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The silver jaskolka outwardly resembles a delicate white cloud or a snowdrift. Inhabiting meadows, mountainous and rocky areas, it creates unusually beautiful silver-white carpets. You can also grow a culture as an ornamental plant in your own garden.
Description and characteristics
Silver sapling (Cerastium argenteum) is a member of the clove family. This perennial is sprawling. During the period of growing green mass, the culture grows up to 15 cm. During flowering – up to 40 cm.
The stems of the plant are creeping or erect (depending on the species), rigid, with little foliage, 40-45 cm long. Lignification can be observed at the rhizome. Shoots of bushes are often grouped, forming sods. The leaves are elliptical in shape and have a characteristic silver-menthol shade.
Silver sapling – a plant with a unique survival rate
At the top of the stem are concentrated inflorescences, most often white in color. Each flower has five or more petals with characteristic notches. The silver sapling produces fruits that are cylindrical-type boxes that turn yellow when fully ripe. Each capsule contains spherical orange or brown seeds.
This culture has more than one hundred and eighty varieties. Most of them are of natural origin. The most famous are “field”, “alpine”, “felt”. In horticulture, a silver sapling is used to create carpets. In this case, creeping, actively growing perennials are most often used.
The leaves of the sapling have a slight pubescence and a characteristic silvery-greenish color.
The plant begins to bloom in May. This period is one month. The rest of the time, the plant retains its decorative effect and aesthetic appearance, thanks to small lanceolate leaves of a menthol shade.
The silver jaskolka is distinguished by such qualities as:
- frost resistance;
- unpretentiousness in care;
- ease of reproduction;
- good survival;
- excellent immunity;
- high decorativeness.
Among the shortcomings, it is worth pointing out the poor tolerance of excess moisture, which must be taken into account when choosing a place for breeding a variety.
The following signs indicate an excess of moisture in the soil:
- reduction in leaf size;
- change of silver color to greener;
- loss of compact form by bushes.
The culture is actively used by landscape designers as a groundcover in rocky gardens, on walls, borders, in rock gardens and rockeries. Most often, this is a felt or Bieberstein scabbard.
Where grows
This herbaceous culture is most often found in rocky areas, as well as in the dunes and meadows of a temperate climate. The culture is distributed wild in North America, Africa, Eurasia and Australia.
Methods of reproduction
The sapling is propagated in three ways: by seed germination, cuttings and layering. The last method is the easiest and is suitable even for beginner gardeners.
With seed propagation, nutrient soil is prepared at the end of March. Drainage, soil mixture are poured into a small container and seeds are planted. Lightly sprinkled with earth and covered with glass or film, the container is placed on the sunny side of the window. Watering is carried out two to three times a week. After 14-15 days, the first shoots can be observed.
The silver jaskolka does not require picking. It is planted in the ground in several pieces at once. Transplantation is carried out in July. As a rule, the culture shows high adaptability and rapid growth.
Reproduction by rhizome or division is carried out in the spring. To do this, the young plant is divided, leaving several points of growth on each part. After that, the “delenki” are seated and watered.
Cuttings are best done before or after flowering. Cut off a suitable length of the shoot and drop it in the right place, after covering it with a special cap.
Planting and caring for a silver sapling
For planting, choose areas open to the sun with minimal moisture stagnation. Jaskolka perfectly tolerates the climate of the middle lane, without requiring shelter for the winter and constant watering.
Silver shard is ideal for rocky alpine slides
Despite its “sunness”, the perennial can also grow in partial shade, however, as practice shows, then its flowering will be less lush. The silver sapling is not demanding on the ground, however, if possible, it prefers sandy loam and sand. Humus or compost can be introduced into too poor soil, clay soil can be diluted with river sand or sawdust.
You can plant a perennial both in early April (until flowering) and in August. Three to four weeks before planting, the soil is dug up and the necessary additives are added. Then holes are formed. The plant is planted in small groups, slightly deepening, at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. Immediately after planting, the silver sapling is watered with settled water.
Plant care is very simple. It is moistened in too dry weather and periodically restricts its growth. Perennial enough to irrigate once every seven to eight days. Silver shard – aggressor. It easily displaces all other plants.
With thinning of leaves and shoots, the culture is fed with organic matter. This allows the plant to quickly restore decorativeness. But the perennial does not really like mineral fertilizers.
Pruning is carried out in the spring. To do this, remove dry shoots. Most often, the procedure is carried out in June. Starting from August, the culture is not touched.
Silver sapling is one of the most “long-playing” garden crops. However, to rejuvenate the plant, it is recommended to plant it every five to six years.
Pests and diseases
The silver gooseberry demonstrates high immunity to most diseases. When planted in a place with high moisture stagnation, the plant can be affected by fungal diseases. Most of the problems associated with deterioration in appearance (reduction of splendor) can be solved by top dressing and timely pruning.
What plants are combined with
Gardeners and landscapers often combine “summer snow” with armeria dark-leaved plants such as bluebells and echium. In the photo there is a silvery snow-white carpet, which is especially noticeable against the background of young lush greenery.
The culture is often planted along the flower beds next to the conifers.
The silver jaskolka looks especially advantageous against the background of active green mass. A good tandem perennial will be flowers of a blue and blue palette. Often the plant is sown next to decorative green conifers.
The best neighbors for silver stalks will be bulbs: tulips, lilies, daffodils or irises (rhizome). But the perennial muscari or crocuses is likely to “strangle”.
Conclusion
Silver sapling is a unique groundcover that can often be found in the wild. High survival rate is the main feature of this culture, so gardeners can breed it even with minimal experience in caring for flowers.
