Adonis (Adonis), or adonis, is a bright and unusual flower from the Buttercup family. There are about forty species of this plant. Adonis is not entirely popular with gardeners due to the fact that all parts of the flower are poisonous. Therefore, this plant can rarely be found in flower beds, but there are those flower growers who still plant adonis in their garden. This article will talk about the rules for planting and caring for adonis in the open field, and also describe the most popular species and varieties.
Description of the adonis flower
Adonis is a beautiful and extraordinary flower, but poisonous. The stems of the adonis are most often branched and less often ordinary. The leaves have an interesting multiply finger-like shape. The flowers are not large, about 4-6 cm in diameter. The flowers can be red and yellow, the petals shimmer, creating the feeling of a glossy surface.
Growing adonis from seeds
Sowing seeds
The seeds of adonis remain viable for a very short time, therefore, the collected seeds are best planted immediately into the soil to a depth of at least 2 cm.The best time for planting before winter is November, at which time the soil is not frozen yet, and the seeds are well ripe. Purchased seeds should be used exclusively for seedlings. They need to be planted in early March in a greenhouse or create greenhouse conditions using plastic wrap. As a soil, you need to use a mixture of sand, humus and turf soil. Spread the seeds evenly over the soil and sprinkle with soil on top. After planting, abundant watering should be carried out.
Seedlings of adonis
If you create comfortable conditions, then the first shoots will appear in 2 weeks. After that, the film will need to be removed and the seedlings should be placed in a place where there is enough lighting, but there is no direct sunlight. It is also necessary to water every day and after it, carefully, but very carefully, loosen the soil around the seedlings.
Planting adonis in open ground
Spring planting should be done in late April or early May. And autumn planting in August - September. The main thing is that by this time the seedlings have grown up and be strong. For planting adonis, you need to choose a place where the sun is in the morning and shade in the afternoon. In order for the plant to please with a long and abundant flowering, it is necessary to plant it in a drained soil rich in organic matter and lime. The distance between the plants should be at least 30 cm, and the depth of the fossa should be such that the roots fit there without bending. After planting, it is necessary to carry out abundant watering and thoroughly mulch the area around the plant with peat. Adonis grows slowly, so the plant will begin to bloom fully only after 3-4 years.
Caring for adonis in the garden
In order to grow a healthy, strong and abundantly flowering plant, it is necessary to carry out regular and abundant watering. It is impossible to allow the soil to dry completely, it must always be moist. After each watering, the soil must be carefully and carefully loosened. Hilling should also be carried out, which helps to cover the buds located at the base with soil.
The plant should be fed 2 times. In the first half of summer and closer to autumn. It is best to use balanced mineral fertilizer complexes for flowering garden plants as fertilizers.
In order for the young plant to bloom well and the next year, you should not cut the flowers, but you need to let them bring on the plant. This will allow for a couple of years to fully form renewal buds, which in no case should be damaged.
Adonis after flowering
If there is a desire to collect seeds, then it is better to do this when the seeds are not yet fully ripe. Seeds of adonis are not stored; they must be planted a couple after collection.
As for preparing for winter, only young plants need it. Since adult adonis bushes are cold-hardy enough and do not need special shelter. In order for the young seedlings of adonis to survive the winter, after the flowering period is over, it is necessary to insulate the plant with a thick layer of peat and cover it with spruce branches. When the plant is more than two years old, it will no longer be necessary to cover it for the winter.
Reproduction of adonis
Adonis has two methods of reproduction: seedling and dividing the bush. The first of the two was described above, so we will focus on the second method. By dividing the bush, only those plants that are more than 5 years old can be propagated. If there is no need for a transplant, then it is best to use ten-year-old plants. The most suitable time for this breeding method is the first half of September. It is necessary to carefully dig out the roots and divide them so that each part has at least two living buds and roots. The cut site should immediately be thoroughly treated with a disinfectant and immediately start seating. Since adonis grows rather slowly, when dividing the bush, it is necessary to make larger parts in order for the plant to take root faster and to transfer the transplant more easily.
