Contents
Phlox Sherbet Blend is a plant with a unique flower color. Because of this, it is often confused with hydrangea. For normal growth and flowering, the culture requires regular care, which consists in timely watering and top dressing. But the effort is worth it, because of the whole variety of phlox, the Sherbet Blend variety is one of the most decorative. In addition, it has a wonderful aroma.
Description of panicled phlox Sherbet Blend
Phlox Sherbet Blend stems are 100 to 120 cm long. They are round in cross-section and strong enough to support the weight of heavy inflorescences without additional support. The bush is moderately sprawling, reaching 120 cm in diameter.
Phlox Sherbet Blend leaves have a standard shape for the species: they are pointed at the end, their dimensions are 80-100 mm in length and 20 mm in width. The color of the leaves and stems is light green.
Phlox Sherbet Blend flowers have a complex color: inside they are pink, and outside they are yellowish green
The culture is photophilous, but it can also be grown in partial shade. In the middle of the day, so that too bright sun does not burn the plant, it is recommended to shade it.
Growth rates are high, but when they reach a certain size, they slow down. This is due to the fact that the rhizome practically does not grow after 4-5 years, since the culture lacks nutrients, and its separation is required.
The frost resistance of Phlox Sherbet Blend corresponds to the fourth zone, that is, the plant can withstand temperatures up to -35 ° C. It is cultivated in the European part of Our Country up to the Urals.
Features of flowering phlox Sherbet Blend
Phlox Sherbet Blend is a typical representative of the European group. The flowers can be up to 50 mm in diameter, but as a rule they never fully unfold. The petals are wavy, at the beginning of the blooming of the bud they are painted yellowish, but as they open, the center changes color to pink.
Phlox inflorescences Sherbet Blend are large and dense, up to 20-25 cm in diameter
It blooms for a very long time, from July to September. This has a simple explanation – the buds of the plant bloom unevenly. At the same time, the occupancy of the paniculate brush is quite dense, and there are no falling out fragments in it, that is, the decorative effect of the bush does not suffer.
In open areas, the intensity of flowering is higher, but the petals dry out faster, which leads to a reduction in its duration by about a month. In shaded areas, the size of the panicles is slightly smaller (no more than 18 cm), but the density of the individual components remains the same as in the illuminated areas. The duration of flowering in partial shade is also shorter due to the fact that some buds do not even have time to open.
In addition to illumination, the duration and intensity of flowering is affected by soil fertility and fertilizers applied, which is typical for all representatives of phlox.
Application in design
Like all similar high semi-spreading bushes, Phlox Sherbet Blend is widely used in the design of gardens and summer cottages. Given the high decorativeness, it is often used in the recently fashionable monogarden-floxaria, that is, in planting on several tens of square meters of the same culture.
In addition, the plant is used as the basis of flower arrangements. You can create picturesque areas by planting Sherbet Blend Phlox with other colors that are in the same range with them (that is, both pink and yellowish green).
A good solution for culture can be a mixborder with tall lilies and irises.
It is allowed to plant Sherbet Blend phlox against the background of high hedges of coniferous plants, use them as medium-sized borders, and also use them as separate elements in alpine slides and rockeries. They also look good in the center of flower beds with undersized annuals and perennials.
It is allowed to grow the crop in a separate container (not in the open air, in greenhouses and other premises). It should only be remembered that the size of the Phlox Sherbet Blend root system is quite large, and once every 3-4 years the rhizome will have to be divided, transplanting its parts into a smaller container.
Methods of reproduction
Obtaining offspring from this culture completely repeats this process in most garden perennials and can be both vegetative and seed. The latter is rarely used due to long growing periods and the unpredictability of offspring characteristics, since pollination can be cross-pollinated with other varieties or hybrids.
Most often, reproduction is traditional for perennials with large rhizomes by dividing the bush, associated with plant transplantation. Usually at the age of 3 years or more, the culture needs to update the root system. The growth rate slows down as it cannot cope with the supply of nutrients to the bush.
Phlox Sherbet Blend rhizome is divided into separate single roots (up to 10 pieces), which are then planted in open ground
It is recommended to select only the strongest roots with a large number of lateral branches. The transplant is carried out to a new place, but this is advisory, not mandatory.
If you want to get a large number of seedlings, a more complex method is used, which consists in cutting stem cuttings. In this case, the stem is divided into fragments up to 20 cm long, having at least three nodes.
Stem cuttings can be planted directly in their permanent habitat and 9/10 of them will take root well if propagated in early summer.
