Gatzania is a beautifully flowering herbaceous plant from the Aster family. His homeland is South Africa and North Australia. At the same time, the flower develops well in any garden with a sufficient amount of heat and sun. Gatzania is also known as African Chamomile and Midday Gold. They reflect its appearance and ability to unfold under the midday sun. Large bright flowers of various shades of pink and yellow with a colorful pattern on the petals are very attractive. Therefore, every year the plant is increasingly planted in flower beds and in parks.
Botanical Description
Gatzania is a herbaceous perennial plant with a rod rhizome. Its flexible, creeping stems weakly branch and rise; they have a tubular structure. The height of the shoot does not exceed 30 cm. Foliage and stems are covered with felt silver pile. Although they are fairly dense, they break easily. Milky juice is secreted at the break.
Sedentary leaves 20-35 cm long are arranged alternately. They have a lanceolate shape. The smooth front is bright green or dark green. On the back, thick pubescence gives the sheet a silver color. A relief central vein is visible along the entire length of the leaf. Before flowering on the bushes appear dissected at the ends of leaves.
Gatsaniya blooms in June-August, 3.5 months after sowing. Single large inflorescences-baskets bloom on a long smooth peduncle. They consist of one row of pointed petals and a lush core, in which are tubular and reed flowers. A characteristic feature is a dark contrasting spot at the base of the petals. Flowers open only in clear weather. On cloudy days, as well as in the evening, the petals close. Moreover, they not only close above the core, but also fold along the central axis. The diameter of the inflorescences reaches 9-12 cm.
Petals are painted in white, pink, red, yellow, orange. They are monophonic or contain vertical stripes. Under favorable conditions, flowers will succeed each other throughout the year. At the same time, up to 35 flowers can be revealed on a large bush. After pollination, the fruits ripen - hairy achenes with crest. Black and white linear seeds 6-12 mm long end with a small white tuft.
Types of gatzania
The genus gatzania unites more than 40 species of plants. Although among gardeners, hybrid varieties are more popular, which differ in bright color and size of inflorescence, the shape of the leaves and the size of the shoots.
Gatsaniya harsh. Perennial plant with a flexible, lodging stem. It grows up to 30 cm in height and is covered with dark green dissected leaves. In summer, baskets with a diameter of 4-6 cm open. In the center are bright yellow and brown-black flowers, which are surrounded by linear pointed petals of white, pink, brown or yellow.
Gatsaniya longshot. An annual plant with linear, pubescent leaflets. In August, long peduncles with single yellow-brown flowers with a diameter of up to 7 cm grow at the ends of the stems.
Gatsaniya hybrid. A group of plants with high decorative properties. Close to the ground, a rather thick rosette of leaves with a silvery felt pile is formed. Bright yellow-orange or pink flowers in diameter reach 9 cm. An intricate pattern and a dark ring at the core are visible on the surface of the petals. Varieties:
- Tiger - a low plant with dark green feathery leaves and large inflorescences, covered with yellow and orange stripes;
- The triad is a varietal group that blossoms inflorescences up to 12 cm in diameter with wide monophonic petals of yellow, bronze-red, orange and white flowers, which are surrounded by dense gray-green leaves.
Breeding methods
In temperate climates, even perennial gatsaniya is often grown as an annual, so seed propagation at home is most acceptable. So that in the garden gatsaniya soon bloomed, the seeds are sown for seedlings in mid-March-April. To do this, prepare deep containers with loose fertile soil of weak acidity. Sufficiently large seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil with a distance of 2-3 cm and sprinkled with a small amount of earth. The surface is sprayed from a spray bottle and covered with a transparent material.
Seedlings are grown in a bright place at a temperature of + 18 ... + 20 ° C. Ventilate and spray the soil daily. Seeds germinate within 10-15 days. In a deep container, seedlings can be grown without picking, but in a shallow container, the procedure is necessary, otherwise the long core root will bend and growth will slow down. The pick is carried out in peat pots, with which they then plant gatsaniya in the garden.
In mid-May, seedlings begin to harden and lower the temperature to + 12 ... + 16 ° C. During the day, you can take the plants outside, but carefully protect them from drafts.
Large bushes of perennials can be propagated vegetatively. The lateral process with several leaves should be cut off as close to the base as possible. The slice is treated with “Kornevin” and the cuttings are planted in a small pot with loose moist soil. The cuttings are regularly sprayed and kept under intense diffused lighting. The roots appear after 1-1.5 months, after which you can transplant young gatzany in the open ground or in a larger pot.
Planting and plant care
In the open field, plants are selected a well-lit area without drafts or strong gusts of wind. Gatsaniya can be planted in the garden when the weather is warm and sunny (end of May, June). When transplanting, it is important to be careful not to damage the root, so it is better to plant flowers with peat pots.
The soil should be light and nutritious. Before planting it is dug up into the ground and, if necessary, sand and compost are introduced. The proximity of groundwater to the plant is contraindicated. The distance between plantings in the garden should be about 20 cm.
Gatzania is a flower for lazy gardeners. She barely needs care. Plants tolerate drought well, so watering will be needed only with prolonged absence of rainfall. In open ground, a long core root allows gatting to extract water from a great depth, but plants need to be watered more often in containers. In this case, the portion of water should be small. It is also necessary to empty the pallet in a timely manner.
Not many weeds get along with gatsaniyu, so weeding will not have to be done often. But neglect this event is not worth it. Once a month, you need to loosen the ground and pull out the weeds.
Monthly planting is watered with a solution of mineral fertilizer with a high content of potassium and phosphorus. On poor soils, top dressing during flowering is carried out twice as often.
Although not often, but florists may have a problem that gatsaniya does not bloom. The main reason for this is insufficient lighting. Usually 3.5 months pass from sowing to the first flower. During this period, it is necessary to provide a long daylight hours and several hours of direct sunlight. If necessary, use phytolamps. It is recommended to cut off wilted inflorescences in a timely manner so that the gatzans do not waste strength on their nutrition. Soon a new bud will open in place of the dried flower.
In the open ground with cooling, gatsaniya dies. The site is dug up, and all vegetation is destroyed. In the spring, the flower garden is filled with new seedlings. In autumn, gatsaniya from the garden can be dug up and transplanted into containers that are taken to the loggia or to the room. Indoor temperature should not fall below + 10 ° C. If the plants have enough light, flowering will continue even in winter. Otherwise, the buds will cease to appear, but a lush bush of greenery will remain.
Possible difficulties
In a sunny area with loose, well-drained soil, gatsaniya does not get sick. But when water stagnates, the roots can suffer from rot. To save plants in this case is almost impossible. It is necessary to destroy the diseased shoots so that the disease does not spread.
Gatsaniya practically does not suffer even near the parasite-infected plant. Only sometimes slugs, spider mites or aphids settle on it. After treatment with an insecticide, the pests quickly disappear.
Gatzany in landscape design
Gatzania is great for decorating the foreground of a flower garden, decorating borders and balconies in container landings. This undersized plant is also suitable for alpine hills. It has a very long flowering period and forms a dense green mass that completely hides the ground. Multi-colored little suns make the garden colorful and attract the eyes of passers-by.
Gatsaniya goes well with Iberis, blue ageratum, arctotis, lobelia. It can be planted in the middle of a green lawn, creating a variety of ornaments and multi-colored designs from flowers of different colors.
