Distinctive features of Incarvillea, recommendations for growing a plant in a personal plot, carrying out reproduction with your own hands, diseases and pests during cultivation, facts to note, species. Incarvillea is a member of the genus of herbaceous flora that belong to the Bignoniaceae family. The native area of distribution falls on the territory of China, but the plant is found on the lands of Central and East Asia. Many varieties of this delicate flower are known as the flora of the Himalayas and can survive temperatures as low as 15 degrees below zero. There are up to 10 plant species in the genus.
Their scientific name Incarvillea is due to the botanist from France Antoine Laurent de Jussier, who formed it from the name of another scientist-colleague, the Frenchman Pierre Nicolas Incarville (1706-1757), who discovered many new unknown samples of the green world of the planet in the vast Chinese lands. However, due to some peculiarities, this flower is sometimes called "garden gloxinia".
Incarvillea can grow as a perennial or a plant whose life cycle takes only one year. It is a sample of bignoniaceae with a herbaceous or semi-shrub form of growth, and its roots can take both tuberous and woody outlines - tuberous-thickened rhizome. Incarvillea can even reach a height of 2 meters in height, although the smallest species extend their stems up to only 30 cm. The stem can grow erect or rather branched, which directly depends on the variety.
From leaf plates, a basal rosette is collected, or foliage can be arranged in the next order on the stem. The outlines of the leaves are usually unpaired, finger-dissected, and the edge is decorated with small teeth or a slightly pinkish tone. The color of the foliage is a deep green color, the surface is velvety to the touch. Interestingly, the leaves of the Incarvillea are very reminiscent of the outlines of the fern frond (as the foliage of the ferns is called).
During flowering, new flowering stems are constantly being formed, on which buds will be tied. From them, an inflorescence with a panicle or racemose is collected, where there are both bracts and bracts. There are from five to twelve such buds in the inflorescence. Flowers can sometimes be arranged singly. The corolla is divided into five members, its shape is tubular with bilateral symmetry with wavy bent petals. The calyx has a bell-shaped contour. There are two pairs of stamens in the corolla; the bare pistil has a bipartite stigma. The color of the flowers is rich pink, white, yellow or red. In diameter, the flower can reach 10 cm. The entire flowering period stretches for a month, starting in May and ending, maybe at the end of June. It is during this time that the Incarvillea begins to stretch intensively, and the height of its shoots is equal to 80 cm. Also, a feature is that if the plant is provided with everything necessary, then the flowering process can be repeated at the beginning of autumn.
After pollination, the fruits ripen, usually in late summer (August). The fruits are capsules with two divisions of a quadrangular or hexagonal type, inside which there are a large number of seeds, with pubescence on the surface and wings.
If it is decided to grow Incarvillea on your site, then it is suitable for decorating stone gardens and rockeries, as well as decorating various hills and in rock gardens, especially if several varieties of this plant are planted nearby. It is quite easy to grow "garden gloxinia" in the middle lane if you adhere to the care requirements described below.
Planting and caring for an Incarvillea on a personal plot
- Place for planting "garden gloxinia". When choosing a place for planting Incarvillea, it is taken into account that the plant needs good lighting, which is possible on the east or west side. If the flower is planted in a southern flowerbed, then the leaves sometimes turn yellow, and in the northern location, the flowering will not be so abundant. Therefore, it is important to find a balance between bright sun and partial shade. If planting is carried out on flower beds or in a flower garden, then it is recommended to slightly raise young seedlings above the soil level. When a hole is dug for planting, then a little broken brick or small rubble should be put on its bottom.
- The choice of soil. The best choice for a plant is considered to be a sandy loam substrate, but with sufficient nutritional value. In such a soil mixture, it is necessary to add a drainage layer, which is a river coarse-grained sand or small pebbles (expanded clay). A bit of wood ash is also placed there. Because of this love for well-drained soils, Incarvillea can be planted in rocky areas of the garden.
