Monarda - planting and care in the open field

Monarda is a flower from the Lube family. It belongs to the category of perennial and annual herbaceous crops. The ornamental plant was named after the Spanish physician and botanist Nicholas Monardes. In 1574, he published a book describing the culture and called it the Virgin Spiritual. The plant is endowed with useful properties and has an attractive appearance.

Monarda characteristics

There are more than 20 varieties of monarda. Almost every species can be grown in the garden. Popular varieties of decorative culture:

• Lemon or citrus monarda. Annual height - 15-95 cm. Lanceolate leaf plates. The inflorescence consists of 5-7 whorls with small lilac flowers. The flower can be used as an ornamental or spice plant.
• Lambada. The hybrid was developed by Dutch scientists. A pronounced lemon aroma emanates from the leaves of the plant.
• Point monarda (horse mint). Differs in amazing bright colors of leaf plates, which are painted in salmon shades. Plant height reaches 80 cm.
• Double monard. Perennial growing up to 75-80 cm. Has a horizontally growing rhizome. Stems are tetrahedral. Green leaf plates are pointed at the tip and pubescent. The length of the foliage is up to 12 cm. The color of the stipules is red. Inflorescences are lilac or purple.

Lemon perennial

• Fist monard. In Europe, it is grown as a spice. The height of the stems is 65-120 cm. The foliage is covered with fine hairs. The flowers are tube-like and are colored lilac. Inflorescences are spherical, 5-7 cm in diameter.
• Hybrid monarda (monarda hybrida). It combines various varieties, bred in Germany from the monarda double and fist. The height of the bushes is 100 cm. The inflorescences are painted in violet-purple (Mona Lisa variety), red, white, pink (Pink Lace), burgundy or lavender tones. Popular varieties: Red Monarda, Bi Pue Monarda and Cambridge Scarlet Monarda. Monarda Terry Fairy Tale, Gadenvie Scarlet and Spice look no less impressive.
• Monarda Fireball. A perennial herb grows up to 75-80 cm in height. The cultivar rhizome grows horizontally. The inflorescences are claret.

Monarda: planting and care in the open field

At home, a culture can be grown from seed, or by planting pre-purchased seedlings in the ground.

Planting seeds

The timing of planting seed in open ground depends on the region where the monarda is grown. In southern countries, this is done in early spring, and in colder countries in mid-May. Procedure:

1. Choose a suitable site, dig up and loosen the soil.
2. Plant seeds in the dug grooves.
3. Sprinkle them with a small layer of soil.
4. Moisten the soil abundantly.
5. Cover the planting site with a piece of film until shoots appear.
6. Systematically remove the film for 5-10 minutes for airing, and moisten the soil as the top layer dries.

Plants grown in this way are transplanted to another place after a year. Flowering should be expected in 12 months.

Planting seedlings

1. Having chosen a zone for planting flowers, dig up the soil.
2. After loosening the soil, dig out the grooves for the seedlings.
3. Pour settled rainwater into each hole.
4. Place the roots of the seedling in the hole, cover the resulting voids with fertile soil.
5. Moisten the soil at the planting site. In the same year, you can expect abundant flowering.

Watering and loosening the soil

Monarda needs moderate and fairly frequent watering. In the dry season, the soil is moistened every evening. In April and May, the decorative culture is watered with warm water.

Double grade

After each moistening procedure, it is necessary to loosen the soil. It is important not to damage the root system. Weeds must be removed from the flower bed so that it does not interfere with the full growth and development of the culture.

Reproduction methods

Monarda is propagated in different ways. Most often, flower growers use the seed method described above, but you can also breed a culture by dividing the bush, cuttings or segments of roots.

Method of dividing the bush

The process is best carried out in the spring, before the plant has time to wake up after a dormant period. Procedure:

1. Moisten the plant abundantly and carefully dig up.
2. Using a sharp knife, divide the root system so that several shoots and part of the root remain from the plant.
3. Treat the cut area with wood ash to speed up the healing process.
4. Place the dividers in the prepared planting holes. The root collar should be at the level of the ground surface.

