General description of the plant, advice on growing and reproduction of Evpatorium, do it yourself, pest control and diseases of the stethoscope, interesting facts, species. Evpatorium (Eupatorium) aka Poskonnik refers to perennials, ranked among the vast family of Astraceae (Astraceae) or as it is also called Compositae. It contains about 1911 genera and almost 32,913 varieties. Most of all, representatives of this vast family are distributed in the territories of European states, as well as in the lands of Asia, America and in the African tropical belt. Often, some of the species are cultivated as ornamental plants in gardens and homes.
This family bears its name in honor of the Pontic ruler Mithridates Eupator (he went down in history as Mithridates VI) or Dionysus or the Great. The lifetime of this king of Pontus falls on the period from 132 BC to 63 BC. He was called "the king of Asia", and the plant was associated with him, because of the legends that Eupator used one of the varieties because of its antidote effect, although the plant itself is poisonous. The Slavic name Evpatorium is from the word "poskon", which means a male hemp plant. These specimens of flora are somewhat similar, therefore, the people call the first one - bony.
The plant reaches a height of indicators ranging from 30 cm to two meters. Stems are usually erect, devoid of branching. Leaf plates are located on them in opposite order, but less often they grow whorled. They can either have petioles or not have them (be sedentary). The petiole is elongated with a brownish color. The outlines of the leaf are ovoid, lanceolate-lanceolate or linear, can take on elliptical or oblong, rhombic contours. Often there are pinnate, 1–2 pinnate, or trifoliate, or palmate-lobed forms. The edge of the leaf lobes can also be serrated or simple, and the surface of the leaf plate is smooth, rough or pubescent to the touch. The color of the foliage is rich dark emerald or juicy green.
Most of all, Evpatorium attracts at the time of flowering. The corolla of the flowers is whitish, but varieties with petals from pinkish or lilac to purple in color can be found. Large inflorescences of paniculate, racemose or complex corymbose form are collected from the flowers. The inflorescences, as usual, are apical, their diameter can be close to 25 cm. The size of the buds themselves is small, but they form beautiful baskets, and this flower formation from a distance looks like one flower. The corolla of the flower consists of short, rounded petals and a whole bundle of elongated, thread-like stamens. During flowering, being next to the planting of the steep, a strong and pleasant aroma will be felt.
If you cut off the eupatorium flower, then it can stand in the water for quite a long time. Most often, due to its non-withering properties, the plant is used in the preparation of winter floral phytocompositions. All due to the fact that, even when fading, the petals acquire a white-silver tint. Therefore, in the garden, the plantings of this aster look very attractive, even after flowering. The flowering process takes place from the beginning of the August days and lasts until November.
After flowering, seeds ripen with crests on the tops. There are varieties that reproduce by self-seeding.
Most often, this representative of the green world is used in landscape design, where they try to plant the slope in massifs with large areas, combining them with large cereals and similar perennial plants. Even such a famous designer from Holland as Pete Udolph, who is engaged in landscape design and gives preference to the natural style, created vertical dominants in the gardens from the plantings of the Evpatorium. It is not bad that this tall flowering plant, with its color, is combined with echinacea, astilba and black cohosh when planting, and to create contrast, buzulnik, rudbeckia or geleniums are placed next to the steep. The curly delphinium also looks great, its flowers will look even more attractive against the background of this representative of the aster. If you need to gracefully hide the fences on the site or low buildings, then this unpretentious specimen of flora can also be used for this.
The growth rate of Evpatorium is not too high, but the plant is quite hardy. It can be grown both indoors and outdoors. Since the plant is an excellent honey plant, there are always many butterflies and bees circling above it during the flowering period.
Agrotechnics when growing Evpatorium, planting and care
- Lighting and site selection. The sapwood can easily tolerate bright and abundant lighting, however, in the summer afternoon, shading is necessary from the direct streams of ultraviolet radiation. If this is not done, then signs of sunburn will appear on the leaf plates - brown drying spots. A shady location will also negatively affect the Evpatorium, since the low growth rate will decrease even more and the flowering will be very weak. It is better when a place is selected for the plant, either in the garden or in a room with an east or west orientation. And if in the rooms the issue of shading from direct sunlight or supplementary lighting with fluorescent lamps in the shade can be solved, then it will not be possible to help the sap on the backyard.
