Description of the godetia plant, advice on care and planting in a personal plot, how to reproduce, fight against possible diseases and pests, facts to note, species.
Godetia (Godetia) belongs to the genus of flowering plants of herbaceous form of growth. This representative of the flora belongs to the Cyprian or Donkey family (Onagraceae). The genus of godetia itself is composed of 20 varieties of annuals. It often happens that godetia is confused with the clarkia plant, since their characteristics are very similar. Under natural conditions, the growth of godetia is found on the lands of both Americas, but California is considered their true homeland. They prefer to settle in open places under the sun or in partial shade, along the banks of reservoirs and forest edges.
| Family name | Cypriot or Donkey |
| Life cycle | Annual |
| Growth features | Herbaceous |
| Reproduction | Seed |
| Landing period in open ground | Seedlings are planted in April-May |
| Disembarkation scheme | Depends on variety, but no closer than 20-25 cm between plants |
| Substrate | Medium moisture nutrient, loam |
| Soil acidity | pH 5-7 |
| Illumination | Sunny place or partial shade |
| Moisture indicators | Watering is moderately abundant, regular, stagnant water is harmful |
| Special Requirements | Unpretentious |
| Plant height | 0.02–0.6 m, but not more than 1 m |
| Color of flowers | Snow-white, bright red, carmine, pinkish or peach, crimson, a combination of several shades |
| Type of flowers, inflorescences | Racemose |
| Flowering time | July-September |
| Decorative time | Summer-autumn |
| Place of application | Flowerbeds, mixborders, rabatki group planting, landscaping of borders, for cutting |
| USDA zone | 4–8 |
The plant is named in honor of the Swiss scientist C. H. Godet, who first studied godetia and was engaged in its classification. Since the 1860s, this flowering annual has become popular among European gardeners, but the most common varieties are Godetia grandiflora or Godetia amoena.
All types of godetia are distinguished by upright stems with good branching. Short pubescence is present on the surface of the stems. The height of the shoots can vary in the range of 20–60 cm, occasionally reaching meter values. Depending on the variety, the outlines of the bushes can be pyramidal or spreading. The foliage on the twigs is arranged in turn. The shape of the leaf plate is lanceolate or linear, the edge is solid, but fine serration may be present. There are practically no petioles.
The flowers of godetia are very reminiscent of azalea inflorescences. Corollas are bell-shaped or cup-shaped. Flowers in opening are large in size, in diameter they are measured in the range of 3-10 cm. Flowers can be simple, while their corollas are composed of two pairs of petals or double - forming a racemose or spike-shaped apical inflorescence. Inflorescences are formed in the leaf sinuses. The color of the petals in flowers can be snow-white, bright red, carmine pink or peach, crimson. Some varieties are characterized by a combination of shades. The flowering stems are short. The flowering process takes place from July to September.
After pollination of the flowers, a cylindrical capsule with four faces on the surface matures. Ripe fruits are filled with very small seeds. Seed germination remains high for 3-4 years.
Planting godetia - outdoor care tips
- A place to grow. The most comfortable flowering bushes will be in a sunny flowerbed or in light partial shade. If this rule is violated, then the flowering will be poor, the flowers will be dim, and the stems will become too elongated.
- Soil for planting godetia seeds should be with slightly acidic or neutral acidity, with indicators around pH 5-7. You can use loam and any medium moisture nutrient substrate.
- Planting godetia. The best time is from mid-April to early May, since even young godetia plants can tolerate frosts down to -5 degrees. In this case, you need to select the time before sunrise or after sunset, so that young seedlings absorb more moisture after watering, and they are not scorched by the sun's rays. Before sowing, the substrate must be dug up and then thoroughly moistened. It is also recommended to apply up to 5 kg of humus (or compost), mineral fertilizers (2 tablespoons of nitrophoska) and 300 grams of wood ash per 1m2. The seeding depth is half a centimeter. The distance between seedlings should be kept at least 20–25 cm. With a denser arrangement of young plants, growing up on hot days, they will actively consume moisture from the soil and suffer from drought. If rainy weather sets in for a long time, then the soil under the bushes will not dry out enough, and the root system will suffer from waterlogging. At the same time, it is taken into account that the greater the height of the plant stems, the greater the distance to another godetia should be. Planting seedlings is performed, trying not to destroy the earthen lump - a transshipment method, since the roots are fragile.