Propagation by segments of roots

This is one of the most effective breeding methods for monarda. The procedure is best carried out in March, until the active growth of shoots has begun. Step-by-step instruction:

1. Using a sharp shovel, cut off part of the shoots along with the root system.
2. Treat the cut area with wood ash.
3. Dig holes at intervals of 40-50 cm.
4. Plant young plants in the recesses, fill the holes with soil mixture.
5. Moisten the planted bushes abundantly.

Cuttings

Cuttings are harvested in early summer. For this, young green shoots 10-20 cm long are selected, the sections are treated with Kornevin. The cuttings planted in the ground are covered with plastic containers. You can plant them in a greenhouse.

Hybrid view of Lambada

Top dressing and fertilizers

Top dressing is applied during the growing season and during the flowering culture. Complex mineral fertilizers are used in spring. For each square meter, 40-45 g of top dressing is consumed.

At the end of summer and during the flowering period, the monarda needs fertilizing containing phosphorus and potassium. Dry granules are embedded in the soil. Top dressing gradually dissolves and, when irrigated, goes to the root system. Fertilizers stimulate flowering.

During the growing season and flowering time, the bushes need to be sprayed with water with mineral dressings.

Monarda fistus

Plant transplant

An ornamental culture can grow in one place for about 5 years. Then the bushes are transplanted. To rejuvenate the flower, the division of the bushes is used.

For transplanting, the bush is carefully dug up and transferred to a new hole. The root system is not cleared of the old clod of earth. In order not to injure and speed up the survival of the plant, it is transplanted by the transshipment method. The monarda planted in a new place is watered abundantly. The soil is carefully loosened and mulched.

Pests and diseases

Monarda is not susceptible to pest infestation, because its essential oils repel insects. However, against the background of improper care, the culture can suffer from powdery mildew, which occurs against the background of waterlogging of the soil, and rust.

To get rid of powdery mildew, it is enough to adjust the watering regime.When the bushes are damaged by rust, the soil around the flowers is treated with preparations containing copper.

Perennial in landscape design

Flowering and care during this period

The flowering period of the monarda lasts from mid-summer to September. At this time, flowers with funnel-shaped petals bloom on the bushes, which gather in dense racemose inflorescences. The color of the monarda flowers depends on the variety.

After the end of flowering, fruits are formed on the inflorescences that look like nuts. This gives additional decorativeness to plants even in the cold season. After the fruit has formed, you can start collecting seeds. Their germination capacity lasts up to 36 months.

Preparing for winter

If one monarda bush grew on the flowerbed, it can be dug up in the fall, and the soil can be dug up and prepared for planting other flowers. Perennial varieties are frost-resistant, so they do not need to be dug out. It is enough to cover each bush with a layer of spruce branches 10 cm thick.

Use in landscape design

The culture is planted in flower beds, ridges or on a lawn. Growing a monard flower in mixborders looks quite impressive.

The plant goes well with rudbeckia, perennial phlox, bells and large daisies. You can supplement the spreading bushes of monarda with cereal plants.

Perennial looks good on lawns

Useful properties of the monarda plant

The flower contains essential oil, vitamins B and C. The culture is widely used in homeopathy. Monarda essential oil has anti-stress, antianemic and antioxidant properties. Its systematic use clears the aorta from atherosclerotic plaques, helps to cure radiation sickness, cope with flu symptoms and strengthen the immune system.

Monarda is used in treatment:

• otitis media;
• cystitis;
• sinusitis;
• pneumonia;
• disorders of the digestive system.

Essential oil of monarda helps to cope with headaches, fungus of feet and nail plates, ailments of the oral cavity. Cosmetologists use monarda to make masks and creams for acne on the skin.

Monarda is a plant that can beautify any garden plot. Taking care of your culture is easy enough. Providing the plant with conditions suitable for growth and development, you can systematically admire its abundant flowering.