- Watering for "garden gloxinia", moderate is required so that the soil does not become waterlogged, as this immediately provokes root rot. But overdrying is also not permissible, therefore, the condition of the soil should become a guideline for the gardener, if its top layer is dry, then it is worth watering. Watering such a garden plant should be careful so that drops of moisture do not fall on the leaves or flowers, on which ugly spotting or brown spots immediately appear.
- Fertilizers for Incarvillea. When plants are transplanted, it is recommended to add complete mineral fertilizing complexes or a few pieces of charcoal and organic preparations to the soil. The last can serve as a tincture of mullein, it is also added to the soil in addition, when the young "garden gloxinia" enters the phase of growth activation. But if the owner gives too much of such drugs, then this can reduce the winter hardiness of the plant. The first time they feed the Incarvillea in the spring, so that it grows a sufficient amount of green deciduous mass, the second time fertilizers are applied when the buds begin to form.
- Preparing for the winter season. Although many believe that "garden gloxinia" is resistant to frost, experienced florists recommend providing a protective layer for wintering. Such mulching must be carried out before frost and at the same time the layer with which the rhizome is covered should be up to 10 cm. The material for mulch is peat, sawdust and shavings, fallen leaves or needles. With the arrival of spring heat, such a shelter should be removed so as not to provoke decay of the rhizome. While the plant is young, cut plastic bottles can be placed on top for the winter months, which, by the way, will provide protection from the cold autumn rains. But often, when the entire aboveground part of the Incarvillea dries up, it is recommended to dig out its rhizome and store it in layers of newspapers and paper in low temperatures, for example, in a cellar. Such storage is somewhat reminiscent of the winter conditions for keeping dahlias.
- General care. It is clear that, as with any garden flower, Incarvilleas should be looked after, weeding from weeds and loosening the soil near the stem in time.
- Use of "garden gloxinia". As mentioned earlier, the plant can decorate stony gardens or slopes, where its bright flowers will contrast with the planted low-growing flora, for example, stonecrop. Violets and Iberis will be neighbors from the world of flowers.
Reproduction of incarvillea do it yourself
To get a new plant with delicate flowers, so reminiscent of home gloxinia, you can sow seeds, root cuttings or divide the rhizome.
Experienced gardeners are usually involved in seed propagation, since it is known that when sowing seed, the parental qualities of the plant may not be preserved. But such selection makes it possible to obtain new color variations in the buds. It is also possible to breed fairly persistent and viable forms of Incarvillea.
Before sowing seeds, they should be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. This procedure promotes early germination. The seeds must be buried in the ground, poured into the seedling box at the end of March by no more than 1 cm and watered thoroughly. After a week has passed, you can already admire the first sprouts of the plant, but their appearance is not slender (uneven). When the sprouts gain more strength and a pair of real leaves are formed on them, then you can transplant to a permanent landing site in open ground. However, according to experienced flower growers, such Incarvillea seedlings do not take root very well, therefore it is recommended to sow seed directly on the flower bed, but then it is better either in early spring or in September. Sometimes the germination rate with such sowing can be even higher than in the case described above. For flower growers with little knowledge of the cultivation of garden flowers, the cuttings method will be more acceptable. To do this, the largest and healthiest leaf is selected from the leaf outlet, which should have a part of the stem. The cut of the cuttings is treated with a rooting stimulant (for example, heteroauxin or Kornevin). After the stalk is planted in a pot filled with a peat-sand mixture, the roots will appear after 14–20 days, but a completely leaf rosette will be formed with formed peduncles only next year. After a year, the Incarvillea will have tuberous roots, which are material for subsequent reproduction.
Also, with the arrival of March or in September, it can be propagated by dividing an overgrown bush. With the help of a shovel or a knife, the rhizome of the flower is divided into sections so that each of them has a tuber and points of growth, from which new shoots will begin to grow. After planting, the resulting material is planted in the substrate, observing the following rule so that the root collar is 5 cm below the soil surface. In the open ground, the established incarvillea delenks are planted when the average temperature is 18–20 degrees, otherwise the rhizomes cannot take root.
