The Volzhanka plant, also known as Aruncus, is a member of the Rosaceae family. The genus includes ornamental shrubs growing in the temperate climate of the Northern Hemisphere.
The bush got its scientific name because of the shape of oblong inflorescences. It can be translated as "goatee". The plant is also sometimes called tavolzhnik, and sometimes confused with astilba, which has similar inflorescences.
Volzhanka can play many roles in decorating a garden - its bushes can add picturesqueness to even the most inconspicuous corner. Another feature of Volzhanka is its tangible pleasant aroma of honey. To enjoy it to the fullest, many plant such bushes near resting places.
Description of Volzhanka
Volzhanki are herbaceous perennials with beautiful foliage and lush inflorescences. Depending on the variety, the height of such bushes can be from 20 cm to 2 m. The width of an adult plant is from half a meter to 1.2 m. Volzhanka has strong straight shoots. Its roots are shallow and highly branched. As the bush develops, they begin to gradually grow stiff and spread in width. Depending on the size of the rhizome, the shape of the bush also changes. Short-rooted species have more densely spaced shoots. Long-rhizome varieties are capable of creating thickets.
Volzhanok foliage has a complex pinnately dissected structure and a jagged edge. The leaf is dense and quite tough to the touch. The foliage is dark green. Each leaf blade is located on a long petiole and lacks stipules.
During the flowering period, long peduncles up to 60 cm high appear on the bush. Inflorescences are panicles located at the tops of the shoots. Small dioecious flowers are located on them. They are usually cream or white in color. It depends on the variety, as well as on the type of flowers. The time of appearance of inflorescences most often falls on the end of June and lasts about a month. During the flowering period, the bushes exude a pleasant strong smell and attract pollinators.
On the faded Volzhanka, leaflet fruits are tied, including many small seeds.
Brief rules for growing Volzhanka
The table shows brief rules for growing Volzhanka in the open field.
| Landing | The optimal time for planting a plant is in spring (late April - early May) or autumn (September). |
| Lighting level | Slightly shaded areas of the garden are best suited for growing. |
| Watering mode | The bushes are moisture-loving, and they should be watered often and in large quantities. |
| The soil | Bushes are undemanding to the choice of soil, and are able to grow well on both light and heavy soils. |
| Top dressing | During the season, the flowers are fed twice, in spring and autumn. You can use complex mineral compounds or organics. |
| Bloom | Flowering usually begins in late spring or early summer and lasts about a month. |
| Pruning | After flowering, dried inflorescences should be removed. |
| Reproduction | Seeds, cuttings, dividing the bush. |
| Pests | Sawfly caterpillars. |
| Diseases | The plant is resistant to various diseases. |
Planting Volzhanka in open ground
Seat selection
Volzhanka grows best in slightly shaded corners of the garden, where the soil contains a sufficient amount of moisture. Planting in an open place is also permissible, but too strong sun exposure can lead to the fading of foliage - from dark green it risks turning into yellowish. In addition, in the sun, the growth rate of Volzhankas may decrease. The only exceptions are bright corners with moist and fertile soil. At the same time, in a shady corner, flowering will come at least a week later than usual.
The optimal place for a bush is considered to be a corner under the canopy of trees with a thin crown, as well as areas near the garden reservoir. A draft should not fall on the bushes, and protection from strong winds will not be superfluous.
Bushes are undemanding to the choice of soil, and are able to grow well on both light and heavy soils. The main condition is the fertility of the substrate, its deep processing and moisture content. In order for the bushes to develop more actively, you can mulch the area near them with chips or peat. This will allow water to evaporate from the ground more slowly, and the bushes will receive additional nutrition.
Landing features
So that the Volzhanka can grow for a long time in the chosen place and not lose its decorative effect, you should choose the most suitable corner for it in advance. Such plants do not like transplants. So that the bushes do not conflict with neighbors for nutrients, it is necessary to ensure that at least half a meter remains from Volzhanki to other plants. So that the foliage of the bushes does not fade, and burns do not appear on it, protection of plantings from the scorching sun should be provided.
When planting Volzhanka, you need to assess the quality of the soil. If the soil on the site itself is very fertile, you can add a little fertilizer to the hole when planting - it can be humus (about 2 kg) or nitrophoska (30 g) mixed with the soil. After that, Volzhanka can not be fed throughout the season. Before planting, it is also recommended to completely fill the hole with water, and place the seedling in it only after the moisture has been absorbed. The roots are straightened, covered with earth, lightly tamped, and then watered again.
Young Volga women will need more careful care, this will allow them to quickly take root and get stronger.
Volzhanka care
Growing Volzhanka is not very difficult, this plant is quite unpretentious. But you cannot leave the bushes completely without leaving, otherwise it may have a bad effect on the decorativeness of the plantings.
