Fassen's cattleman and his cultivation

Catnip is a beautiful and unusual plant that is found in different parts of the world. The flower can be grown both outdoors and indoors. Anyone can grow this unpretentious plant.

Fassen's Catnip is also popularly known as catnip. This is due to the fact that cats like the scent of the plant very much. It acts on them in the same way as valerian.

This flower variety was bred by crossing two other catnip species. The hybrid took the best from them. The plant has good winter hardiness. Therefore, it can be grown even in cold or arid regions.

The flower grows to a height of 25-45 centimeters. Its foliage is grayish green. Its appearance resembles lemon balm leaves. If you pick them off and rub them between your fingers, you can feel a rich, pleasant aroma. Catnip foliage can be used in cooking or making cat toys.

The flowers of this plant are white, blue or lavender. Catnip inflorescences are elongated. The flowering period usually lasts from June to August. But, if the faded shoots are removed in time, the plant may well bloom again. The buds at this time will look no less beautiful.

After flowering, small fruits appear on the bushes, resembling smooth nuts. The seeds can be harvested and used to breed catnip.

Over the past few years, many varieties of this plant have been bred. The most popular are the following.

1. Select Blue. This variety of catnip has large buds. The shade of the inflorescences is blue-purple. They retain their attractiveness throughout the summer season.

• Six Hills Giant, or Six Hills Giant. The variety called "Giant of the Six Hills" is distinguished by its height. It blooms until mid-July. Its buds are large and bright. Therefore, the variety looks very beautiful in any flower bed.

• Blue Wonder. This is a dwarf flower variety. The plant grows up to 20 centimeters in height. His flowers are bright blue.

• Walkers Low (Walker`s Low). This plant blooms a little longer than others. Its buds are lavender. They are located on shoots almost half a meter high. The flower looks spectacular and beautiful.

• Junior Walker (Junior Walker). It resembles lavender with its lilac-blue inflorescences. It grows in height up to 40 centimeters. Smells very nice.

• "Pursian Blue", or "Pearson Blue" (Purrsian Blue). Looks impressive due to the rounded "caps" collected from dense purple-blue inflorescences. Plant height - 35-45 cm.

• "Kit kat" or "Kit kat" (Kit Cat). Low - only 35 cm. "Sprinkled" with numerous lavender-blue flowers. The flowering period is from June to September.

• "Dropmore" (Dropmore). A very compact plant, 25-30 cm tall. The flowers are bright blue, panicle inflorescences.

An unpretentious plant can be grown in most areas. But if the gardener wants to achieve a lush flowering of the bushes, they should be planted in a sunny place. The soil on the site should be light and dry. If water constantly stagnates in the flower bed, the roots of the plant can rot. Tomatoes and cucumbers are good predecessors for catnip.

Before planting the catnip, the site must be dug up and cleaned of weeds. Humus or compost must be embedded in the soil. This will greatly improve the appearance of the plants.

The gardener does not have to spend a lot of time caring for this flower. Catnip agrotechnics consists of the following activities.

1. Watering... The plant easily tolerates exposure to high temperatures. The flower does not need regular watering. Therefore, it is worth irrigating the land next to the bush only during a period of prolonged heat. In other cases, strong soil moisture can lead to the death of the flower. For watering flowers, use warm, settled water. It is better to water the flowers in the early morning or late evening. Water must be poured at the root, trying not to touch the foliage.
2. Loosening... After rain or watering, the soil next to the stems of the plants can become covered with a dense crust. Therefore, from time to time, the soil needs to be loosened. Thanks to this procedure, moisture and nutrients will flow faster to the plant roots. During loosening, it is important to clear the area of ​​weeds. They are usually sent to a compost heap or used to mulch an area.
3. Top dressing... In general, the herbaceous plant does not need any additional feeding. It can react negatively to fertilization. Therefore, it is worth bringing them into the soil only if the land on the site is too poor. Then, after the first flowering or pruning, the plant can be fed with a complex mineral fertilizer or fermented chicken infusion. In this case, the bush will bloom more magnificently the next time. Fertilizing flowers is usually combined with watering them.
4. Pruning... In summer, plants need pruning. The catnip is growing very quickly. Therefore, if you ignore this procedure, the flower will look messy. After the end of flowering, the shoots are also cut off. This helps the plant to survive the winter without any problems. In addition, in this case, the catnip will not reproduce by self-seeding. Before pruning plants, garden tools must be disinfected - otherwise there is a risk of infecting the flowers with some kind of disease. The cut parts of the plant do not have to be thrown away. If there is a need to propagate a catnip, green shoots can be used as planting material. Some gardeners dry them, put them in paper bags and use them as a seasoning or flavoring additive to tea. You can store dried catnip for 1.5-2 years.
5. Transfer... To make the perennial catnip always look beautiful, it is transplanted every 4-5 years. This helps to quickly rejuvenate the bush. It is quite simple to transplant a flower. The plant must be carefully dug out, while being careful not to damage its roots. Further, the area where the flower will be planted needs to be dug well. The soil should be loose and light. Several holes need to be dug in the chosen place. Flowers are placed in them. Next, their roots are carefully sprinkled with soil. The earth is carefully tamped and watered with warm water. The transplanted plant takes root quickly enough.

