Herbaceous loosestrife may not be the brightest decoration in the garden, but its pickiness and resistance to adverse external factors have made it a real favorite among gardeners.
In addition, the lysimachia flower (another version of the name is lysimachia) fits perfectly into rockeries and is suitable for an alpine slide , which allows it to be used in the formation of even complex compositions.
Description
The loosestrife received its name due to the striking similarity of its leaf blades to the leaves of the willow. scientific name “lysimachia” in honor of the commander of Alexander the Great, Lysimachus , who later became the king of Macedonia and the ruler of Thrace.
Lysimachia belongs to the Primrose family, and the genus has about a hundred varieties, which are divided into cultivated and wild.
Among this diversity there are both annual and biennial plants, as well as perennial plants , flowers with erect shoots and a creeping bush; The shapes of the leaf blades and the types of inflorescences also differ. Representatives of the genus are known with lush, voluminous flower panicles and with single flowers.
But the loosestrife cannot boast of a variety of colors.
Main petal colors:
- shades of yellow;
- pink;
- white.
The natural range of lysimachia is extensive:
- Russia;
- northern regions of America;
- North Africa;
- China;
- territories of East Asia;
- Caucasus.
Varieties of flowers with photos
Of the almost 100 varieties of lysimachia, these flowers are the most popular in gardening.
Common loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris)
This tall plant is native to the northern regions of Africa, but is also found in Eurasia. Prefers marshy meadows and lowlands, wet forest glades and river banks . The height of the shoots can vary from half a meter to one meter.
The plant has a creeping developed rhizome, dense, whole-cut elongated leaf plates with a sharp tip. The leaves, which are smooth on the outside, have obvious pubescence on the underside.
The flowers, in their outlines, resemble bright yellow bells with a small brown spot at the base of the petals. The flowers are a good honey plant and form a paniculate apical inflorescence.
Interesting! This variety of lysimachia can be grown in shallow reservoirs up to 0.1 m deep, since its roots are not afraid of prolonged contact with moisture.
Loosestrife (Lysimachia nemorum)
This relatively small perennial plant reaches only 0.3 m in height. It is distinguished by large leaf blades and single yellow flowers.
Found in Europe and the European part of Russia, it prefers to live on the banks of streams and rivers, but is also found even in subalpine meadows.
Loosestrife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora, also known as snork)
You can meet this fairly tall flower in the shallow waters of streams and small reservoirs. The height of the erect stem slightly exceeds the half-meter mark. The leaf blades have a narrow lanceolate shape.
Small fluffy yellow-green flowers forming axillary inflorescences attract attention due to the stamens sticking out in all directions.
Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata)
In its natural environment, this lysimachy can be found in the forests of Europe.
The erect shoots of loosestrife have obvious pubescence, the leaves are wide, with a pronounced lanceolate shape. Lemon-yellow corollas are located on the slightly branched crown.
Lily of the valley (Lysimachia clethroides) or clethroid loosestrife
You can find this plant in the Primorsky Territory. The rhizome of the plant resembles the root of a lily of the valley in shape, only denser and longer, colored light pink.
The height of the pubescent, vertically oriented shoots can reach 20 cm. Small white flowers form a spike-shaped inflorescence.
Interesting! The length of the inflorescence can be equal to the length of the stem of the loosestrife.
Monetary/coin loosestrife (Lysimachia nummularia, meadow loosestrife or meadow tea)
In nature, such a plant can be found on the territory of the Japanese Islands, in Europe and North America. This perennial groundcover creeping plant prefers floodplain meadows, coastal areas of reservoirs and stream banks.
The length of the shoots can reach 30 cm, and given their number, the bush takes up enough space. There is no pubescence on the shoots, and small, oppositely located rounded leaf plates resemble coins in outline.
The flowers are bright yellow, solitary, axillary, their diameter can reach 2.5 cm.
Purple loosestrife (Lysimachia purpurea) or ciliated loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata)
It is endemic to North America. Vertically oriented shoots are slightly less than half a meter in height.
The wide, pointed leaves of loosestrife have an attractive purple-wine hue. Small axillary yellow flowers form loose inflorescences.
Attention! To maintain the decorative appearance of the plant, it requires quite a lot of sunlight.
Black-purple loosestrife (Lysimachia atropurpurea)
In its natural environment, this loosestrife is found in Greece. The height of the shoots can vary from half a meter to 0.9 m.
