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Clematis Alyonushka is an ornamental plant that is very popular with gardeners. To evaluate the characteristics of clematis of this variety, you need to study its description and cultivation features.
Description of clematis Alenushka
Clematis variety Alyonushka is a perennial climbing shrub from the group of whole-leaved clematis. As you can see in the photo of clematis Alyonushka, outwardly the plant resembles a liana and requires support, it can reach a height of 1,5 m to 2 m, it has thin and flexible shoots. On the shoots are simple or compound leaves, composed of several separate leaves.
Basically, clematis Alyonushka is valued for very beautiful flowers – single, similar to large bells, up to 7 cm in length. The flowers of the Alyonushka variety droop to the ground, appear on the shoots at the end of May and have a delicate pink-purple color. A striking feature of the variety is that Alyonushka blooms continuously throughout the summer, until September.
Variety Alyonushka becomes a real decoration of the garden. Thanks to vine-like shoots, the plant often decorates gazebos, balconies, fences and fences. Clematis is also used to cover the soil, if you do not support the shoots with supports, then they will begin to curl along the ground, beautifully intertwining with other plants.
Clematis pruning group Alyonushka
For numerous varieties of clematis, it is customary to distinguish 3 pruning groups, belonging to one category or another is determined by the shoots on which the flowers of the plant appear. Variety Alyonushka belongs to the 3rd pruning group. It means that:
- flowers appear only on young annual shoots, old branches of the plant do not participate in flowering;
- clematis Alyonushka requires annual pruning, it simply does not make sense to leave old shoots, since they do not have aesthetic appeal, and when they grow, they can form large tangled “tangles”.
Pruning is usually carried out in the spring, it is necessary to cut the shoots up to 3 buds. During the procedure, you can leave intact those shoots that appeared last year, but did not bring flowers.
Conditions for growing botanical clematis Alyonushka
An ornamental variety was bred in the 1960s in the southern region of Our Country, in the Crimea. But, despite this, a feature of the Alyonushka variety is the increased frost resistance of the plant. The description of the clematis variety Alyonushka claims that the semi-shrub is suitable for growing in climatic zones from 4 to 9, in other words, it can tolerate winter frosts down to -30 ° C.
The Alyonushka variety is undemanding to lighting conditions and tolerates places with light shading. When growing it, you need to carefully control only the level of moisture, stagnant water is detrimental to the plant.
Planting and caring for clematis Alyonushka
Whole-leaved clematis Alyonushka does not cause much trouble to gardeners and grows freely in almost any area. But in order for the semi-shrub to be able to fully demonstrate all its beauty, it is recommended to follow some rules.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
When choosing a good place to grow the Alyonushka variety, several factors must be taken into account.
- Alyonushka loves light, but perceives lightly shaded areas well, it is only important not to plant clematis in dense shade, where the sun’s rays rarely fall.
- The Alyonushka variety does not like waterlogging, so the site must be chosen so that groundwater does not pass close to the surface of the earth. Alyonushka grows best on light hills.
- High clematis does not tolerate strong winds, even when fixed on a support. Therefore, for Alyonushka, you need to select areas protected from gusts of wind.
- Clematis are often planted near fences or near the wall of a house. It is necessary to ensure that there is at least 30 cm of space between Alyonushka and the wall or fence. In addition, water from the roof should not pour on top of the clematis – this will damage the health of the plant.
Clematis Alyonushka is planted in the ground both in spring and autumn. The dimensions of the planting pit for a seedling are usually 60 cm deep and wide; at the bottom of the hole, a drainage layer 15 cm thick is organized from broken brick or crushed stone.
Clematis thrives in well-drained and fertile soils with low alkalinity. If the selected site does not fully meet the needs of Alyonushka, it is necessary to further enrich the soil before planting the plant. For this purpose, excavated soil:
- mixed with 2-3 buckets of compost;
- add a bucket of peat and sand;
- 200 g of lime, 150 g of superphosphate mixture and 200 g of ash are introduced into the soil.
Thus, it is possible to enrich even rather heavy and moist soils and in the future simply maintain conditions that are comfortable for Alyonushka clematis.
Seedling preparation
Clematis seedlings easily take root in open ground. However, before planting, Alyonushka’s roots are recommended to be soaked in water for several hours to stimulate them to rapid growth.