Caring for young bushes is no different from caring for seedlings. But when such young bushes begin to bloom, the inflorescences must be carefully removed so that the plants do not waste energy on flowering, but take root better.
Diseases and pests
Since all parts of the flower are poisonous, it is not attacked by various harmful insects. Diseases are also not scary.
Types and varieties of adonis
There are about forty species and varieties of this plant. They can be both annual and perennial. The most popular types of all known ones will be described below.
Summer Adonis (Adonis aestivalis), or "ember on fire" - an annual species of adonis. Stems are more often straight, occasionally branched, in height they can reach up to 50 cm. The leaves are sessile in the upper part, and in the lower part, on petioles, two or three lobes. Flowers grow up to 3 cm in diameter, single. The flowering period of this species lasts from June to the end of August.
Autumn adonis (Adonis annua), or one-year adonis (Adonis automnalis) - an annual plant, its stems reach no more than 30 cm in length. The leaves are thin and cut into lobes. The flowers are not large, no more than 2 cm in diameter. The petals are closed at the tips and have either a red color, turning almost black towards the center, or pale yellow. Blooms from June to August.
Adonis volzhsky (Adonis volgensis) - a perennial plant with strong and thick brown roots. Branched stems grow no more than 30 cm in height. Stems leaves are omitted. The leaves are dissected into linear-lanceolate parts and their edges are lowered down. The flowers themselves are pale yellow in color, and the sepals have a purple hue.
Amur Adonis (Adonis amurensis) - this type of adonis is perennial. Before the onset of the flowering period, it grows no more than 12 cm in height. Dissected petiolate leaves. The flowers are large enough, up to 5 cm in diameter and have a bright yellow color, bloom before the leaves appear. After the leaves open, the height of the plant will increase significantly and become at least 30 cm. The most popular varieties of this type:
- Benten - fringed snow-white flowers.
- Sandanzaki - bright yellow flowers with greenish petals in the middle, semi-double.
- Hinomoto is a variety with interesting colors. The flower petals have a red-orange tint, and the outside is bronze-green.
- Pleniflora - double flowers of a yellow-green hue.
- Ramosa - red-brown double flowers.
Siberian Adonis (Adonis sibirica), or Apennine Adonis (Adonis apennina) - a perennial plant that can reach a height of 60 cm. Feathery leaves. The flowers are bright yellow and large, up to 6 cm in diameter. The plant is early flowering, since the first flowers appear in May.
Fluffy Adonis (Adonis villosa) - perennial with a strong and short brown rhizome. Before the leaves bloom and flowering begins, single stems are no more than 15 cm long, but with the appearance of the first leaves, they gradually increase to 30 cm in length. Leaves are oval, double-pinnate. The flowers are pale yellow in color.
Adonis golden (Adonis chrysocyathus) - this perennial is not only decorative, but also medicinal. This type of adonis is listed in the international Red Book.
Adonis Turkestan (Adonis turkestanicus) - medicinal perennial. All parts of the flower are covered with small hairs. The flowers are yellow-orange on the inside and bluish on the outside, about 6 cm in diameter. This species has a peculiarity that it simultaneously combines full-fledged flowers, ovaries and buds.
Adonis Mongolian (Adonis mongolica) - leaves of this species are basal. The flowers can be up to 5 cm in diameter. The petals are white, and the sepals have an unusual greenish color with a purple tint.
Spring Adonis (Adonis vernalis) - both decorative and medicinal perennial. The rhizome is thick, short and strong. Branched stems. At first, the stems grow no more than 20 cm, but with the appearance of leaves they stretch up to forty. The leaves have a serrate-split shape with narrow lobes. The flowers are up to 7 cm in diameter. The petals are glossy and bright yellow. This kind of bloom only 4-6 years after planting. Flowering begins in late April and lasts no longer than two weeks.