The plant is remarkable for its large spike-shaped inflorescences formed by a large number of buds of a rich wine color. A small wave is visible along the edge of the dense elongated leaves. It is most clearly noticeable in young flowers.
Ephemeral loosestrife (Lysimachia ephemerum)
You can meet the plant in Europe. The bush quickly grows in breadth; The height of the shoots is slightly less than a meter.
The leaf blades of the plant are narrow, elongated, distinctly lanceolate in shape, and painted in a light silvery-green hue. The inflorescences are spike-shaped, formed by a large number of small light flowers.
Diseases
Loosestrife has very good immunity and practically does not get sick with anything. Sometimes the plant can be attacked by aphids and weevils. If this happens, use special products for treating plants. They will very quickly rid you of hated insects.
If frequent stagnation of water occurs, the roots of the plant may begin to rot. In this case, transplant the plant to another place.
Buy loosestrife seeds =>>
The unpretentious loosestrife plant will become a bright decoration for your garden plot. Maintenance will not be difficult. Additionally, the plant can provide health benefits if used correctly.
Planting and care in open ground
Loosestrife is unpretentious and hardy, but to successfully grow a flower on your site, you should take into account some of its features.
Boarding time
You can plant seedlings of lysimachia flowers in late May - early June, but it is better to sow seeds in the ground at the end of September, before winter . It is possible to grow seedlings yourself; for this, the seeds are planted in late February - early March.
Selecting a location
To determine the best place on the site for planting lysimachia, you need to know about the specifics of the flower being planted.
So, purple loosestrife requires a lot of sunlight , otherwise its leaves will fade and it will lose its decorative appearance.
Cointail loosestrife can be planted both in an open area and in partial shade. But other varieties of lysimachia prefer shady, damp areas of the garden.
Soil preparation and planting
When choosing soil, you need to exclude alumina soils - lysimachia grows extremely poorly on them. Otherwise, there are no special requirements for the composition of the soil. Naturally, the flower will develop better on loose, breathable soils than on hard compacted soils.
Attention! To ensure active growth, loosestrife requires a lot of moisture, so you should give preference to low-lying areas with close groundwater. And coined, common and racemose loosestrife can be planted in a shallow reservoir to a depth of no more than 10 cm.
Temperature
Lysimachia does not require adjusted temperature conditions. The optimal temperature for flower development is considered to be 22 °C , but the plant tolerates temperature changes with dignity.
Lighting
Loosestrife, in addition to purple and coined, can grow in shaded areas of the garden.
Frost resistance
Lysimachia is a frost-resistant crop , so the perennial can be left in the ground for the winter, cutting off only the above-ground part of the bush and mulching the root zone with humus.
It is recommended to put plants in flowerpots in the basement or vegetable store during the cold season.
Watering
Despite its moisture-loving nature, it is necessary to specifically water loosestrife only immediately after planting and during periods of intense, prolonged heat.
Fertilizers and fertilizing
Lysimachia does not need mineral support from the gardener , since the developed root system allows the loosestrife to get everything it needs from the soil.
The gardener should only mulch the soil in the tree trunk area with fresh humus. This feeding will be enough for a successful winter and active growth in the next season.
Landing restrictions
Lysimachia is an aggressive plant that quickly invades new territories . Therefore, even before planting loosestrife in the ground, you should limit the area accessible to it by digging sheets of iron or slate into the soil.
Otherwise, in a couple of years, instead of a neat flowerbed, there will be a dense meadow with yellow flowers.
Transfer
About once every five years, lysimachia should be replanted . Since the plant is actively developing, producing root shoots and “babies”, excessive thickening of plantings spoils the appearance of the site.
It is recommended to plant and move loosestrife in the spring before the formation of flower buds or in the fall before the onset of frost.
Weeding and loosening
To maintain soil permeability, the soil around the loosestrife needs to be loosened regularly, combining this process with weeding.
Preparation for winter and pruning
For wintering, the bushes are cut close to the surface of the soil and mulched with a dense layer of humus .
Reproduction of Loosestrife
Loosestrife flower photo planting and care
This plant can reproduce vegetatively and by seeds. The vegetative method involves separating a shoot from the mother bush, germinating cuttings or transplanting root suckers. The vegetative method is easier and faster, and therefore is very popular with gardeners.
When grown by seeds, the seedling develops 2-3 years before flowering; when planted vegetatively, it can bloom the next year.
How to sow loosestrife for seedlings
Loosestrife growing from seeds photo
If you need to plant seeds, preliminary preparation of planting material is required.
- One of the necessary procedures is stratification, which includes hardening the seeds in the refrigerator at a temperature of 8 -10 degrees for one to two months.
- Then you should prepare a small box or containers, cups with drainage holes and, filling the containers halfway with a mixture of peat and sand, sow the seeds.
- The seeds are very small, it is worth spending more time to scatter them over the surface as little as possible, ideally keeping a gap of 2-3 cm between them.
Loosestrife seeds photo
- Carefully sprinkle the soil mixture on top, which will cover the seeds by 0.5-1 cm.
- After this, the containers are covered with film or glass and placed in a bright, warm place (window sill).
- After 2 weeks, shoots will appear, the shelter is immediately removed so that the plants do not get putrefactive diseases.
- The first 2-3 true leaves are a signal to start picking. Plants are transplanted into larger containers; you can use the same fork to “dig” them out of the ground without damaging the roots.
- 5-7 days after picking, you can begin to gradually harden the seedlings. We take it out into the fresh air, leaving it first for an hour or two, then for half a day and then for a whole day.
- Hardened seedlings are planted in open ground, the approximate distance between seedlings is 40-50 cm.
If you sow seeds in open ground , then this should be done in the fall in specially prepared soil. After sowing, cover the ground with leaves “under the snow”, then the seeds are certified in a natural way. In May, the grown plants will be ready to be transplanted to a permanent location.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
One of the very effective ways to propagate a plant is to divide the bush into several shoots. The bush is dug up, trying not to damage the roots, and the regrown shoots are separated. Why divide the main bush so that each has a separate developed root. After which all separated parts of the bush are planted. Bushes planted in this way are accepted immediately and can bloom next year. Caring for transplanted bushes is the same as for an adult plant.
Propagation by cuttings
Reproduction of loosestrife by cuttings photo
Loosestrife is best propagated by cuttings, which are cut from the stepsons of the main stem, 10 - 20 cm long. Stems for cuttings are pruned during spring or autumn thinning of the bush. In order for the cutting to take root, it is enough to immerse it in water for several days. After the roots appear, the cuttings can be planted in open ground, choosing a place in partial shade.
Application in folk medicine, cosmetology
In addition to its decorative qualities and high resistance to diseases and pests, loosestrife is known as a medicinal plant. It is actively used in folk medicine and cosmetology.
Healing properties
Loosestrife-based products have:
- antiseptic properties;
- choleretic effect;
- astringent properties;
- increase the permeability and elasticity of blood vessels;
- wound healing and regenerating effect;
- supporting effect during the cold season.
Read about other plants for the garden:
Diascia - types and photos of long-flowering exotic
Chrysanthemum multiflora - exquisite luxury for the autumn garden
Liatris: delightful panicles for flower beds and hedges
Contraindications
People suffering from:
- varicose veins;
- thrombosis;
- vascular sclerosis;
- increased blood clotting;
- high blood pressure;
- with severe allergic reactions.
Attention! Before ingesting or applying plant-based products to the skin, be sure to do a test on an open area of skin to check for individual intolerance.
The healing properties of loosestrife and its harm
Monetary loosestrife creeping ground cover creeping wild plants
The plant is popularly known as an antiseptic, has hemostatic and analgesic properties, and is used for indigestion and diarrhea. Infusion of flowers is used to treat wounds, ulcers, eczema, stomatitis, and is used to treat thrush. Despite its widespread popular use, official medicine remains deaf to the beneficial properties of the plant, not using it in its recipes.
In recent years, official homeopathy, having studied folk recipes, began to widely use them in practice. The plant has a large number of useful substances: tannins, carbohydrates, rutin, ascorbic acid and silicic acid.
Goldilocks loosestrife flowers in landscape design Planting and care photo
The most common uses of loosestrife:
- Lightly knead fresh leaves in your palms and apply to small wounds or abrasions; the antiseptic properties of the plant juice are used.
- an infusion of the dried tops of the plant (along with flowers and leaves) relieves pain, washes wounds, treats abscesses, and stops internal bleeding.
To restore strength after hard physical work or illness, prepare a tincture using loosestrife flowers: two tablespoons of crushed flowers are poured with 45-50 degrees alcohol, and placed in a dark place for three to four days, after which it is filtered. The tincture requires a course of treatment for 5 days, starting with 5 drops 3 times a day and ending with 20 drops.