Watering
The bushes are moisture-loving, and they should be watered often and in large quantities - up to 4 buckets of water per adult plant. Due to the rapid growth of foliage and its large amount, Volzhanka quickly deplete its moisture reserves, and a lack of water can significantly affect the appearance of the bushes - their foliage can begin to curl. After watering, it is necessary to carefully loosen the soil near the plantings, and also remove weeds. It is believed that the soil should be moistened most abundantly in spring.
Top dressing
Volzhanka women are responsive to organic additives. When planting bushes, you can immediately add humus or compost to the hole. Volzhanka is fed twice during the season, in spring and autumn. You can use complex minerals or organic matter, but an excess of nitrogen can force the bushes to actively develop foliage rather than flowers. After flowering, fertilizing with a potassium-phosphorus composition should be carried out, then it is good to water the bushes and mulch the area next to them with sawdust, needles or peat up to 5 cm thick.
Pruning
Volzhanka does not need shaping pruning, but after flowering, wilted inflorescences should be removed from it. This will give the landings a neater look. In autumn, the aboveground part of the plants should be cut off, leaving only hemp up to 5 cm in height.
Wintering
With the onset of winter, the shoots of the Volzhanka die off, and in the spring they develop again from the rhizomes. Such plants are considered very winter-hardy, therefore they do not require significant preparation for the cold.
Only the youngest bushes of Volzhanka, which were planted in the autumn, will need shelter for the winter. Such plants are considered insufficiently strong and more susceptible to frost. For the winter, they are covered with a layer of peat or humus, spruce branches or other dense covering material are used. Adult specimens will not need shelter - Volzhanka's frost resistance is very high, but at the risk of little snow and too frosty winter, they can also be slightly covered.
Rejuvenation
Volzhanka can be grown in one corner of the garden for about 20 years, but from time to time, the bushes should still be rejuvenated. To do this, in the spring, while the plants are still dormant, their rhizomes are divided and planted in new holes. Without such a procedure, the inflorescences gradually begin to shrink, and the bush grows, forming more foliage than flowers.
Volzhanka breeding methods
Reproduction by dividing the bush
Dividing the bush allows you to get flowering plants much earlier, so this method of reproduction is practiced more often. In addition, it allows you to simultaneously rejuvenate old plantings.
The bushes should be divided in the spring, before the sap flow begins. For this, adult specimens from 5 to 7 years old are used. The rhizomes of older bushes begin to grow stiff, and it will be much more difficult to divide them. The selected volzhanka is removed from the ground and divided with a sharp instrument so that a pair of kidneys falls on each part. Delenki must also have good roots. Sections must be sprinkled with ash, coal powder or sulfur, and then immediately planted in the prepared hole.
If you can't get a large bush out of the ground, you can divide it right in the ground, cutting it with a sharp shovel. After that, it remains only to pull it out of the ground in parts.
Pits with a depth and diameter of up to 40 cm are suitable for delenki. Humus must be added to each. A distance is maintained between the bushes, the value of which depends on the size of the given type of bush. The planted cuttings are well watered. The division procedure can be carried out in the second half of spring, before flowering begins, or in early autumn, after its end. It is not worth dividing the bushes too late - otherwise they may not have time to take root until the cold weather. Divided plants usually bloom the next season.
Cuttings
If Volzhanka is propagated by cuttings, the tops of the shoots are used for this. Their length should be about 15 cm. Cuttings are cut with a sharp instrument. For rooting, they can be placed in water, planted in a container with wet sand or in a greenhouse, monitoring the moisture level of the substrate. Cuttings can be harvested during the summer.
Growing from seeds
Along with division, its seeds can also be used for breeding Volzhanka, but this method is rarely practiced. The main difficulty of such reproduction is not looking after the seedlings, but collecting the seed. The female specimens of the flowers form brownish dust-sized seeds. To collect them, the inflorescences should be cut and tidied up in a paper or polyethylene bag, keeping dry until the seeds are completely dry. If you shake a dry inflorescence, the seeds will fall out of it themselves.
Sowing is carried out in the first half of autumn, before the arrival of frost. The seeds are placed in boxes filled with loose and fertile soil. Due to their small size, they are distributed superficially, carefully watered and the seedlings are placed in a bright corner. Crops do not need to be stratified. In the southern regions, you can sow Volzhanka for the winter - such seeds should germinate in early spring.
When the sprouts have a pair of leaf plates, they are dived into the beds, maintaining a distance between the bushes of about 10-15 cm.The next spring they are transplanted again, increasing the distance. The Volzhanka obtained in this way should bloom for 3-4 years of cultivation.
Along with autumn sowing, spring sowing can also be carried out - at the beginning of the season, seeds are also sown in boxes or, after waiting for April, they are sown directly on the beds. The seedlings are transferred to the garden when they are properly grown. Sometimes bushes can self-seed.
Diseases and pests
Volzhanka is very resistant to diseases and pests, and only sometimes the sawfly caterpillars can spoil the foliage.
