Liriope is a perennial herb with elegant features. It has not yet won the universal love of gardeners, but is steadily gaining popularity. Delicate curtains of cereal-like foliage and bright dense inflorescences will not leave anyone indifferent. And the ease in caring for the lyriope will be a pleasant bonus.
Botanical characteristics
Liriope is allocated in a separate genus of the Liliaceae family. This plant inhabits the expanses of China, Japan, the Philippines and other countries of East Asia. It has a weakly branched, vertically directed rhizome. The root system consists of thin roots covered with small nodules.
The ground part of the lyriope does not exceed 20-70 cm in height. Narrow leaves form a thick, spherical curtain. Rigid foliage has a smooth lateral edge and a pointed end. The leaf plate is saturated green, variegated species are found. The width of the sheet does not exceed 1.5 cm, with a length of about 35 cm.
During the flowering period (from August to October), a loose inflorescence in the form of a panicle or spikelet forms on a dense, erect peduncle. The buds are tubular with a spherical thickening at the end. The opened flowers consist of six wide open oval petals. They are painted in white, lilac, blue, purple and pinkish shades. In the core are protruding bright yellow stamens. Flowers have a faint, pleasant aroma.
In place of each bud, a fruit is tied - a simple two-seeded box. Rounded seeds with a dark rough surface in diameter are 7 mm.
Types of Lyriope
In a small genus lyriope, only a few species of plants can be used for cultivation in culture. Breeders even bred several hybrid varieties so that flower growers could buy a lyriope with the most suitable set of characteristics or make up a diverse composition.
Liriope Muscari. The plant has a vertical rhizome with cones and hard long foliage. Sometimes a longitudinal yellow stripe appears on the leaves. The height of the curtains is 70 cm. Multiple inflorescences are densely covered with white or light purple flowers. Flowering occurs in September-October. Based on this variety, the following varieties are derived:
- thin-flowered - has more loose purple inflorescences;
Fine flowered - motley - yellow stripes appear along the edges of the leaves;
Motley - Big Blue - forms dense lavender inflorescences;
Big blue - Christmas Tree - characterized by wider leaves and bluish flowers;
Christmas tree - Evergreen Giant - frost-resistant variety with white flowers;
Evergreen giant - Gold banded - forms a high curtain with blue-violet flowers and a yellow stripe on the leaves;
Gold banded - Majestic - a shade-tolerant form with shortened leaves and high peduncles;
Majestic - Monroe White - a plant with plain green leaves and white inflorescences;
Monroe white - Royal Purple - Large curtains cover large purple inflorescences.
Royal purple
Liriope spiky. This species tolerates frost better than others. The fibrous superficial root system nourishes wide and thick clumps. The height of the flowering plant is 30-40 cm. The leaves are hard, lanceolate. On shorter, dense peduncles there is a dense paniculate inflorescence. Flowers are painted in silver, light purple or bluish hues.
Liriope is flat-leaved. The plant forms a low (up to 40 cm) clumps with wider, longer foliage. The color of the leaves is green, darker in the center. Peduncles shorter than foliage and densely covered with bright blue-violet flowers.
Breeding methods
Liriope propagated by sowing seeds or dividing the bush. The first method is considered more laborious. In late spring, the seeds collected in the previous year are soaked for a day in water, and then immediately planted in open ground. Shallow grooves are prepared in the garden and they try to place seeds with a distance of 5-10 cm. Later seedlings are thinned out, leaving the strongest plants. The distance should be 30-40 cm.
In early spring, you can divide the overgrown bush into several delenki. The plant easily tolerates this procedure. It is necessary to completely dig out the bush, and cut the root into several parts. In each dividend must remain at least 10 leaves. The plant is planted in shallow pits at a distance of 40 cm from each other. During the rooting period, it is necessary to create a small shadow and regularly water the curtains.
Care Rules
Liriope is unpretentious in nature and does not require special care. It is actively growing and is an excellent groundcover. The plant feels good in the shade and in the bright sun. Variegated forms in the shade can lose their bright colors. It is optimal to choose a bright place with little shading from the midday sun.
Liriope needs regular watering in the summer heat. In cooler weather, irrigation is less common. The plant normally tolerates drought, but may suffer from flooding of the rhizome. Neutral or slightly acid fertile soils with good drainage properties are suitable for planting. It is recommended to add river sand and leaf humus to the hole before planting. For aeration, you must regularly loosen the ground.
During the growing season, it is recommended to make mineral or organic fertilizers twice a month. Before the appearance of flowers, complexes based on nitrogen salts can be used, and during the flowering period, lyriope is fed with compounds with phosphorus and potassium.
Humidity is not very important for curtains. They do not suffer from dry air, but moisture from spraying will not cause problems. For indoor cultivation, it is recommended to spray the leaves weekly and wipe off the dust. Withered flowers need to be trimmed in a timely manner to stimulate the appearance of new peduncles.
2-3 years after planting, the plant needs to be updated. Without this procedure, the thickets gradually dry out and cease to bloom profusely. A large bush is dug up, divided into smaller curtains and planted in a fresh soil mixture.
Liriope winters well in open ground in regions where the temperature does not drop below -15 ° C. In case of slight cold, it is enough to sprinkle the curtain with fallen leaves and spruce branches. Snow cover is already a good shelter and nourishment for the roots. In harsher climates, non-woven fabric is worthwhile.
Possible difficulties
Of the possible diseases, the lyriope can only suffer from root rot with improper watering. It is important to let the water evaporate completely.
Sometimes in succulent dense greenery shelters of hordes of aphids, spider mites, scale insects and slugs find shelter. They are helped by spraying with insecticides, as well as sprinkling soil with ash.
Using
Liriope is highly regarded in landscape design. The plant looks good near paths, trees or along the edge of the flower garden. Low bushes with delicate flowers are suitable for creating dense islets in the garden or as container plantings. It is used in rock gardens or in the vicinity of bright flowering plants.
