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Potentilla, or shrub cinquefoil, is an unpretentious plant of the Pink family with an extensive habitat. In the wild, it can be found in mountainous and forest areas, in river floodplains, along riverbeds, among stones and in damp, swampy places. Due to its good decorative properties, the plant has long been cultivated. Currently, about 130 varieties of Potentilla shrub are known, differing in stem height, crown density, foliage structure, and flower shades. Potentilla Belissimo is very interesting – a dwarf form belonging to this species.
Description of Potentilla Belissimo
Potentilla Fruticosa Bellissima is a compact low shrub with a branched crown. Its height does not exceed 30 cm. At the beginning of summer, it throws out a large number of semi-double, bright pink flowers up to 5 cm in diameter. Replacing each other, they bloom all summer, until the arrival of October. The light green leaves of Potentilla Belissimo darken over time, acquire a silver tint and slight pubescence.
Potentilla of the Belissimo variety loves sunlight. For good growth, it needs loose, fertile, sufficiently moist soil. The shrub is hardy, tolerates adverse weather conditions well and can grow even in permafrost conditions. The variety is very decorative, loved by many flower growers, widely used in the construction of landscape compositions.
Planting and caring for Potentilla Belissimo
Planting and caring for Potentilla Belissimo is quite simple. It responds to attention and fence with lush and long flowering.
Site preparation
Preparatory work begins with the selection of a suitable landing site. The light-loving plant likes open areas, most of the day lit by the sun. But for brighter flowering choose slightly shaded places.
Like all representatives of the Pink family, Potentilla shrub Belissimo grows well on light, sandy, moderately moist soil. Areas with dense, clayey soil should not be chosen for it. In order for the plant to be accepted sooner, it is planted in a nutrient mixture, which is prepared independently according to the following scheme:
- leaf ground (2 parts);
- compost (2 parts);
- sand (1 part);
- complex mineral composition (150 g per well).
The soil acidity index pH should be in the range of 4,5 – 7. Higher values uXNUMXbuXNUMXbare contraindicated for the plant. Excessively moist and too calcined soil is also not suitable.
Before planting Potentilla Belissimo, care must be taken to organize a drainage system of large pebbles or gravel to protect the root system from decay. Alkaline earth is not an obstacle to planting.
Rules of landing
Holes for planting Potentilla Belissimo begin to prepare in advance so that the soil has time to acquire the required density. They make recesses or trenches, taking out the soil by half a meter. A drainage layer 15–20 cm thick is placed at the bottom. It is best to use lime gravel for this, but you can take pebbles or fragments of bricks. After completing the preparation, the wells are left open for a while.
Starting the planting of Potentilla of the Belissimo variety, the holes are half filled with the prepared nutrient mixture. Planting is carried out as follows: the seedling is placed in a hole, the root system is carefully straightened and sprinkled with earth taken out during digging so that the root neck remains on the surface. Between two adjacent plants, about 30 cm should be left (when forming a hedge) and about 1 m (when planting single specimens).
Potentilla Belissimo seedlings are also being prepared for planting. Look at the roots and cut them a little. A branched root system will ensure good survival.
Watering and top dressing
One of the prerequisites for the good growth of Belissimo cinquefoil is loose, sufficiently moist soil. The culture is drought-resistant, but at the same time, it does not tolerate prolonged drying of the roots.
In the rainy season, adult plants have enough natural watering. During a drought, they are watered twice a week, the norm for a bush is 3 liters of water.
After watering, deep loosening is carried out to saturate the roots with oxygen. The trunk circle is covered with mulch.
Feeding bushes should be carried out carefully. Applying too much nutrient mixture will cause a vigorous growth of green mass, but will inhibit flowering.
The first time they feed the Potentilla shrub Belissimo a year after planting. They do this in three stages: in May, July and late August. It is recommended to choose a complex mineral fertilizer for flowering plants with a potassium-phosphorus composition. Organics can also be used (an aqueous solution of ash and humus).
