This plant has many names: ""desert candle" ", " "Cleopatra's needle"", ""shiryash"" and others. The desert-candle has received the first names thanks to the extraordinary beauty, and others - to properties. Shiryash in translation from Kazakh - glue because in roots of fine flower there are adhesives.
And still the desert candle serves for coloring of fabrics in yellow okhryanny color, and young plants are eaten as vegetable together with leaves and roots. However indisputable beauty of desert-candle does it by magnificent decorative culture which can decorate the seasonal dacha.
And plants of desert-candle has such rich color palette that can be combined with any plants, creating magnificent garden ensembles and compositions. It is perennial which will surprise with variety of forms and coloring.
Species of desert-candle
Experts distinguish desert-candles on difference of coloring and on height that is important when planning landings at the dacha. In total this flower contains about 45 types therefore gardeners can choose. If to speak about the most popular types is grade Cleopatra of orange color, grade "Obelisk" of white color with emerald streaks, grade of Pinocchio of dazzling-yellow color with red stamens, grade "Romance" of gentle salmon color, grade Odessa of lime-yellow color, grade Gold of golden color and others.
Fans of undersized plants can choose for themselves handsome from the Dwarf group, and those who love high – will find for themselves erumurusa up to two meters high from other groups of plants.
Now summer residents choose generally hybrid grades, and the most popular Eremurus x isabellinus desert-candle and also hybrids Shelford Hybrids is considered. It is possible that among variety of groups and species of these fine plants someone will find absolutely other "favourites": such as desert-candle Himalaya, house, narrow-leaved and others.
How to grow up desert-candle
This fine plant can be grown up both from seeds, and from roots though the second way is much simpler. The fact is that seeds of desert-candle can "wake up" only for the second year, and their shoots are very similar to weeds so not the really experienced gardener can either not wait for shoots, or just weed them.
Therefore we will consider faster way of cultivation – landing by kornedonets. Do landing in September, on the place, open for sunlight, where underground waters are not late. The desert-candle loves neutral or alkaline soil, however experience shows that he is very unpretentious, and grows on different soils. The only thing that is not loved by this handsome – stagnation of water in soil.
It is possible to make drainage of gravel, crushed stone or pebble and from above to fill suitable fertile soil.
The landing hole has to be 25-30 cm in depth, it is necessary to bury root approximately at 5-8 cm, and width boundary plants has to be from half a meter to 70 cm, depending on plant species.
At the same time it should be taken into account feature of desert handsome: if the soil is too saturated with nutrients, he will cease to blossom – all its forces will leave on cultivation of green material of leaves.
Care for desert-candle is rather simple: after landing it is necessary to watch that the soil around root was the damp, but not oversaturated water. After zatsvetaniye (approximately in June) watering can be stopped. And to begin to admire exotic flowers on which by fall seeds will appear. Then it will be already possible to experiment with them.
Late fall on bed it is necessary to bring superphosphate (on 1 sq.m. from 30 to 40 g), to feed up desert-candle complex fertilizer in the spring (on 1 sq.m. from 40 to 60 g), and still manure. If soil too poor – to add ammonium nitrate (on 1 sq.m. 20 g). With fertilizers it is better not to overdo as from surplus the plant can begin to hurt. Accurate loosening after watering and removal of weeds is also useful.
Important note
In the summer, after blossoming, leaves of flower die off. After that he needs to be dug out and moved away on storage for 20 days, in advance having dried kornedonets. It is necessary in order that abundant autumn rains "have not filled in" plants, sensitive to excess of water.
There is the second way to keep desert-candle till next year: to build something in the form of umbrella or the shelter over bed that on it as little as possible water got.
Where to place desert-candle
The most important requirement for placement of "desert candle" - easily availability. It is necessary in order that it was possible to struggle with wreckers, to dig out or water in time. The most suitable places of disembarkation:
- Misksbordera
- Ceremonial beds
- Alpine hills
- Jobs and flower beds
It is possible not only to admire Eresmus in garden – do excellent bouquets which decorate the house of it. Not without reason it often call "remarkable desert-candle" - it difficultly not to notice and not to admire its beauty.