The flowering plant is a night beauty more and more conquering corners in the areas of gardeners. This plant fell in love with the fact that it is distinguished by its resistance to weather conditions, it tolerates drought well and at the same time is not demanding on the soil.
This is a fairly tall plant with a lot of straight shoots and beautiful bright flowers, the cultivation of which does not require special skills.
Description of the flower and methods of growing
Night beauty, or Mirabilis Yalapa, a native of South America, or rather, from Mexico, was brought to Europe in the middle of the 18th century.
A distinctive feature of the night beauty is herself bud opening phase, it blooms in the evening hours and at night, while a unique aroma spreads to the entire district.
However, it is not recommended to plant these plants in areas of those who have allergies or intolerance to strong aromas. It is grown in two ways, by sowing seeds or planting tubers. It has a large number of colors, while on one bush there can be up to 5 different color colors of buds.
- Multi-flowered.
- Terry.
- Tall.
- Stunted.
Plants on which the flowers have a color that goes from almost black to white buds look most impressive. There are also varieties of peduncles that have striped or iridescent.
There are two ways how to grow a night beauty on your personal plot:
- seeds;
- tubers.
Growing seedlings of a night beauty from seeds
If you want to grow mirabilis on your plot, growing from seeds is one of the possible ways. Sowing is done late March, early April, and in the regions of Siberia and the Far East, it is best to sow in early March.
In this case, you can be sure that the plant will fully develop and delight you with a riot of color. Before sowing, seeds should soak for a day in warm water. This is done to soften the hard shell after being saturated with water.
The land for sowing seeds can be taken universal, the plant is not too demanding. Seeds deepen into damp ground 0.5 cm and spill with warm water again. The container with the sown seeds is covered with glass or foil and placed in a warm place.
After 2 weeks, the first shoots appear. The shelter is removed, and the plants are placed on a light-colored windowsill. In the phase of the first true mirabilis leaves dive into separate cups and make sure that the soil does not dry out.
On warm spring days, young mirabilis can be taken out into the fresh air for hardening. They should be planted in open ground when the threat of frost has passed. Disembarkation is best done in rainy weather, then the plants will quickly take root in a permanent place of growth.
Growing from tubers
Store-bought tubers in the winter are best stored in the refrigerator on the vegetable shelf before planting.
Night beauty tubers can be planted in open ground when the soil warms up to a depth of 10-15 centimeters, somewhere around mid-April, early May.
If sufficiently large sprouts have already appeared on the tubers of mirabilis, then the flowers should be at night cover with plastic bottles or non-woven fabric.
After the period of night frosts has passed, the shelter is removed and the plant is given complete freedom of growth. However, if the shoots of mirabilis are too long and weak, they should be pinched, leaving no more than 10 centimeters.
Planting Mirabalis in the open field
The soil for a night beauty should not be too acidic. Best if it will clay or loamy soil... On the site intended for planting mirabilis, there should be a sufficient amount of light, since in the shade or partial shade the plant does not bloom well and stretch.
Mirabilis is an aggressive plant and can displace neighbors in the flowerbed, so planting should take place in spacious areas or by the fence, thus forming a hedge.
However, there are also undersized varieties this flower, the cultivation of which can be carried out in pots or planted for framing flower beds, rockeries, borders. Low-growing varieties of mirabilis look good in the vicinity of the following types of flowers:
- Tall roses.
- Delphiniums.
- Peonies.
Mirabilis, planting and caring for which in the open field does not require special skills, lends itself very well to shaping.
It can pinch, trim, while flowering will only intensify. Shoots formed by pruning stems in the form of a ball or pyramid look beautiful, as they all instantly become covered with flowers and become fully blooming.
Night beauty care rules
On hot days, the night beauty should be irrigated with water in the evening, while watering should be carried out once every 3-4 days... From an excess of moisture, the plant can stretch out and stop blooming.
Top dressing is carried out once a month, and Mirabilis loves organic fertilizers, so it is best to apply to the root zone mullein or bird droppings... If there are no natural organic fertilizers, then you can dilute the humate infusion and spill the root zone.
Since the night beauty is a perennial plant, in the fall, after the first frost, all green shoots should be cut off at a level of 10 centimeters from the ground and allowed to dry well, then dig out the rhizomes, dry in the sun and put in boxes, covering with dry sand or sawdust. You can't forget about it, it's part of leaving.
Store, like other nodule plants, in a basement at a temperature not lower than +5 degrees. Care must be taken to ensure that mirabilis flowers do not grow too early, and when buds appear in the winter months transfer tubers to refrigerator.
However, in the southern regions of our country, the night beauty winters excellently in the soil, you just need to cut off the shoots and mulch the soil with straw or sawdust.
Growing a night beauty is not difficult. With proper care, every gardener will be able to grow on his site a beautiful plant with a large number of bright flowers and an indescribable aroma, to the envy of everyone around. And even at night to delight your eyes with a beautiful view of a blooming area.
