicate blue color with a slight shade of lilac can be collected. Their diameter is about 3 centimeters. Their natural habitat is the United States. There he chooses a place for himself in mountainous areas at an altitude of 1500 meters. It is necessary to divide these beautiful flowers at least 1 time in 3 years due to the rapid growth of bulbs, which begin to lack nutrition.

Camassia flower: plant photo

Zwanenburg variety - was bred by breeders from Holland. The flowers of this variety are large and blue in color.

• Camassia quamash syn. Camassia esculenta - the height of this flower is 50 centimeters. Inflorescences resembling beautiful brushes are collected from blue, sometimes from blue with a violet tint, and sometimes gently - blue or white 40 flowers, whose diameter is 4 centimeters.

The grades of kvamassia kvamash include such as:

Blue Melody is a variety with dark blue flowers, gold-sprinkled stamens and green leaves with white edges.

Camassia flower: plant photo

Orion - the height of this beautiful plant is 80 centimeters. When it begins to bloom, it is decorated with dark blue flowers.

Camassia in landscape design

Camassia: video about plant care

When drawing up a garden design using Kamasia, it should be remembered that when the beautiful flowers finish blooming, a void forms in this place. This happens towards the end of the summer. Therefore, it is worth planting such neighbors next to them that can close these bare areas.

When planting a plant, the shades of camassia flowers and its growth should be taken into account.

Those varieties that are tall can be perfectly located in the center of the flower garden, decorate the fence, walls of the outbuildings, and you can also divide the garden into zones using them.

Camassia of low-growing varieties can decorate alpine slides, rockeries and borders.

Will look great as a decoration of reservoirs. She will feel good in such conditions, as she loves a humid environment.

Conifers, hedges, aconites, ornamental grasses, delphiniums, geraniums can become good neighbors for the beautiful and picky Camassia. And verbena and veronica together with her will create a beautiful lawn.