If you need even more planting material, use leaf cuttings containing 1-2 knots. But their cultivation takes place in greenhouses, and the survival rate rarely exceeds 40%.
Reproduction by layering is also sometimes used, but since it is recommended to cut the stems in autumn, they may not have time to form a root at the point of sprinkling with earth.
Before planting, stem cuttings can be treated with Kornevin
Rules of landing
The optimal time for planting Phlox Sherbet Blend is the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. Plants planted at other times (seeds in spring, and leaf cuttings in early summer) do not take root very well and take too long to develop.
For planting Phlox Sherbet Blend choose a sunny area with the possibility of shading the bush for 1-2 hours at noon. The soil must be loose and fertile. The culture grows well on loams of medium density with low acidity (pH not lower than 6,5).
Soil preparation is carried out a month before the proposed landing. It consists of the following steps:
- clearing the site of weeds;
- fertilization (organic is best – humus, compost or peat);
- adding baking powder to heavy soils;
- re-digging the landing site and its alignment;
- watering the prepared area.
Seed material does not need preparation, cuttings and seedlings can be planted immediately after purchase or receipt.
The depth of the holes for Phlox Sherbet Blend depends on the size of the root system (for cuttings 5-6 cm). The distance between the landing pits is from half a meter. Watering is done 2-3 days after planting.
Aftercare
Phlox Sherbet Blend is watered when the top layer of soil dries. The plant requires a large amount of moisture for normal growth and development, so watering rates are up to two buckets per square meter. m area.
Loosening at the end of the procedure is mandatory, because Phlox Sherbet Blend does not tolerate stagnant moisture in the soil. This also simplifies the access of air to the roots. Watering is carried out in the evening.
Phlox bushes Sherbet Blend require four top dressings:
- In early spring, after the snow melts, a complex nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer is used for ornamental plants.
- At the end of May (budding period), phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used for flowers in a minimum concentration.
- At the end of June (the beginning of flowering), a top dressing is used similar to the previous one, but with a full concentration of fertilizers.
- At the end of September, after flowering and pruning, organic matter or complex fertilizer for flowers is used.
Pruning the plant is done immediately after it fades. The stems must be cut, leaving stumps no more than 10 cm high. After pruning, the soil should be treated with antifungal drugs and insect and tick repellent.
Preparation for winter
Phlox Sherbet Blend does not require specific preparation for the winter period, since the stems still die off at the end of autumn, and the root system is able to tolerate frosts down to -35 ° C. Nevertheless, it is advisable to carry out some kind of minimal care procedure, but not so much in order to prepare for the cold, but to provide the plant with nutrients in early spring.
Usually, for this, hemp from cut stems is sprinkled with a bucket of horse manure and covered with some kind of material. To avoid debate of the root system in early spring, use “breathable” agrofibre.
Pests and diseases
The greatest danger to Phlox Sherbet Blend is fungal diseases in the form of downy mildew and gray rot. Of the pests, the gall nematode can be called the most unpleasant.
The symptoms of downy mildew are standard for almost all crops – leaf coating with white bloom
Bushes growing in excessively humid and poorly ventilated places are usually affected. In sunny areas, cases of the disease are practically not recorded. The fight against the disease is carried out by removing the affected fragments and spraying the plant with any fungicide.
With gray rot, the foliage wilts on the stem.
At first, light dots appear on the plant, which eventually turn into spots. Over time, they grow and merge. There are many black dots on the back of the leaves. Stems, as a rule, are not affected by the disease.
As such, there is no treatment, the plant will have to be removed completely. The cultures remaining in the garden are treated with a solution of 1% Bordeaux mixture or Hom. To prevent the appearance in the soil, it is recommended to apply Fitosporin.
The nematode is one of the main pests, which is a worm with a long and very thin body, it lives in the stems of the plant and feeds on it.
Phloxes infected with a nematode are bent, and their leaves are wrapped
There are no effective pest control methods. Only prevention remains: in plants with minor damage, the growth point is removed. Bushes with serious lesions are destroyed. In this way, they try to kill adult nematodes so that they cannot produce offspring that would hit the culture the next year.
Conclusion
Phlox Sherbet Blend is a beautiful spreading perennial shrub with decorative flowers in two different shades. Its cultivation requires concentration and accuracy, since in order to maintain the plant in good shape, it is necessary to follow a watering and fertilizing schedule. Phlox Sherbet Blend is used in landscape design in a wide variety of roles – from an element of a mono-garden to a central “role” in a flower bed. You can make borders and background plantings from it.
Phlox Reviews Sherbet Blend