Many gardeners prefer to clean up the old earthen ball at the roots of the seedling. But it is better to plant clematis along with the remnants of the former land. The root system of Alyonushka is fragile, and thin roots are very easy to damage when removing an earthen clod.
Rules of landing
In general, the Alyonushka clematis planting algorithm looks about the same for both spring and autumn planting.
- In the center of the hole, a support for long shoots of clematis is placed, and then the hole is filled up to half with prepared soil, pouring a small mound in the center.
- The seedling is carefully lowered in the center of the hole, allowing its roots to lie freely on the mound, and the hole is covered with soil to the end.
- Immediately after planting, the plant is watered and the covered hole is mulched with dry foliage.
It is important to consider that Alyonushka needs to be deepened; the variety cannot be planted flush with the ground. For a young plant, the depth should be no less than 8 cm. In this state, the planting pit should be left until the shoots of Alyonushka begin to lignify, after which the upper part of the pit can be filled up to the end.
Watering and top dressing
Clematis Alyonushka does not tolerate stagnant moisture, but at the same time loves water very much, so you need to water the plant regularly. On average, 10-20 liters of water is applied to the root zone once a week, and in dry weather, the frequency of watering should be increased to 2 times a week.
Clematis Alyonushka can and should be fed; with regular fertilization, the plant demonstrates a maximum of decorativeness. Produce top dressing as follows:
- complex fertilizers are applied to the planting pit before planting a shrub, this feeding of clematis is enough for the whole next year;
- subsequently, the plant is fed 3-4 times during the season, it is best to alternate organic matter with mineral fertilizers.
From organic top dressing, clematis Alyonushka is well perceived by mullein diluted in water, from minerals, potash fertilizers in early spring and a solution of boric acid once a season will benefit the plant.
Mulching and loosening
Mulching for clematis varieties Alyonushka is recommended to be carried out once a season. If this procedure is neglected, then the moisture from the soil will evaporate too quickly, and weeds will appear at the roots of the plant, taking away nutrients.
Along with mulching, it is also necessary to carry out regular loosening; without it, the soil will no longer pass enough oxygen. The soil is also loosened once a season, after removing the old layer of mulch, this improves the composition of the soil and additionally prevents the growth of weeds.
Support for clematis Alenushka
Since clematis of this variety has very long, but thin stems, it is not capable of growing vertically upwards without support. At the same time, the plant cannot trail along the support either; Alyonushka clematis must be tied to a wall, fence or gazebo, or carefully laid on a support. The perennial grows quite quickly, so it needs a garter or rearrangement of the stems several times a season.
Trimming
The perennial subshrub grows very quickly and requires annual pruning. Since this variety belongs to the 3rd pruning group, in the process of cutting, old shoots can be radically removed – flowers form only on young stems of the current year.
In autumn, the aerial part of clematis is cut off very strongly – up to 2-3 buds or completely, so that the plant only slightly rises above ground level. The procedure does not harm clematis, but on the contrary, it is of great benefit, after pruning, the plant tolerates winter better and produces larger flowers in the new season.
Preparation for winter
One of the main advantages of clematis is its high frost resistance. Alyonushka tolerates harsh winters well in almost all regions of Our Country, and at the same time, it is almost not necessary to carry out complex preparations for winter.
Since clematis is cut to the very root in autumn, the plant does not freeze through during the cold period. The only thing that can be done to further protect the plant from frost is to cover it with a layer of peat on top before the onset of cold weather. The material will not only serve as an additional top dressing, but also help keep the roots of the semi-shrub warm, so that in the spring clematis will give healthy young shoots.
Reproduction
Clematis can be propagated in several ways, most often this is done using seeds, cuttings or layering.
Seed propagation of a plant is carried out as follows:
- seeds are collected from adult plants 1,5-2 months after the start of flowering, they remain viable for several years, but it is better to plant seeds a few months after collection, in February;
- immediately before planting, the seeds are soaked in water for 10 days, while every 4-5 days the water is replaced with fresh water;
- nutrient soil is prepared in small containers; for this, peat and sand must be mixed in equal amounts and moistened;
- seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil mixture and lightly sprinkled with sand;
- containers are covered with glass or plastic wrap and placed in a warm room, the temperature in which is kept at a level of at least 25 ° C.