Trimming
Proper care of Belissimo cinquefoil bushes is impossible without regular pruning of the bushes. It is necessary to remove weak and diseased shoots, long, thin branches that break the shape of the crown and reduce flowering activity. There are three types of pruning:
- Sanitary pruning – carried out regularly, throughout the growing season. During its implementation, the bush is carefully examined and dry, thin, damaged shoots, as well as faded buds, are carefully cut.
- Formative or stimulating pruning – held in spring and early autumn. With its help, they stimulate the growth of powerful young branches that form the base of the crown, shortening the branches by about a third and thus creating a beautiful, rounded crown. In addition, some of the lower, leafless shoots are removed.
- Rejuvenating pruning – carried out on old plants once every few years: the branches are shortened by about 10 cm to give rise to the development of new shoots and crown renewal.
Preparation for winter
Potentilla shrub Belissimo refers to frost-resistant varieties. Mature plants do not shelter for the winter. Preparation for the cold is for them in sanitary pruning and cleaning withered foliage.
Young seedlings are spudded in autumn, adding a thick layer of peat or humus to the trunks. From above they cover with spruce spruce branches or a special covering material. To protect Potentilla shrub Belissimo from severe frosts, an air-dry shelter is made under plastic wrap.
Reproduction of Potentilla shrub Bellissima
Description of Potentilla shrub Belissimo will be incomplete without a story about the methods of reproduction. There are several of them, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Seeds
The seed propagation method is used quite rarely for the following reasons:
- the period of development of seedlings from seeds is quite long (up to 4 years);
- there is a possibility of loss of varietal characteristics.
Potentilla Belissimo seeds are sown in greenhouses or individual containers using a moistened nutrient mixture. In winter, they are grown in a warm room, transplanted into the ground in the spring, after the departure of morning frosts.
Cuttings
Planting material is obtained as follows: cuttings from 8 to 10 cm long are cut from powerful lateral shoots of a bush so that each of them has a so-called “heel” – an area covered with wood. They are treated with a root formation stimulator and left for the winter, rooted in a nutrient mixture of peat and sand (the height of the “crown” above ground level is 2 cm). You can also store the cuttings in a shady, well-ventilated area at a temperature of 5 to 10 ° C. In the spring, rooted seedlings are placed under a film and grown throughout the year. A year later, mature plants are planted in a permanent place in open ground.
By dividing the bush
For propagation of Potentilla Belissimo, powerful 3-4-year-old bushes are chosen by dividing. They are carefully dug up, cleaned from the ground. The roots are washed and divided into parts so that each has 3-4 renewal buds and a small root. The root part is treated with a root formation stimulator and planted in specially prepared holes so that the renewal buds are not buried in the ground. Keep the distance between the bushes – about 40 cm.
Diseases and pests
With proper care, Potentilla Belissimo becomes a healthy, strong plant, not susceptible to disease and pest attacks.
The most common cause of diseases is the wrong place for planting and unsuitable soil. Too heavy, waterlogged soil and lack of sunlight cause root rot. In this state, the plant can become ill with a fungal infection: rust, leaf spot, powdery mildew.
Belissimo cinquefoil bushes planted in close proximity to coniferous plants are also at risk: coniferous crops are carriers of rust fungus spores.
Having found signs of damage by a fungus, measures are taken to drain the soil. Bushes are treated with preparations based on copper, boron or manganese (Fitosporin, Bordeaux liquid).
Of the pests, nibbling scoops are dangerous for Potentilla Belissimo. They are fought with by spraying plants with insecticides (Decis or Fitoverm).
Conclusion
Potentilla Belissimo, due to the long flowering period, is successfully used in building garden compositions, creating hedges, mixborders, alpine slides, goes well with low, bright flowers. Reviews of flower growers are clear evidence that Belissimo cinquefoil is a good option for breeding in small private farms.