Brunner's flower is a beautiful delicate plant that conquered flower growers with unpretentiousness and attractive appearance. This culture, due to its decorativeness, over a long period is a real find for use in flowerbeds and mixborders, it will become a decoration of the garden and complement any composition.
Description of Brunners
Brunner's flower (in Latin - Brunnera) is a perennial herb. The culture is named after the Swiss traveler and botanist S. Brunner, who discovered it in 1831 while traveling to the Crimea. In the wild, Brunner is widespread in the Caucasus, Siberia, and Altai. Widely used in decorative floriculture to create alpine slides, shaded flower beds.
Brunner's flower
Brunner is popularly known as a fake forget-me-not, Brunner is a forget-me-not, the Germans call her Caucasian forget-me-not. This is not surprising, because these flowers are very similar to forget-me-nots with large leaves: soft blue, small (approximately 0.7 cm in diameter). Only the middle of Brunners, unlike a real forget-me-not, is not yellow, but white. Flowers are collected in small paniculate inflorescences that rise above a compact neat bush up to 50 cm high.
The root system is well developed, branched, adjoins close to the surface. The leaves are large, heart-shaped, with a slight fluffiness on the surface. Stand out in a variety of colors: bright green, with a white rim, silver spider web. It is the leaves that possess the main decorative value in the description of the brunners, they retain a fresh attractive appearance throughout the season: from early spring to the first frosts. The flowering period is the end of spring - the beginning of summer. There are cases of repeated blooming in the fall.
Brunner plant - perennial, can grow in one place without transplanting and dividing up to 15 years. It tolerates low temperatures, grows well in moist shaded areas.
The combination of brunners in the flower garden
Types and varieties of brunners
There are only three types of culture: large-leaf Brunner, Siberian and eastern. The first two varieties are cultivated in horticulture - the eastern brunner is not distinguished by spectacularity, rather unprepossessing and inconspicuous.
Famous varieties and types of brunners:
- View of Siberian brunner (brunnera sibirica). The habitat corresponds to the name - Eastern and Western Siberia. It forms rather large bushes, 40 cm high, flower stalks reach 60 cm.It develops a powerful root system, so it grows quickly, creating a dense rug on the surface, weeds do not sprout through it (this is a big plus when creating flower beds of considerable size). In gardening, it is appreciated by the lush green of leaves and the beauty of flowering; it lasts more than a month. After the plant has flowered, the inflorescences and leaves dry out. At the end of summer, new leaves appear. This species loves moist shaded places, clay soil.
Tip. Siberian brunner is a stable and quite aggressive plant, capable of growing in a short period of time over a large territory, while suppressing other crops. It is recommended to plant it in areas not involved in gardening.
Siberian Brunner
- Type brunner large-leaved. The homeland of this culture is the Caucasus. The large-leaf Brunner is characterized by the compactness of the bush - up to half a meter in height and width. It holds its shape and color well throughout the season, and is valued for its decorative and original appearance.
Brunner macrophylla
Popular varieties of Brunner macrophylla brunnera macrophylla are:
- Brunner variegated (Variegata). A very beautiful flower stands out with corrugated leaves with a bright green base, white or cream border. Brunner variegate prefers shaded places, in the sun it can drop leaves. The longer the period of sun exposure, the brighter the color of the plant becomes.
Brunner variegated
- Alexander Great (Majesty of Alexander). Brunner was bred by Belarusian breeder Alexander Zuykevich, characterized by very large heart-shaped leaves with a white-silver spider web.
- Jack Frost. The variety is very popular among gardeners, thanks to beautiful leaves with a silver base and green veins, smoothly turning into green edges. The plant loves moisture, it can be planted in places where water stagnates constantly.
- Mr. Morse. Original large-flowered variety with silver leaves. The main highlight is not blue, but creamy white, fairly large flowers.
Other varieties of brunners are also popular: Lucking glass (with silver dusting on the leaves), Kings Ransom (light gray foliage), Millennium Zilber (there are a lot of white spots on a green background).
Landing Brunners in the open ground
Planting and caring for the Brunner in the open ground will not be difficult even for beginner gardeners, if you follow a few rules.
