Basilicum soap (Saponaria ocymoides)

Basil-leaved soapwort is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant from the Clove family. Refers to saponaria (in Latin saponaria, from the word "sapo" means soap). If you rub the root of the soapstone plant or another part of it with your hands, then a soapy coating will remain on your fingers, and foam will form when shaken with water. This is the action of saponin - a substance of which there is more than 30 percent in the roots of soapwort, it can work as a soap substitute.

The flower is unpretentious, easy to care for, attractive in appearance, therefore it is often used to decorate garden beds, alpine slides and other landscape design objects. How to grow a plant, how to care for it, is described in this article.

Simple flowers, collected in neat inflorescences, delight the eye in a flower bed

Brief description, origin

There are quite a lot of soapworms. In the garden, the soapwort saponaria can be seen on the lush, soft cushion of leaves and pinkish flowers. It grows to a height of 90 cm, but because of the creeping shoots it seems undersized, as if covering the ground with a soft light "blanket". It blooms very profusely in May, covered with loose inflorescences of small five-petalled flowers. During flowering, the stems grow well, therefore, the soapwort is trimmed by about a third closer to the middle of summer, so that the hats look neater.

It looks like a soap flower close up

For all the simplicity of the plant, the soap flower has many advantages that flower growers appreciate:

almost any lighting suits him - he grows well in partial shade and in the sun;
the plant is winter-hardy, it can also easily tolerate drought;
grows quickly, has good seed germination;
undemanding to the soil - the soapwort plant has sufficiently well-drained soil of any type.

In nature, it grows on rocky soil or in pine forests. Originally from the Alps, the mountainous regions of Spain, the soapwort is also widespread on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. In Russia, it is found in the wild in the mountains and foothills of the Caucasus, although you can find it even in Siberia.

It looks like a plant in natural conditions

Interesting! The most famous purpose of the herb is to decorate the garden. A pretty and profusely blooming ground cover quickly occupies a sunny and open lawn, adapts to growing on rocky slopes, and blooms in flower beds. It is also known as a medicinal plant containing vitamins and useful compounds used in the cosmetic industry. Various parts of the plant are used to prepare infusions for the treatment of skin diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.

Popular varieties of Saponaria

There are more than 40 species in the genus Saponaria, but much less are adapted to decorative cultivation - about a dozen. Breeders are working on developing new varieties of this plant.

Perennial lupine as a honey plant

It is customary to distinguish medicinal and decorative soapwort. The decorative one includes basilicum soapwort.It is interesting in that it looks like pink foam, blooms together, for a long time. For the abundance of delicate small flowers, this soapwort is also called "moon dust". The varieties of basil-leaved soapwort include, for example, Camilla saponaria - a plant with multiple light pink flowers. In addition to her, there are several more varieties that are popular with gardeners.

Ordinary

The common soap plant is a perennial with narrow oval leaves and small pink or red-pink flowers. A separate plant is rather inconspicuous, but it looks very attractive in a flower bed.

White

White soapwort is one of the most beautiful, noble and rare plant species. The Betty Arnold variety differs in that it has a height of up to one meter. At the same time, the plant is strewn with extraordinary flowers of a snow-white color. Very nice and decorative.

Terry

Terry soapwort is a type of basil-leaved soapworm, which is distinguished by the doubleness of the flower and its slightly larger size. Terry saponaria are bred by breeders, they are not found in the wild.

Soddy

Soddy soapwort is a plant, which is widespread in nature mainly in the Pyrenees, grows on slopes of stones and looks rather rustic. The height of the bushes is no more than 15 cm, the flowers are pinkish, the leaves are lanceolate.

Soapy medicinal

Medicinal soap is a tall plant (up to 90 cm), rather unpretentious, grows everywhere in central Russia. It has a branched stem, densely covered with leaves. The flowers are fragrant, they look very impressive in the inflorescences, their color is pink.

Pink

The variety pink does not exist; it is customary to call the type of Olivan's soap dish pink soap. This is a hybrid bred by breeders for breeding specifically on alpine slides. The plant is short, creeping, has a cap of bright pink flowers of saturated color.

Others

Other plants from the group of decorative varieties have many shades. Soap boxes with shades of yellow and lilac look very beautiful.

Interesting! There is a dwarf soapworm that rises only a few centimeters above the ground. There are also glutinous varieties and many others with similar characteristics to all soapworms.

Growing from seeds

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Basically, the plant is grown in seedlings. On sale you can often find a soap box "Inspiration" or a soap box "Olivana", and "Moon dust" is also in demand.

Planting capacity and soil

For seedlings, seeds are sown in containers or other boxes equipped with drainage holes. The simplest soil is suitable, but it is well permeable to water. It can be sod land, better calcareous and fertilized.