Since the shrub is frost-resistant, it is not necessary to prepare it for wintering - it is enough to cover the flower with a layer of snow after the first snowfall, which will serve as a good protection from frost.

It is very easy to propagate a catnip at home. This is done in four main ways.

Sowing seeds in open ground can be carried out both in autumn and spring. In the first case, seedlings will appear in the next April, in the second, the appearance of green shoots should be expected in 10-15 days..

• Seeds can be sown in rows or in continuous carpet. The second planting method involves subsequent thinning. This process doesn't take too long.
• Planting depth should be between 1-1.5 cm.
• In order for the plants to germinate at the same time, it is recommended to mix the seeds with sand or peat before sowing. This should be done in a 1: 2 ratio.
• Watering the beds should be done carefully, being careful not to wash the seeds out of the ground.

When the seedlings germinate, they will need to be thinned out. Removed seedlings can be transplanted to a new site. They take root very quickly.

Healthy catnip seedlings are easy to grow at home. The seeds should be planted in a large container with drainage holes. The soil for flowers is prepared from a mixture of peat, humus and turf. Before planting the seeds, the mixture can be treated with a disinfectant. In this case, the plants will definitely not get sick.

• The planting material is placed in a freezer the day before sowing at night. In the morning, the prepared seeds are poured into a container with water. They are left there for a day. Such preparation allows you to destroy the protective layer of seeds, so they germinate faster.
• After the first shoots appear, the plants can be dived into separate containers. Seedlings should be in a well-lit place. In this case, it will not stretch. If the seedlings grow slowly, they can be fed with complex mineral fertilizers.
• It is worth planting a young catnip in open ground after the formation of two full-fledged leaves... Before planting, the roots of the plant are recommended to be briefly immersed in a container with clean, settled water - this will help them absorb moisture, they will better take root in a new place.

Before planting the plants, the site must be dug up again. Small pits or grooves should be made in the prepared soil. After planting the plants, their roots must be covered with soil. Further, the bushes must be well watered with settled water. Young seedlings do not need shading. But, unlike adult plants, they need to be watered regularly.

This method of plant propagation is suitable for adult shrubs at the age of 3-6 years. You can plant them in autumn or spring. It is recommended to carry out the procedure in dry cloudy weather.

A strong plant needs to be dug up. Its roots must be cleaned of soil and carefully divided into several parts with a sharp knife. Each of them should have roots and several buds. The knife must be disinfected before work. Slices must be sprinkled with a thin layer of wood ash. Separate parts of the plants should be placed in small holes and covered with soil.

Another method of flower propagation is cuttings. It is recommended to do this in the spring. Young plants should be cuttings.

• Several green shoots are separated from the main bush.... They should be healthy and blooming regularly. They are placed in a container with warm, settled water. There they take root. The water in the container must be changed regularly during the entire germination period.
• When the first roots appear, the cuttings can be planted in the soil. Plants divided in this way retain all the varietal characteristics of the mother flower. It is recommended to plant them in the evening. The weather at this time should be warm.
• Instead of water, cuttings can be grown in a mixture of sand and sawdust... In this case, the contents of the container will not need to be changed. But the substrate will need to be moistened regularly.

The plant has good resistance to most common diseases. The only danger for him is powdery mildew, which develops in conditions of high humidity. Diseased plants are treated with fungicides. If they do not help, the damaged bushes are dug up and destroyed. This is done in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

Insects are also dangerous to plants. Typically, the bushes are attacked by whiteflies and ticks. Any proven insecticide can be used to control them. Invasions of aphids and bedbugs are not to be feared - the rich aroma of catnip repels these pests.

Tall catnipes look great on alpine slides and mixborders. Usually they are planted in the center of the flower bed, surrounded by lower flowers. Phlox, different types of geraniums or tansy will be good companions for this flower.

Many gardeners note that Fassen's catnip looks very beautiful in the same planting with roses. In addition, it can be combined with a wide variety of bulbs. Its buds will open just after the flowering of daffodils or tulips.

Flowers are often planted along the paths. They serve as a beautiful decoration for them. For this purpose, it is recommended to use undersized plants.

In addition, since the plant is an excellent honey plant, it can be planted next to an apiary or plants to which pollinating insects must be attracted. But in this case, it will not be possible to use chemicals to fight diseases or pests.

With proper care, a perennial planted on the site will serve as a decoration for any garden for a long time.