Content
Planting and caring for black cohosh is within the power of the most inexperienced gardeners, and the result is able to decorate the garden for several decades. The plant is considered the most graceful representative of perennial crops from the buttercup family. Elegant, tall candle flowers are popular in the design of gardens, parks, flower beds around the world, used in bouquets and in folk medicine.
What is this plant "black cohosh"
Black cohosh or in Latin - "tsimitsifuga" in different cultures received different names. The green parts of the plant and the roots contain insecticidal substances that can repel insects, which is reflected in the Latin and Russian names of the culture. The most accurate description of the appearance and unusual beauty of flowers is their German name - "silver candles".
A large plant with tall, powerful peduncles can reach a height of 2 m.Depending on the variety and illumination, the average black cohosh grows from 40 to 100 cm.
With age, black cohosh develops a powerful root that goes deep into the soil. This provides a long-lived perennial with resistance to heat, frost, and drought.
Large, bright leaves rise from the ground, collected in a high growing rosette. Depending on the type, leaf plates can be painted in all shades of green, have a reddish, blue tint, or be completely chocolate-burgundy. The shape of the leaves is three times dissected, toothed, vaguely resembles a very large parsley.
One, rarely two strong shoots rises from the rosette of basal leaves. At the end, a large peduncle of a cylindrical or elongated-pointed shape is formed. Black cohosh inflorescence unites hundreds of small buds with small petals, but very long stamens, giving the flowers a fluffy appearance.
The color of black cohosh flowers depends on the variety and varies in a wide range from pale green to white and from hot pink to pale purple. The opening of the buds starts from the base of the "candle" and gradually rises to the tip. The flowering period can be extended to 40 days, in early species it begins in July, in late ones - in September or October.
The use of black cohosh in landscape design
The variety of species of cimicifuga in height, length of inflorescences, their color allows you to create many compositions on flower beds, alpine slides, borders. Black cohosh in garden design can both create a bright accent and become a backdrop for other plants.
For a single planting, you should choose high, bright varieties: European or Daurian cimicifuga, atropurpurea. The same species are often used to decorate the banks of reservoirs, grown along fences or walls. The medium-sized black cohosh looks good on prefabricated flower beds, and rock gardens, borders, flower beds are decorated with undersized cimifuga.
Black cohosh in landscape design, as seen in the photo, can be perfectly complemented by low-growing or cover crops. Hosta, maple leaf, anemone, perennial moss, clefthoof not only decoratively frame the plantings of cimicifugi, but also serve as protection for the soil. Curly lungwort and brunera perform well the mulching function.
Fern, aconite, sedge, buzulnik, astilbe grow well next to black cohosh. Conifers and incense serve as a noble background, highlighting the beauty of flowers and leaves.
How black cohosh reproduces
Having a perennial bush in the garden makes it easy to propagate black cohosh, getting several plants in the shortest possible time. To do this, you can use one of three methods: germination from seeds, cuttings, division of an adult bush.
Blooming, scented black cohosh from seeds is the most difficult to obtain. This will take about six months before germination and several more years of cultivation before the flowers appear. Vegetative methods are fast but unreliable. Black cohosh planting material often dies due to temperature changes, bright sun or dry soil, waterlogged seeds are vomited.
Cuttings
The procedure for reproduction with parts of the stem works best in the spring. Black cohosh cuttings cut in the fall need to be rooted and reared before planting at home, which requires more attention. This method does not greatly disturb the mother bush, for reproduction it is enough to separate a leaf from it with a small fragment of the central stem (the so-called "heel").
From an adult bush of cimicifugi, you can get several independent shoots that form every season around the main root. For guaranteed rooting, the cutting is placed with the heel in a growth stimulator for several days, and then planted in a loose, moist soil.
Dividing the bush
An adult, healthy black cohosh bush grows in width every year and takes up more and more space in the flower bed. A 5-6 year old plant can already be propagated by dividing the bush into parts. The plant is preliminarily removed from the soil, digging deeply from all sides.
Divide the bush into several parts, depending on its age and size. Moreover, it is better not to damage the main rhizome, carefully cutting off only young shoots with shoots or living buds. The separated bushes of cimicifugi are planted in other flower beds or grown in containers for better survival. The mother plant can be buried in the old place.
Growing black cohosh from seeds
Seed propagation is a more painstaking task, it is used only when necessary. The short shelf life and limited germination of the material complicate the task. Growing from seeds of a simple black cohosh has several features.
Step-by-step instructions and tips for seed reproduction of cimicifugi:
- The planting material collected in the fall loses its germination with each month of storage. Therefore, it is better to start planting immediately after flowering.
- Black cohosh is sown in containers with a loose substrate, and then left in a warm room (not lower than + 20 ° C) for 90 days. Planting is rarely watered, keeping the soil semi-dry.
- It is not recommended to cover containers with foil for the "greenhouse" effect. Black cohosh seeds are prone to damping off under such conditions.
- For another 90 days, the containers will need to be kept at a temperature of about + 16 ° C, until shoots appear.
Sprouts are grown as normal seedlings. Planting plants in open ground is possible at any stage of development. It is important to monitor the air temperature in order to protect the seedlings from recurrent cold weather.