As the soil dries up, the seeds need to be moistened, and it is better to pour water into the pan from below so as not to disturb the soil layer on top of the seeds. It is also necessary to regularly wipe off the condensate that accumulates on the inner surface of the film or glass. Soon, clematis will give its first shoots, and during this period it will need to provide more daylight, but it is not necessary to expose containers to direct sunlight.
After leaves appear on individual shoots, they can be transplanted into larger containers and left in this state for the next 2-3 years. In the southern regions, it is often practiced to land immediately in open ground, but on a temporary site, in a place shaded and protected from the wind. After the plant reaches 2-3 years and shoots up to 15 cm long, it can be transplanted to a permanent site in the usual way.
Clematis seeds are not propagated too often, it turns out to be less decorative and not as strong as the mother plant. Cutting is much more popular, it is easy to implement, and besides, the method allows you to preserve all the beauty of a varietal plant.
- Cuttings for propagation are cut from the side shoots of the plant. The lower part of the cutting is cut with a sharp knife at an angle of 45 °, and the upper cut is placed 2 cm above the node on the shoot.
- In a small container, a standard substrate is prepared, consisting of peat and sand in a ratio of 1 to 1.
- The stalk is lowered into the ground, having previously been treated with a solution that stimulates root growth. The node on the shoot must be deepened into the soil by 1 cm, immediately after planting, the stalk is watered and sprayed.
For successful growth, the cuttings of clematis Alyonushka need high humidity and access to fresh air. Therefore, the easiest way is to cover the container with the escape with plastic wrap and remove it from time to time for ventilation. The temperature in the room where clematis is grown should be at least 18 ° C.
On average, rooting takes about 2 months. After the clematis has taken root, it can be transplanted – directly into the ground or into a larger container for further growth. In the middle lane and cold regions, up to 2-3 years old, clematis Alyonushka is often grown indoors so that the plant gets as strong as possible before planting in a permanent place.
Another method of propagation of the Alyonushka variety is designed to increase the population of clematis directly on the site. For this purpose, layering is used – long shoots of the main plant with nodules on the stem. The method looks very simple:
- next to an adult clematis bush, small grooves are prepared no more than 10 cm deep;
- overwintered shoots of plants are placed in these grooves, sprinkled on top with earth and fixed with staples for reliability – otherwise the shoot may unbend;
- the top of the shoot is left above the soil surface and subsequently pinched to stimulate the growth of roots from the nodule on the stem.
During the summer, layering is watered regularly. By the end of the season, the underground part of the shoots should already give roots, however, in the first year of layering, it is recommended to leave for wintering still associated with the mother plant. With the onset of spring, layering can be separated from the main bush and carefully transplanted to a permanent place.
Diseases and pests
A beautiful and unpretentious perennial to growing conditions, it is susceptible to certain diseases. Especially often clematis Alyonushka is affected by the following ailments:
- rust – a fungal disease is characterized by the appearance of rusty “pads” on the leaves, which subsequently curl and fade;
- mučnistaâ rosa – a fungal disease leads to the fact that clematis is abundantly covered with a white powdery coating, stops growing and dies;
- gray rot – the fungus appears as brown spots on clematis leaves, while a slight whitish pubescence can be seen on the surface of the spots;
- verticillium wilt – the fungus penetrates the tissues of clematis through wounds in the roots and eventually clogs the vessels of the plant, as a result of which the entire shrub darkens and fades.
Fungal diseases of clematis are treated with standard fungicidal and antiseptic agents – foundationazole, Bordeaux liquid and others. In order to avoid diseases, it is necessary to carry out high-quality prevention, cut clematis in time in autumn and spring, and monitor the cleanliness of the soil around the shrub.
Of the pests for clematis Alyonushka, the nematode that parasitizes on the roots, the bears and the spider mite, which entangles the plant with a thin web that prevents the processes of photosynthesis and growth, is especially dangerous. In addition, clematis often infects aphids, you can notice it on the lower part of the leaves of the plant.
Pest control is carried out with insecticidal solutions. Seriously affected areas of the plant are best removed and burned. For prevention, it is recommended to carry out insecticidal treatment at least once a season, even if no signs of pests are observed.
Conclusion
Clematis Alyonushka – resistant to growing conditions and very beautiful perennial plant. Clematis requires minimal care, but a climbing plant can really transform a site and give it a sophisticated look.
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