- Content temperature. In this regard, the plant is quite unpretentious and some varieties are frost-resistant. In the spring-summer period, in the rooms where the Evpatorium grows, they withstand heat indicators within the range of 17-23 degrees, then by winter they can be lowered down to 14-15 degrees. Drafts are bad for the leaves of the plant. With the arrival of summer heat, you can put the pot with a steep sump in the open air.
- Humidity at room content of this representative of asteris, they are kept within 55-60%. In the summer heat, spraying is carried out using a finely dispersed spray gun, their regularity is 2-3 times a week.
- Watering spend plentiful, the soil should not dry out completely, as soon as the top layer of the soil becomes dry - it's time to water the flower. The water used is soft and warm.
- Fertilizers for Evpatorium, they are introduced during the period of increased growth and for abundant flowering. Complex liquid preparations are used for decorative leafy and floral plants. From spring to autumn, it is recommended to fertilize once every two weeks. Sometimes you can alternate these dressings with organic matter, this has a very positive effect on the growth and formation of flowers.
- Transplant and general care. They change the place of growth for the steep as needed. This operation is carried out in the spring. The soil is selected sufficiently fertile and well-drained, into which organic matter is mixed. The soil mixture is made up of sod soil, leaf substrate, river sand and perlite, and compost is also added for fertility. If the plant is grown indoors, then drainage and holes for the drain of excess moisture should be laid in the pot.
After the transplant, it is recommended to cut off the old shoots.
Recommendations for self-propagation of the stethoscope
It is possible to get a new plant of Evpatorium by sowing seeds, dividing an overgrown bush and grafting, in the autumn or spring.
Since seedlings are very small during seed reproduction, it is recommended that sowing be carried out in closed ground conditions. The seeds are placed in a substrate of peat and chopped sphagnum moss. Seedlings are recommended to be placed in a place with good diffused lighting. Water must be abundant. The first shoots will appear in a couple of weeks.
It is recommended to cut root cuttings in early spring, and stem cuttings only in June-July. The flowering of such plants should be expected 2-3 years from planting. Cuttings root easily within 2-3 weeks in a substrate of sand and peat.
It is possible to divide an already overgrown bush, but this method is extremely rarely used, due to the ease of others.
Difficulties in cultivating eupatorium
Due to its toxicity, Eupatorium is rarely affected by diseases and pests, however, there are cases of aphid, whitefly or powdery mildew attacks. If signs of an impending problem are detected, it is recommended to carry out treatment with chemicals (insecticides or Bordeaux liquid, respectively).
Interesting facts about the flower
The plant is poisonous, but it is used in folk medicine. Of the varieties, Evpatorium wrinkled is especially poisonous, since it produces the substance tremenol, which is not harmful to representatives of the fauna, but extremely dangerous for humans. If cow's milk was given by the cows who ate the steak, then this often led to poisoning and even death. As you know, this was the reason for the death of the mother of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. It was only in the robot for selection that the “Chocolate” variety was bred, in which the amount of toxic substance was reduced to a minimum.
Since the word "bony" means a fiber that was made from the hemp grower, in the old days canvases were made precisely from the stems of this plant. And the old proverb sounded: "With a sloping face, but in a kalashny row" - indicating the home-grown personality to which it was applied.
Types of Evpatorium
Eupatorium spotted (Eupatorium maculatum). This species is probably the most powerful of all, since its parameters are close to two meters in height, and the plant can look like a small tree. The native habitat is the territory of North America, where this type of bush can be found in thickets, in meadows or in forests. Due to the large number of American varieties, only the Rough variety is grown in culture - with a height of about 180 cm, elongated leaf plates and purple flowers.
Here are some of the species that have won the love of flower growers for their decorativeness:
- Album can reach a height of two meters, and the flower petals are painted in a gray-whitish color.
- "Atropurpureum" has stems tinted in a dark reddish tone, the height of the shoots is 2 m and the flowers are pinkish-purple.
- "Bartered Bride" can reach a height of 2.4 meters, the flowers are snow-white.