- Watering when caring for godetia should be regular, but moderately abundant, so that moisture does not stagnate at the roots.
- Fertilizers for plants it is recommended to apply during the entire growing season every 20–25 days. Mineral preparations are used, but godetia responds best to nitrophosphate - 1 tbsp is diluted in a 12-liter bucket of water. l. funds. It is better not to use fertilizing with a high nitrogen content, as the deciduous mass will increase to the detriment of flowering.
- General advice on care. When growing godetia, during the flowering period, it is required to remove the formed ovaries by pinching them off. This will provoke an abundant budding of flower buds. After watering, it is necessary to loosen the soil in the root zone and remove weeds in a timely manner. If the variety is distinguished by high shoots (more than 60 cm), then it is recommended to organize a support during planting. To do this, an ordinary wooden peg or a metal rod is placed in the hole, to which godetia stems are tied as they are pulled.
- Seed collection. After the flowering process at Godetia is completed, then after a month, the fruit-boxes will ripen. A sign for their collection is the acquisition of a dark shade. Then the boxes need to be cut off and dried on paper or a clean cloth in a warm and dry room with good ventilation. Then the fruits are opened and the seeds are removed, which are sown before winter or stored in paper bags until spring. Such seed can be used for a 4-year period, its germination is not lost.
- The use of godetia in landscape design. To date, breeders have bred many hybrid variations - dwarf and bushy, double and azalea. Due to its spectacular flowers, the duration of flowering and unpretentiousness, the plant is usually used when planting in flower beds, mixborders, rabatkas. It is used in group plantings, curbs are planted with bushes and used for cutting.
How to reproduce godetia?
Since the plant is an annual crop, it is advisable to sow seeds or grow seedlings to get a new shrub with great flowers.
The best time to sow seed directly into the soil in your garden bed is mid-spring. It is important that the soil is thoroughly warmed up by this time. If you live in the southern regions, you can cultivate crops in the fall, before winter. Before sowing the seeds, they are kept for about 30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (for disinfection), which has a slightly pink color. It is important that the liquid is not deep pink (too much is not needed here), otherwise you can simply burn the seed. Then the bed is covered with plastic wrap so that the seedlings appear faster. Such a shelter creates the conditions for a mini-greenhouse. In half a month, you can see the sprouts of godetia.
After the seedlings grow up, if they are too dense, thinning will be required. This method is preferable to seedling. When young plants are transplanted to a new place, as well as during a conventional pick, some of them will be injured due to the fragility of the root system and will inevitably die.
Many growers like the seedling method. When growing seedlings, godetia seeds are sown with the arrival of March. It is better to use special peat pots as containers, then the subsequent transplantation to the main place of growth will be easier. Three seeds are placed in each pot. Sometimes the substrate is poured into special seedling boxes. The soil is light, peaty-sandy. Since the seeds are very small, they are mixed with river sand and spread on the soil surface and sprinkled. Then cover the pots or seedling containers with a plastic bag to maintain high humidity and temperature.
When caring for crops, the shelter is removed for a short time, and they also make sure that the substrate does not dry out. As an irrigation, you can spray with a fine spray with warm boiled water. Sprouts will appear, as in the first case, after 14 days, after which the shelter can be removed. When the seedlings grow a little and 2-3 true leaves will unfold on them, you need to pick in separate containers (the diameter of the pots is about 4 cm). To do this, you can use an ordinary tablespoon, which is used to extract the godetia seedling from the soil. The remnants of the earth are gently shaken off, if the roots have grown too much, then you can cut them off a little, and then plant three plants in separate pots. In mid-spring or early May, you can plant a godetia in a prepared place in the garden.
Fight against possible diseases and pests when caring for godetia
Usually, problems with caring for this beautifully flowering annual arise due to high humidity in the warm season and vice versa - a decrease in temperature during rains, which can provoke rotting of the root system or fungal diseases. One of the latter is distinguished:
- Downy mildew or downy mildew. Leaves and stems are covered with spots without a pronounced edge, their color can be colorless, pale yellow, yellowish brown, reddish brown, purple. They are slightly convex above the surface of the leaf, gradually turning brown and drying over time.
- Rust which also affects leaf tissue in the form of yellow specks, gradually turning brown-brown (leaf tissue begins to die off).
In this case, spraying with systemic fungicides is carried out to fight. Root rot is always accompanied by stagnation of moisture under the bushes of godetia, if very abundant watering has been carried out or if heavy rains have passed. If root decay has begun, then all the bushes must be destroyed so that the disease is not transferred to other garden plantings.