Types and varieties of Volzhanka with photos and names
Volzhanka ordinary (Aruncus dioicus)
Either Volzhanka is dioecious, or Aruncus is dioecious. This species lives in the forests of the Caucasus and on the European territory of Russia. Aruncus dioicus has short rhizomes and forms bushes with strong shoots up to 2 m tall. The growth rate of this species is low, and it does not immediately form large bushes.
The plumose foliage has a rich green color. Inflorescences are large panicles up to 60 cm long. They are made up of white or cream flowers. Flowering begins in the second half of June and lasts about 2-3 weeks. Women's flowers are snow-white in color and are looser, while men's flowers are cream-colored. Seed ripening occurs in September. The species has a tart, but pleasant smell, to which insects flock. Common varieties include:
- Kneifi - bushes about 60 cm high with drooping dissected foliage.
- Perfection - a miniature variety, whose bushes only reach 20 cm in height. The inflorescences are colored white.
- Horatio - medium-sized bushes up to 70 cm tall. The stems have a characteristic reddish tint.
- Fountains - two-meter bushes with beautiful openwork foliage.
- Misty Lace - the height of the bushes of this variety reaches 70 cm. The foliage resembles fern leaves, and the flowers are cream-colored.
American Volzhanka (Aruncus americanus)
Such Volzhanka can be found not only in North America, but also in Siberia and the Far Eastern region. Aruncus americanus reaches a height of 1.1 m and has a longer rhizome. The species is distinguished by rapid growth rates - in a year, the rhizome is able to add about 7 cm in length. The foliage has a double or triple feathery structure and is located on strong petioles. The flowers are light, forming lush panicles up to 40 cm long. Flowering occurs in May or June, and the seeds ripen by the end of summer. Popular varieties:
- Waldemar Meyer - forms bushes of half a meter in height with dark green shiny foliage and white-pink flowers.
- Johannisfest - plant height reaches 40 cm, foliage is slightly pubescent, and inflorescences are slightly curved. The color of the flowers is creamy pink.
Volzhanka Kamchatka (Aruncus kamtschaticus)
Frost-resistant and undemanding look, well suited for the middle lane. Aruncus kamtschaticus reaches from half a meter to one and a half meters in height. It has narrow oval or slightly rounded leaf blades with a double pinnate arrangement. The diameter of the inflorescences reaches 20 cm, they appear in mid-July.
Volzhanka kokoryshelistnaya (Aruncus aethusifolius)
This species forms low (only up to 30 cm) bushes, due to which it is quite common in horticulture. Aruncus aethusifolius has dense glossy leaf blades of a deep green color, which turns reddish by autumn, and then - bronze. The panicles are pale cream colored. Due to the small size of the shoots, they are short in length. Flowering lasts about a couple of weeks and usually occurs in July. This species does not need feeding; it grows best on moist soil near water bodies.
This species has a particularly popular variety, "Noble Spirit", which has a height of up to 25 cm. It is notable for more lush panicles formed by white and cream flowers.Sometimes these Volzhankids are grown as container plants or used as curbs.
Asian Volzhanka (Aruncus asiaticus)
The species is a spreading bushes up to 2 m tall. Aruncus asiaticus has light green tough foliage. The inflorescences are formed by very small flowers, but this feature does not affect the decorative effect of the bush. The length of the panicles reaches 40 cm, they appear from June to July. Due to the frost resistance of the species, such a volzhanka will definitely not need shelter. In addition, these plants are considered edible - their soaked stems are used in various dishes.
Volzhanka in landscape design
Even after the end of the flowering wave, the elegant green foliage allows the plantings to remain decorative throughout the season, so the bushes will not need masking after flowering. Lush bushes allow Volzhanki to be used as single plantings.
Low-growing varieties can be planted in flower beds and in flower beds, as well as decorate rock gardens and rockeries with them.
The most sprawling varieties, which require a lot of free space, are grown in the middle or upper tier of a mixborder, as well as as a background plant. Group plantings of Volzhankas can form a semblance of a green hedge. Sometimes volzhanka bushes mask fences or other not very decorative parts of the garden. Sprawling bushes successfully hide them from sight.
Volzhanka combines well with other plants, both tall and smaller. It has similar foliage to astilba, but the leaf blades of Volzhanka are larger and dull. At the same time, astilba blooms longer. Other ornamental shrubs - cotoneaster, spirea, barberry - can also keep the Volzhanka good company.
Many varieties of this plant are able to grow well on the northern side of the garden, in shady places. In such corners, next to the bushes, hosta, fern and delphinium will look no less impressive. If you plant a Volzhanka on a hill, the undersized species surrounding such a flower bed will help complement the landscape. But when planting a young bush with a group of other plants, it should be remembered that Volzhanka can gradually grow and begin to shade its neighbors.
Suspended dry panicles of Volzhanka inflorescences can be used to create herbariums or dry bouquets. To do this, choose inflorescences with fully opened flowers, after which they are placed in a container without water or suspended to dry in a ventilated corner. If you use the inflorescences for a regular cut, they will only be able to stand in the water for a few days.
