Meadow geranium: description of varieties and cultivation features

Meadow geranium is a refined delicate plant with blue, violet, blue, lilac and pink flowers. Having met a clearing with geraniums in a meadow, it is impossible to take an enthusiastic look away from it. Not only fragile inflorescences are good, but also patterned carved leaves on graceful stems. The plant loves an abundance of light, except for fields and meadows, it can be found in sunny forest glades, forest edges, in the vastness of rural landscapes.

The plant belongs to the geranium family, loves moist and moderately moist soils. Depending on the saturation of the soil cover, it grows in height from 20 to 80 centimeters. The root system is strong, the stems are erect, cross-pollinated. Geranium blooms in June and July and bears fruit in August and September. Its fruits contain seeds and look like the beak of a crane, which is why the grass is popularly called the crane. Geranium is translated from Greek - "crane", but the Bulgarians gave the plant the name "health resort" for its healing properties.

Geranium as a medicine has been actively used since the 16th century. Grass harvested during flowering and rhizomes harvested in autumn are used as raw materials. Modern chemists have discovered a number of useful trace elements in the composition of the plant, vitamin K, keratin, essential oils, ascorbic acid.

The tannin content in dried rhizomes is 30%, in grass - 15%. It is this tannic acid that gives the tea, which we are so accustomed to drinking, astringency and aroma. Tannin is valuable for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and hemostatic properties; it removes heavy metal salts and toxins from the body. Thus, the fragile graceful flower turned out to be a real "doctor" by nature.

On the basis of meadow geranium, garden varieties of this plant were bred, a description of which is given in the text. Planting and caring for them is the same, you can choose any variety you like and safely plant on your site.

• "Purple Birds". A beautiful and completely unpretentious, frost-resistant plant, the height of which reaches one meter. It has a large lush flower from 7 to 10 centimeters in diameter. Forms voluminous bushes. It can be planted as a single plant or planted with other flowers in the flower bed as a companion. In any case, she will delight with her bright blue and purple inflorescences all summer - from June to September.

• "Hocus Pocus". Photophilous and moisture-loving perennial plant with a shortened rhizome. The flowers are purple with a lavender tint, the herbaceous part of the plant is a rich dark purple tone. Geranium reaches 40 centimeters in height, blooms in June-July in a lush bush, but not always stable. Propagated by dividing the bush after flowering.

• "Laura". A very beautiful perennial plant with full white inflorescences and delicate leaves. With its delicate charm, geraniums are completely unpretentious. In the wild, it can be found in meadows, in the mountains, along the banks of reservoirs and rivers. The plant forms small neat bushes.

• Splish splash. Bushy perennial with a shortened rhizome.Has wide-open large inflorescences of lilac-white or bluish-white interspersed on the petals. Used in mixborders and for single landings.

• "Purple gost". The name translates to purple ghost. It is a rare, amazing variety with beautifully carved chocolate-purple leaves that contrast with the delicate white flowers. Geranium grows up to 50 centimeters high, pleases with flowering from June to October.

When choosing a place for geraniums, you should know that it needs space and grows well. The plant loves fertile, slightly acidic soils. Most varieties prefer sunny locations, allow for a little shade and moderate humidity, and only a few species will agree to live in dry, shaded conditions.

When planting geraniums, good drainage of the soil should be taken into account so that there is no stagnation of sedimentary water. Do not overdo it with watering during care.

Consider each step of growing geraniums:

• first choose a suitable place, and are determined over time;
• the garden bed is dug up and loosened together with the compost;
• at a distance of 30-50 cm, make as many indentations as prepared seedlings;
• each seedling is set vertically, covered with earth and lightly tamped;
• gently watered geraniums, trying to get under the stem, and not on the herbaceous part of the plant.

The plant is unpretentious, but if you take care of it, it will thank you with lush and long flowering.

There is nothing new to add to watering. The crane loves moderate humidity, which means that you need to make sure that the earth does not dry out, but stagnant water should not be allowed... It is better not to spray indoor geranium from sprayers, but to gently water the roots.

Despite the fact that meadow geranium is a wild beauty, the neighborhood with weeds will not do it good. It should be weeded, like any other garden culture. It is best to do this in May, when the plants are not yet overgrown with active foliage.

After the growing season, dry shoots should be removed to allow young shoots to emerge in the spring. Geranium can winter well, and does not need shelter. But some gardeners still remove it from open ground and hang it up for the winter, choosing places on verandas or in sheds where the air temperature does not exceed + 8.15 degrees. In winter, they make sure that the roots do not dry out, they are periodically moistened.

You can plant geraniums in different ways: using cuttings, seeds or shoots. But it is most convenient to divide the plant. This method is used when the crane grows and it is time to replant it. The soil in the new site is prepared in advance, dug up, loosened and fed.

Seeds are more difficult to grow, they should be soaked in advance on a damp cloth. When they begin to hatch, they are seated in peat glasses, sand and humus are added to the soil. Not all seeds can sprout, so they are placed in one glass from 2 to 5 pieces. The planted containers are placed on the sunny side and covered with cellophane.

To plant geraniums with shoots, circular cuts are made in advance, several weeks in advance. Separated from the mother bush, the shoots take root well and begin to grow on their own.

The crane is planted with cuttings in spring or autumn, at the same time the plant is pruned. For planting cuttings, you should choose a sunny, well-heated place. Potash fertilizers will help the plant quickly take root and please with active flowering in the future.

The most common cause of plant disease is excessive moisture, if the air temperature is quite warm, pathogenic microbes and other parasites begin to multiply. The crane is susceptible to various types of diseases.

1. Rot. This is a fungal disease that affects the root system. The affected plant is covered with a light bloom and looks like it is covered with cobwebs.
2. Mushroom Botrytis. Geranium weakens and wilts, brown spots form on the stems, and partial death of the cover is observed on the leaves.
3. Bacterial infections... The reason is the multiplication of microbes in conditions of warm humidity. Leaves become stained and begin to dry from the edge. When the processes are running, the plant loses all its foliage and withers.
4. Viral diseases... The crane infects the viral flora. The plant becomes stained, stops growing and eventually withers.
5. Edema... The bubbles with liquid on the herbaceous part of the geranium resemble edema. When it bursts, the affected area takes on a brown tint. The diseased plant turns yellow and wilts. The disease can affect him while staying in conditions of high humidity and low temperatures.
6. Pests that attack geraniums include aphids, whiteflies and spider mites. Persistent heat can lead to infestations of parasites. A diseased plant should be actively washed with an aspirin solution (one tablet per 8 liters of liquid), then treated with insecticide preparations.

As a medicinal raw material in a crane, everything is valuable: grass together with flowers and rhizome. But they should be collected at different times. The ground part is cut off during the flowering period, when the plant sends all its useful properties to flowers and young leaves.

Rhizomes are harvested in spring or autumn, when geranium withers and does not spend more energy on maintaining fresh greenery, but concentrates all its beneficial properties in the root system.

For the use, alternative methods of treatment and contraindications to the use of meadow geranium, see below.