Diseases and pests of incarvillea in open field conditions
The plant does not tolerate waterlogging or even temporary waterlogging of the substrate rather poorly, while various rot can develop. If such a nuisance has occurred, and most of the Incarvillea has not yet been affected by the disease, then the plant is carefully dug up, the affected roots and stems are removed with pruning shears and they are treated with foundation. Then you can plant in a different location and adjust the watering pattern.
Also, the wrong place for planting this flower can become a problem, if it is in direct sunlight, which will burn mercilessly all day, then dried brownish spots will appear on the leaf plates. The yellowing of the foliage of the Incarvillea responds to the lack of nutrients in the soil.
If we talk about pests, then those when growing this representative of the Bignonievs are:
- Mealybug. When such a pest appears on the reverse side of the leaf plates and in internodes, whitish cotton-like clots resembling pieces of cotton wool are formed, and a sticky sugary bloom is also visible, called padya (insect excrement).
- Aphid, manifested by the formation of a large number of small green or black bugs that cover all the stems of the Incarvillea, and even the leaves. Often this pest is accompanied by paddy.
- Spider mite. This insect pricks the leaf blade along the edge and begins to feed on the vital sap of the plant. In this case, the foliage turns yellow and then crumbles, and new leaves are formed already deformed. You can see a thin cobweb on the back of the leaves or on the stems, and if no action is taken to fight, then the entire Incarvillea is covered with such a substance.
It is recommended to immediately spray the flower bushes with special broad-spectrum insecticidal preparations.
Facts to note about Incarvillea
The similarity with Gloxinia (Gloxinia), or as it is also called Sinningia, is available with Incarvilla due to the shape of the buds. Although these representatives of the flora belong to different families: Gloxinia to Gesneriaceae, and Incarvillea to Bignoniaceae.
Incarvillea species
- Incarvillea delavayi is a perennial plant that reaches almost a meter in size with its shoots. A root rosette is collected from the leaves. The outlines of the leaf plate are pinnate, they are measured in length almost 30 cm. The size of the flower is equal to 6 cm. The inflorescence is collected from 3-4 pieces of buds. The flowering process occurs at the beginning of summer days and more than a month all new flowers are revealed.
- Incarvillea compacta. This variety has a height of about 30 cm, and a very spectacular appearance. A luxurious bush is assembled from lush feathery leaves, similar to fern frond. At the same time, the leaf lobes, into which the division is taking place, have heart-shaped-oval outlines. The corolla of the flowers is painted in light purple or purple shades, when opened, its diameter reaches 6 cm. The appearance of this species is very delicate and pleases with flowering for almost a month, since all new buds are formed during this period. Flowering begins in late May. There is also a large-flowered form, which with its shoots can grow up to a meter in height and with the same flower parameters.
- Chinese Incarvillea (Incarvillea sinensis). The type of this plant is modest, since it rarely exceeds 30 cm in height. The shape of the leaf plate is feathery, the color of the flowers is cream. The flowering process seems to be very long, since during this entire period there is a laying, formation and dissolution of all new buds, which crown the newly formed shoots.
- Incarvillea mairei. The height of this variety is the same as that of the previous Incarvillea, but its basal leaves differ in the shape of a lyre, and with their help a dense sod is formed. During flowering, rather attractive flowers are formed with a corolla of a red-pink color scheme, inside it there is a pattern of snow-white spots. Due to the bluish tint, the foliage is very reminiscent of the leaf blades of cyclamen. Against their background, the flowers are striking in their originality and large size.
- Olga's Incarvillea (Incarvillea olgae). In height, this species reaches more than one and a half meter mark, the shoots have dense branching. The upper part is exposed. But on the lower part, medium-sized leaves grow, with a surface resembling lace. In the process of flowering, rather delicate flowers open, the diameter of which is measured by two centimeters. From them, loose inflorescences with a panicle shape are collected, not exceeding 25 cm in length. The duration of flowering can be 1, 5 months, but sometimes more.
- Incarvillea grandiflora - differs in the large size of the flower. In height, the plant reaches only 30 cm. The color of the buds is bright pink, but there is a yellow tint in the middle of the corolla. The variety is winter-hardy and can easily survive frosts on Russian territory without prejudice to itself.