Soapy girl looks good not only in the garden, but also as part of flower arrangements on the balcony

Seed preparation and sowing

Seeds can be wetted before planting to speed up germination. This plant is completely unpretentious, the seed grows well, sometimes you even have to fight self-sowing. After sowing, the land must be watered, covered with foil and wait for shoots.

How to care for seedlings

Seeds are planted in the ground, watered and covered with film or glass until the first shoots. As soon as the sprouts hatch, the shelter is removed, when the second true leaf appears, they dive in separate containers. Before planting in open ground, like other seedlings, it is hardened by taking it out into the street.

Timing

The timing of seedling emergence from seeds is 2-3 weeks. Seedlings are planted in the ground after the danger of recurrent frosts has passed. This is usually mid-May.

Landing in open ground

The soapwort has very viable good roots, so planting and caring for the soapbox in the open field is not difficult. A lump of earth with a sprout is simply rolled out of the pot and planted in a permanent place with gaps of 25 cm between plants.

Root features

The root of the plant contains substances that cause foam when rubbed in the hands. The above-ground part has the same property, but it lathers worse. In addition to surfactants, the roots also contain other components, including alkaloids. Therefore, the plant is used in some traditional medicine as a pain reliever.

Planting in a seedless way

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Growing basilifolia soapwort from seeds is not the only way of reproduction. There is also grafting. For him, take a shoot, cut off the top and leave it to take root in wet sand, covered with a glass jar.

Interesting! A powerful root can also be divided into 2-3 parts and thus multiply the soapwort. This is done after flowering or in spring.

Features of care in the garden

Now about how the sapling planting and care are carried out.

Watering

Soap water is watered regularly, but not very abundantly.

Humidity

Spraying it to moisturize is optional. Only forest soapwort requires relatively higher humidity, other species tolerate normal summer quite well.

Priming

The plant does not tolerate excessive waterlogging of the soil, therefore the land must be light, drained. If there is groundwater nearby, then it is better to plant flowers in a high bed.

Top dressing

Since the plant as a whole is unpretentious, it is not necessary to take special care of feeding. It is enough to apply phosphorus fertilizer or bone meal once a season when planting.

Interesting! This plant can also perform soil-protecting functions, strengthen slopes from erosion, you can hide ugly walls or props in the summer cottage and garden plots behind a cap of flowers.

When and how it blooms

Types of flowers

With all the similarity of the common signs of soapworms of different species, flowering may differ. There are plants with the usual five-petal flowers, and there are double chic representatives of the family. There are flowers reaching a diameter of 4 cm, most of them still have flowers of a rather modest appearance and size.

Flower shapes

The flowers of the soapwort can be of different colors, the shape of the inflorescences is similar in all species.

Flowering period

The basil-leaved soapwort blooms in two waves, almost all summer delighting the gardener with a lush flower cap.

Some plant varieties have a particularly beautiful sophisticated "appearance", such as the Rosea Glen hybrid

Changes in care during flowering

In order for the flowering to be abundant, lush, long, it is recommended to feed the plant with complex fertilizers during this period.

Transplant after purchase and during reproduction

The plant takes root well when transplanting from a container into the soil, when dividing a bush and rooting a cuttings. It is only important that the soil is light, loose, without stagnant water.

Possible growing problems

The perennial is quite resistant to garden pests and plant diseases. He is practically not affected by the classic diseases inherent in horticultural crops. Still, it is worth paying attention to some points.

Leaf problems

Leaves can be affected by a fungus, which becomes noticeable by the characteristic darkening of the leaves or their covering with brown spots. Usually, excessive waterlogging of the soil becomes the cause of the disease. For the same reason, soapworms suffer from root rot. In case of damage, the plant must be cleaned of diseased leaves, if the underground part is also damaged, then remove it completely.

Pests

The garden scoop butterfly can cause great harm. Caterpillars hatching from butterfly eggs can damage the plant to a large extent. They gnaw the shoots, and the plant dies. It is recommended to fight the pest with special protective preparations, manual collection of larvae and caterpillars helps.

If you do not control the pest on flowers, it can spread to vegetable crops.

Diseases

If black spots appear on the leaves, you need to cut out the affected areas.If the affected area is large, remove the entire plant and burn. Treat the rest with fungicides.

Signs of improper care

If not properly watered, the plant can lock up and die. Excessive drought is also harmful. Finally, the lack of weeding can lead to the fact that weeds will clog the entire cultivated part of the flower bed. Otherwise, there should be no problems.

Saponaria is an interesting plant for the gardener that does not require significant physical costs in care, is unpretentious and grows on any soil. Together with other ground cover plants, it helps to decorate the garden and make the site more attractive.