Time for landing
The optimal period for planting brunners is July-August (after the plant fades). Culture no longer spends energy on flowering and growth, but still has enough resources to adapt and continue development.
Tip. It is not recommended to transplant flowers in the spring - at this time Brunner is very sensitive to changes, it can undergo diseases or pests.
A transplant is best done in the evening or on a cloudy, cold day.
Landing place
The plot for growing is selected depending on the type of brunners. Siberian brunner prefers heavy clay soils, large-leaved - more loose. Culture develops well in shaded places, dries in the sun. It can grow in sunny areas, provided that there is a pond nearby. If the planting site is in a dull shadow, then the plant loses its decorativeness, builds up green mass, does not have time to prepare for winter. In addition, Brunner does not tolerate drafts, it is better to plant it in a territory protected from the wind.
Step-by-step landing process
Brunner's landing and care can be distinguished in the main stages:
- Leaves and peduncles are cut to a level of 1 cm above the soil.
- Carefully digging up the bush along with the rhizome.
- The roots are washed under running water.
- Damaged areas are removed.
- The root is divided along the collapse line (it is important to ensure that at least one kidney is in the divide).
- The soil is dug up, abundantly moistened.
- Wells with a depth of 3-4 cm are prepared at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other.
- Delenki are planted in the holes, sprinkled with soil, slightly tamped, watered abundantly.
Important! Be sure to make sure that during planting the seedling does not go deep into the ground - the root neck must be open, otherwise the plant will begin to rot.
Breeding brunners
Brunner propagation is possible in two ways: by seeds and by dividing the bush:
- Propagation by seed. A fairly painstaking and lengthy process. Seeds ripen in July, they need to be collected and sown in late autumn. During spring sowing, it is necessary to carry out stratification of seeds (store at low temperature) for 3-4 months. Self-sowing brunners often occurs, but young shoots are not always able to fully develop.
- Vegetative propagation (division of the bush). The easiest and most effective way to grow brunner. In addition, most varietal varieties of culture, in particular, variegated brunner, reproduce only vegetatively. At the end of summer, blooming buds are laid for next year - this is the best period for dividing the bush.
Tip. During the division of the rhizome, it is recommended to treat the cut sites with activated carbon - this eliminates the risk of infection of the plant.
Breeding brunners
Brunner care
Forget-me-not Brunner is a surprisingly unpretentious plant, which practically does not need to be taken care of.
Watering mode
Brunner needs watering only after planting and in the hot season, drought. The rest of the time the plant has enough natural moisture, it perfectly accumulates nutrients with the help of roots and leaves.
Top dressing
Brunner practically does not need additional fertilizers and top dressing, especially the Siberian variety. For large-leaved species, compost or humus can be added to the soil at the beginning of spring. Organics contribute to the development of the root system, strengthen the plant. The leaves become larger, the color is bright, expressive.
During flowering
The only treatment that can help the culture during flowering is weeding. This applies to broadleaf brunners - it grows slowly, not aggressively. The Siberian species does not need weed removal.
Important! You can not loosen the soil near the bush - its roots are located close to the surface, they are easily damaged.
During rest
At the end of the flowering stage, dry peduncles and damaged areas are removed. If the summer turned out to be hot, mulching with sawdust is carried out. The leaves of the Siberian brunners dry in the middle of summer, they must be cut so that the plant has a well-groomed appearance when young leaves appear.
Dried leaves
Interesting. Brunner rarely gives in to diseases and pests. But in rainy summer infection with fungal diseases is possible: it is powdery mildew, brown spotting. Bordeaux mixture and phytosporin can come to the rescue.
Brunner disease
Winter preparations
At the end of autumn, you should remove the leaves from the bush (they themselves will not fall off) at a height of 10 cm from the surface. Brunner is winter-hardy, does not need additional shelter. For better preservation, the plant can be mulched with humus, fallen leaves or sawdust.
Mulching Brunners
Brunner will be a wonderful element of alpine hills, paths, multi-tiered flower beds. It goes well with ferns, juniper, hosta, hellebore. Original compositions are created in combination with hyacinth, primrose, astilbe, hydrangea.