- "Carin" with a stem height up to 2 meters has flower petals painted in pale lavender tones.
- "Glutball" is distinguished by lush and large inflorescences of a red-violet tone and stems up to 1, 7 cm.
- "Purple Bush" was bred by the lover of the steep bump Pete Udolph, it can reach up to one and a half meters in height, while growing, it takes up to two meters in diameter, keeps its shape perfectly and does not fall to the sides. The stems have a pattern of strokes of dark red or black-raspberry color, which is in perfect harmony with the inflorescences of lilac-pink flowers.
- "Riesenschrim" has beautiful large inflorescences with a bright purple or bluish-lilac shade, which are crowned with purple-black stems, long flowering.
- "Orchard Dene" is equal in height to 2.4 meters and can grow up to one and a half meters wide, its plantings are impressive with monumentality, the flower-bearing stems are painted in a dark cranberry color, while the stems are green and their surface is mottled with black-raspberry lines running along. The flowers have a beautiful rich bright pink hue, as well as the duration of flowering of this variety is almost the longest of all types.
- "Big Umbrellas" is distinguished by stems of burgundy tone and they are crowned with "caps" of gray-pink umbrella-shaped inflorescences.
- "Gateway" has dense and large inflorescences, stems of a wine-red tone, reaching a height of 1, 2–1, 5 meters, the shade of flowers is gray-pink.
- "Phantom" sometimes grows taller than advertised in catalogs (up to 90 cm), stems can reach up to 120 cm, inflorescences are large, with a crimson color scheme, and they are crowned with dark stems.
Eupatorium hemp (Eupatorium cannabinum) or it is also sometimes called Eupatorium hemp. This variety is distinguished by the greatest melliferous ability, it is used in herbal preparations in folk medicine due to its anti-inflammatory effect. The native territory of growth falls on all European lands, where he settles near streams, in damp meadows or next to swamps. The stem grows erect and can only reach half a meter in height. The root system is very similar to valerian root processes. The leaves have short petioles, the leaf surface is pubescent, there is a division into 3-5 finger lobes, the edges of the segments are serrate. The top of the stem is crowned with a panicle-shaped corymbose inflorescence, from which baskets are assembled. The color of the petals is pinkish, the fruits have tufts. The flowering process occurs in the month of July.
In garden cultivation, the “Flore Pleno” variety is successful, as it has a long flowering time and height parameters up to 160 cm, self-seeding is absent, which is good when cultivated in gardens. Its flowers are bright with pink color, they are often called double, but this is not so. The plant owes these outlines to the same bright bracts.
Eupatorium rugosum (Eupatorium rugosum). Unlike other varieties, this one has an oval shape with a jagged edge. The arrangement of the leaves is opposite. When blooming, flowers are formed in a whitish tone. The stem reaches a meter in height.
There is a variety "Chocolate", characterized by frost resistance and leaf plates of a bronze-brown tint, against their background small flowers, combined in inflorescences, flaunt with whitish petals. When the foliage is young, its shade is purple. The blooming process takes place in October and attracts many butterflies. The stems need support. Braunlaub has young brown foliage and buds of the same color.
Eupatorium purpureum (Eupatorium purpureum), which is found under the name of the Eupatorium purpureum. The native territories of growth are in the lands of North America. Perennial with rhizome. Stems in height can reach up to one and a half meters, their color is bluish-green. The leaf plates are large in size, their shape is oval-lanceolate with a pointed tip at the top, the surface is hairy. Flower baskets are small, of which corymbose inflorescences with a diameter of up to 20 cm are collected. The color of the flowers is light pink, lilac-purple or whitish. The flowering process lasts from mid-summer to late August. The variety is winter-hardy.
There are varieties:
- "Little Red" with stems reaching 90 cm in height and flowers of wine-pink or pure pink color;
- "Little Joe" differs in meter-long stems, inflorescences are collected from pinkish small flowers.
Eupatorium tubular (Eupatorium fistulosum). The most attractive form is the Album variety with an erect stems height of 3 meters. The bush has a trapezoidal shape, begins to bloom from August to September. Its stems are crowned with fur inflorescences in the form of "caps" with whitish flowers. The stems have a light burgundy hue, but by the end of the growing season, the color fades.
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