The main pests of godetia are leaf-eating insects (oak green leafworm, moths, gypsy moths and others), for the destruction of which the bushes are treated with insecticidal and acaricidal agents - Aktellik, Aktara or Fitoverm. A solution based on ash and soap can be used as a non-chemical preparation.
Facts to note about godetia flowers
There is unconfirmed evidence that in ancient times, folk healers used godetia herb to prepare a decoction, with the help of which colds were cured, the symptoms of fever were relieved. The godetia-based remedy has an anti-inflammatory effect.
Types of godetia
There are almost 20 species of this flowering plant. They have the outlines of a bush and a crown of a narrow pyramidal compact form; there are species with meter-long shoots and undersized ones. Below are those that are most popular among florists and summer residents:
Lovely Godetia (Godetia amoena)
The height of the stems can reach 0.6 m. The shoots have medium branching, grow straight and are fragile. Their surface is smooth, by the end of the growing process they have the peculiarity of lignification. The stems are covered with pointed, lanceolate leaves with some narrowing.
During flowering, a racemose inflorescence forms, lengthening as new buds bloom. The corolla of the flower is shaped like a cup, funnel or bell. Occasionally, flowers take on a double structure. The diameter at full opening is 5 cm. The petals are distinguished by spatulate contours with a satin surface. The color of the petals can take on shades from snow white to carmine red. It happens that flowers combine two colors, which is why they look very impressive. The buds begin to bloom from mid-summer to September. The variety has been in culture since the 14th year of the 19th century.
The most famous varieties are
- Kirshenigenin possesses flowers of a reddish-pinkish tint;
- Crystal Snowflake has shoots reaching a height of 0.75 m. The color of the inflorescences is snow-white.
Godetia grandiflora (Godetia grandiflora)
- an annual shrub with compact crown outlines, the stems of which are distinguished by a pubescent surface. It has been cultivated as a culture since 1867. The height to which fragile shoots are stretched is in the range of 20–40 cm. Shoots can grow both erect and creeping along the surface of the soil. Lanceolate leaf plates are located on the stems, to the base of which there is a narrowing.
During flowering, the final racemose leafy inflorescences are formed, consisting of large flowers, reaching 10 cm in diameter. The shape of the flowers is in the form of a calyx or a bell. The structure is often terry, which is why they resemble azalea flowers. The petals are silky to the touch. The color can be snow-white, bright red, reddish-pink or lilac, scarlet or burgundy. The budding process takes time from July to the end of September. This type was the basis for breeding varietal variations of various heights, which were used for landscaping borders.
- Weisser Schwann, characterized by shoots within 0, 3–0, 35 m. In the lower part, the stems are woody, brown or light brown, at the top they are covered with green bark. The foliage is characterized by a broad-lanceolate contour. The inflorescences consist of snow-white flowers with satin-like petals, when opened they reach a diameter of 5-6 cm. The corolla shape takes the form of a calyx. The border of the petals is solid.
- Orange Rum - medium-sized shrub, formed by semi-spreading branchy shoots. The stems measure 40-50 cm in height. The color of the shoots is greenish-red. Foliage with narrow lanceolate outlines. Flowers in full disclosure can reach 5 cm, their shape is broadly bell-shaped. The inflorescences are colored orange-red, the petals are whole-edged.
Terry godetia
although it is believed that such a natural species does not exist) the azalea is characterized by such varietal variations:
- Sybil Sherwood the height of a compact bush ranges from 30 to 40 cm. The leaves have a lanceolate shape, the stems are green in color with a slight pinkish tone. The diameter at the opening of semi-double flowers reaches 5 cm. The color of the petals is salmon pink, towards the central part it is more saturated, but almost light at the top and along the edges.
- Rembrandt characterized by a low height of a hemispherical bush (30–35 cm), the color of the bark of the shoots is pinkish-green, the foliage is narrow-lanceolate. In the process of flowering, double-shaped flowers bloom, reaching 5-6 cm in diameter. The inflorescences are painted pink, and each of the petals has a red spot, the surface of the petal is wavy, the edge is cut.
- Diamond has flowers painted in a bright red hue, inside there is a white speck on the petals.
- Bride flowers of this variety resemble azalea, petals with a snow-white color, while having a subtle pinkish undertone.
Video about growing godetia:
