Doronicum

Doronicum is a flowering perennial and belongs to the Astrov family. It can be seen growing independently in the mountains of Eurasia, at an altitude of about 3000 meters above sea level, and it also grows in an area where a moderate climatic regime prevails. You can find this plant, or rather one of its species, in Africa. Currently, Doronicum flowers include about 50-70 different species. And the plant got its name in honor of a poisonous plant of unknown origin, translated from Arabic. The cultivation of this plant began in the 16th century, and since then, doronicum has been gaining more and more popularity and popularity among flower growers and gardeners, primarily due to its unpretentiousness in care and cultivation, as well as for its decorative qualities.

Doronicum: description and features

Doronicum: photo of flowers

Doronicum is a perennial, herb that is endowed with basal leaves, alternately arranged and stalk-enveloping. The inflorescences-baskets have the shape of a hemisphere or wide bell-shaped, which are collected in shields of 3-6 pieces, although you can also see single ones. Inflorescence petals form 2-3 rows. Doronicum flowers in the middle are tubular and bisexual, yellow in color and arranged in several rows. Moreover, the reed flowers along the edges are female and form one row, are yellow. The fruit of this plant is a blunt achene of a ribbed structure that has an oblong shape.

Doronicum: growing from seed

Sowing

The most reliable and widespread way of growing this plant is considered to be growing from doronicum seed through seedlings. Although the seeds of doronicum can be sown directly into the open space, and they do this just before the winter time, in late autumn or in the month of May. Sowing is done on seedlings in the month of April, for this, a soil mixture is poured into separate containers, which consists of peat and sand, in a one-to-one ratio. 2-3 seeds of doronicum are sown in one container, after which the crops are covered with glass or film and placed in a place sheltered from direct sunlight, since diffused sunlight is required for seedlings. There are no difficulties in caring for seedlings. You just need to periodically ventilate it and remove the condensate formed from the top of the film or glass. It is also required to moisten the soil, if necessary, by spraying.

Rules for caring for seedlings of the doronicum plant

With good conditions and proper care, the first seedlings can be seen after sowing in about 14 days. After that, the shelter from the seedlings is removed and they are rearranged to the sunniest place, but it is still worth avoiding direct sunlight further. With rather small and dim natural light, they resort to the help of special fluorescent lamps or phytolamps, which are installed at a height of about 23 cm from the containers.Conventional lamps are not suitable for this at all, since they have a feature of overheating, plus their rays will not bring everything no benefit to the plants. Further, when the plants reach a height of about 4 centimeters, they begin to thin out. In each container, only one, the strongest and healthiest seedling remains, while the others are cut with sharp garden shears at ground level.In order for the bushes to be larger and more luxuriant, they resort to such measures: while 3-4 leaves are formed on the seedlings, they begin to pinch.

Doronicum: planting in open ground

Yellow doronicum: flower photo

When to plant doronicum?

Planting seedlings in an open space is carried out at a time when frosts are no longer foreshadowed and the weather is warm. Most often this is the very end of May or the first half of June. Before planting the seedlings, in about five days, they begin to harden the seedlings. For this, the seedlings are taken out daily, with a gradual increase in the time spent in the fresh air. At the very beginning, seedlings should be provided with good shelter from strong through winds, direct sunlight and precipitation.

Doronicum perennial planting rules

The yellow doronicum plant is considered light-loving, although it can grow quite successfully in a shaded area. In order for the inflorescence baskets to be more voluminous, a place with penumbra is selected for planting this asthenia. But it is worth knowing that, growing next to the tree trunk, the doronicum will grow and develop rather poorly. The soil at the planting site should be well moistened and loose. After you have chosen a place for this plant, you should dig up this area, with an approximate depth of 25 cm, and also add manure to this land. During the planting period, it is worth remembering the fact that after about 2-3 years the clumps of bushes will grow very much, and they can be about 50 centimeters in diameter, or even more than that. Therefore, a distance of about 50 centimeters should be left between the planting holes. The hole needs to be made with such a diameter and depth that the plant would easily fit into it together with a lump of soil. After the disembarkation is made, the surface of the earth is carefully compacted and spilled well.

Doronicum: outdoor care

Doronicum: photo of a flower

Growing doronicum does not present any particular difficulties, even a beginner can cope with this. The flowering period of this plant occurs twice in one season. The first time the doronicum blooms in the spring, and the most abundant and luxuriant, and the second time this plant gives color from July to the end of August. To preserve the decorative qualities of the plant, the arrow of the plant should be removed after it has faded.

Watering

The perennial plant Doronicum needs frequent and constant watering, since its roots are located rather superficially. But only this must be done intelligently and carefully so that moisture stagnation does not form, otherwise the doronicum can suffer quite a lot. Watering this flower is carried out with settled warm water, which was heated all day under the sun. Loosening the soil must also be carried out carefully enough so as not to accidentally damage the roots, which is why we advise you to manually weed the area near the plant. Experienced growers advise to mulch the surface of the earth with wood chips, mown grass or wood shavings so that moisture in the ground can persist for a longer time, as well as slow down the growth of weeds, plus a crust will not form in this place.

Fertilizer

At the very beginning of the growing season and right before flowering, the plants are made liquid fertilizing with organic or mineral complex.

- Shrub rejuvenation procedure

In late September and early October, the doronicum flowers rejuvenation procedure is performed. For this, the division of the bushes is used. Although this plant can grow quite well in the same place for a large number of years, but after a while you can notice that the inflorescence baskets have become much smaller, and old branches die off in the center of the bush, which naturally has a very bad effect on the decorative qualities doronicum.Initially, they carefully dig the plant out of the ground, after which they are engaged in dividing it into several parts, which will subsequently be planted in another place in different planting holes. Often this procedure is carried out once every three years. But if you want the inflorescences of this plant to always remain large, then it is worth rejuvenating it annually. Before wintering, you should not do the insulation of such a plant.

Diseases and pests

Most often, aphids and thrips like to attack a plant doronicum. These are quite harmful and dangerous insects that suck the juice from the flower. If you find stripes or spots of a yellowish tint on the leaves, as well as deformation or complete death of inflorescences, you should know that these pests have visited your plant. To combat them, an insecticide spraying procedure is used, such as Actellik, or Karbofos. But the most serious threat to this plant is posed by slugs that eat the foliage of the doronicum. To prevent the appearance of these pests, ground hot pepper should be poured into the place where the flower grows in a small layer.

In addition to pests, the doronicum plant can overtake some infections, such as rust, gray rot, powdery mildew. The most common cause of infection is improper and poor-quality care, or bad weather conditions. To prevent infection of diseases of a fungal nature, you need to follow the correct watering regime (make sure that there is no overdrying of the soil, but also will not allow an excess of moisture near the root system), timely weeding from weeds. If plants infected with gray rot disease are found, they must be immediately removed from the flower garden and disposed of by burning. When yellow doronicum is infected with powdery mildew and rust, a spraying procedure with Topaz and Oxychoma solutions is used up to 4 times. And the main thing that I would like to note is that this flower is infected with diseases of a fungal nature, most often in those places of growth where fresh manure is regularly introduced into the ground.

Perennial doronicum: varieties

Consider the most popular and common Doronicum varieties among florists.

• Doronicum Austrian. The homeland of this variety is the Mediterranean. This plant can grow up to a height of 70 centimeters and has straight branches that branch at the top. Foxes have an ovoid shape, and an oblong shape at the top of the shoots. Inflorescences are corymbose and consist of baskets with a bright yellow color, can be half a centimeter in diameter. They have been cultivating this variety since the distant 1584.

• Doronicum Altai... This variety came to us from Central Asia, East Kazakhstan and regions of Siberia. This perennial crop can grow up to 70 centimeters tall. The stem of this flower is both branched and simple straight, finely ribbed and entirely naked. Endowed with a reddish-purple or brownish color. Also, the stem has a leafy and leafless appearance, and on its surface under the inflorescences there is pubescence, dense and glandular. The lower leaves of this variety are stalk-enveloping and in the form of scales, and the basal leaves have rather elongated petioles, the middle and upper leaves can be pierced or stalk-enveloping, as well as spatulate or obovate. The peduncle has a length of about 30 centimeters, on which up to 4 pieces of yellowish inflorescences are formed, can reach a diameter of about 6 centimeters.

Yellow doronicum: photo

• Eastern Doronicum. Has another name - Caucasian doronicum. This variety can be seen growing independently in the regions of the Mediterranean, Central Europe, Ciscaucasia, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor. In the eastern doronicum, the root system is located horizontally, and the plant itself can grow up to 50 centimeters in height.The basal leaves of the eastern doronicum long-petiolate are endowed with a green tint and a round-ovoid shape. The foliage of the stem is sessile, has an elliptical-ovoid shape. Peduncles of eastern doronicum are quite elongated and single inflorescences are formed on them, which grow to a diameter of about 5 centimeters. Inflorescences of eastern doronicum have tubular yellowish flowers and ligulate flowers of a pale yellow color. After the end of the flowering period, the bushes of this plant do not become so beautiful, therefore, most often this variety can be found in the background in growing. Eastern Doronicum has been quite successfully grown since 1808, and its most famous subspecies are: Gold Dwarf (a fairly early flowering flower, reaching a height of about 15 cm), Spring Beauty (it can stretch up to 45 cm and is endowed with inflorescences with a double structure and a bright yellow color), Little Leo (a fairly compact plant, reaching a size of 35 cm).

• Doronicum plantain... This flower can be seen growing independently in Europe, more precisely in its south-west. Perennial doronicum plantain can stretch up to 140 centimeters. The basal leaves have an ovoid-oval shape, not strongly serrated at the edges, which has a narrowing into a longish petiole. The beginning of the flowering period of the plantain doronicum falls on the end of May. Doronicum plantain inflorescences have a yellowish tint and reach a diameter of 12 centimeters. In the very last days of June, the leaves of the plant die off. Doronicum plantain has been grown since the distant 1560, and its most famous subspecies are: Excelsium (the flower stretches up to 150 centimeters and has inflorescence baskets with a diameter of 10 centimeters), Miss Mason (this plant can grow up to 60 cm).
• Doronicum Columns. The homeland of this variety is Central Europe, the Balkans, Asia Minor. The root of the flower has a tuberous shape and is rather long. In height, this culture can grow up to 80 centimeters. The heads have a diameter of 6 centimeters and are quite narrow ligulate flowers that form on peduncles that are almost naked. The most famous subspecies among florists is the Gold Ostrich, which has branchy stems, due to which the flowering period is quite abundant.

Perennial doronicum

• Perennial doronicum Clusa. There is pubescence on the surface of this species. This flower can be 30 centimeters tall. The homeland is considered to be the subalpine and alpine belt of the European high-mountain meadows. The plant has a short root system, which is also creeping and thin. Under single inflorescences of a yellow hue, reaching a diameter of 6 centimeters, there is a rather dense pubescence on the peduncles. The leaves are shaped like a jagged spearhead, and there are hairs on the surface of the leaves.

• Doronicum Turkestan... This perennial can be 75 centimeters tall. It can be seen growing independently in the region of Siberia, Kazakhstan, as well as in the east of Central Asia. The lower part, more precisely one third of it, of a single stem consists of a covering, which does not include frequent glandular structures of hairs, and leaves cover it for the remaining two-thirds. There is a rather thick and pubescent stem under the inflorescences. Closer to the upper part of the stem, the number of leaves becomes smaller, and their shape is elliptical, oblong, round or lobed obovate. The inflorescences are solitary, reaching a diameter of 4 centimeters, in which the reed flowers are light yellow in color, and in the center are dark yellowish in color.
• Doronicum oblong-leaved. This flower can be seen growing independently in the Caucasus, on the territory of Kazakhstan, in the mountains of Central Asia, in the region of Siberia. The doronicum oblong-leaved plant loves to grow in alpine and subalpine meadows, along the banks of streams and on rocky surfaces.This perennial can be 50 centimeters tall and has short roots. The single stem of the plant is twisting and thick under the inflorescences, endowed with rather dense pubescence, and sometimes has a red-violet tide tip. The lower stem leaves have an obovate oblong shape and are located on wide-winged petioles, and the leaves near the roots have an elliptical shape and obtuse, and also have elongated petioles, as for the upper stem leaves, they are rather small in size and have a pointed oblong shape. The peduncle is quite elongated and single inflorescences are formed on it, having a diameter of 50 mm, in which the reed flowers have a yellow tint.

Doronicum: photo of a flower