A young cimicifuga, when grown from seeds, will look like in the photo for several seasons. The bush develops and grows stronger, but flowers will appear on it only after 4-5 years.
Planting and caring for black cohosh
Much of the success of a cimicifuga grows when it is planted. A perennial grows well up to 25 years old in a permanent place, while it is difficult for transplants. Therefore, the site should be evaluated very carefully. Correct planting and careful care of the Black Cohosh plant may not give results if the wrong place is chosen or the seedlings are inattentively selected.
When purchasing seedlings in a nursery or growing them yourself, you should carefully examine each sprout before planting in a flower bed. There should be no spots on the leaves, shoots, roots. When planting a black cohosh seedling, the buds should be alive or have already begun the growing season, and the shoots should not be lethargic.
Optimal planting time
Black cohosh can be planted in spring or autumn. Experienced gardeners recommend doing this after the end of cold weather and warming up the air to + 15 ° C. Planting in spring provides the black cohosh with an entire rooting season. Bushes leave matured before winter, so they are less prone to freezing or damping.
During the summer and autumn, the plant gains strength, adapts to the environment. By its state, the black cohosh bush manages to show whether the site for cultivation has been correctly selected.
Choosing the right place
The uniqueness of the cimicifuga is its ability to develop and bloom in partial shade. This property is highly valued by designers and hobby gardeners. Black cohosh makes it possible to decorate those places in the garden where other crops are reluctant to grow.
Soil preparation
Black cohosh, as a tall and abundantly flowering plant, needs enhanced nutrition. Prepare the soil for planting seedlings carefully:
- The selected area is dug deeply, adding, if necessary, sand, peat, mineral dressings. There is no need to lime the soil - black cohosh loves acidic soils.
- Since the cimicifuga has been growing in one place for more than 20 years, planting pits are arranged no less than 50 * 50 cm with a distance of at least 0.6 m between the bushes.
- Drainage must be laid at the bottom of the pit: expanded clay, small stones, broken brick, gravel.
- About 1/3 of the hole is filled with organic fertilizers mixed with garden soil. Rotted manure, compost are used as a bookmark, ash or complex fertilizers are added. On heavy soils, sand is mixed.
With the correct filling of the planting pits, the black cohosh will develop well and will require additional feeding only after a few years of cultivation.
How to plant black cohosh
Plants are planted in the prepared holes when the average daily temperature exceeds + 15 ° C, and the threat of nighttime cold snaps passes. It is advisable to transfer plants along with a clod of earth. If the root system of the seedling is open, the roots in the hole should be straightened so that they are directed inward.
Do not compact the soil tightly when planting black cohosh. A planting hole filled to the top is spilled abundantly with water. After planting, it is useful to mulch the surface around the bushes with dry peat, grass or sawdust. This will conserve moisture and keep the soil loose.
Growing and caring for black cohosh
After planting, caring for the black cohosh flower consists in moderate watering, feeding, pruning. Preparation of the plant for winter is also an important point. You will not have to perform any more complex procedures when growing black cohosh.
Watering schedule
Black cohosh loves moisture and does not tolerate drying out of the soil, which is clearly signaled by wilting of leaves and peduncles.Overflowing flower beds can also cause bush disease. Growing in places with stagnant moisture leads to the death of plantings.
According to gardeners, it is better to water the plants rarely, but abundantly, giving nutrition to the deep-lying roots. In the heat, the bushes of cimicifugi, even in the shade, are watered every 3 days.
Does the plant need feeding
Black cohosh is sensitive to soil fertility, but the correct laying of planting holes completely provides the plant with nutrition for the next 3 years.
Since season 4, black cohosh is fed for lush flowering and decorative foliage. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in early spring. When laying the buds, complex preparations for flowering crops or phosphorus-potassium mineral compositions are added to irrigation.
Loosening and mulching
Weeds rarely annoy adult plants, because the black cohosh has a lush rosette of leaves, creating a thick shadow under the bush. Therefore, weeding beds with cimicifuga will rarely be required. It will simplify the care of ornamental bushes by mulching or growing short plants nearby in a flower bed.
A layer of organic bulk materials up to 5 cm will protect the flower bed from drying out, keep the soil loose for a long time. Sawdust, foliage, peat are used as mulch.
Preparing black cohosh for winter
An adult black cohosh tolerates the winters of central Russia well. Florists near Moscow claim that the cimicifuga winters well without any shelter. In areas with severe winters or lack of stable snow cover, plantings can be covered with a layer of leaves or spruce branches.
Do I need to cut black cohosh for the winter
Before the onset of cold weather, the stems and leaves of the plant are cut completely flush with the ground. This technique is usually sufficient to prepare the black cohosh for wintering. After pruning, young bushes can be mulched with a layer of up to 10 cm. This technique is especially relevant in areas with severe winters or frequent temperature changes.
Pruning black cohosh at other times consists in thinning the foliage, removing faded shoots and decorative shaping the bush. Such formation can be carried out at any time of the warm season.
Diseases and pests
Correct planting and sufficient care of the black cohosh flower results in a healthy, strong shrub that is not prone to disease and is not damaged by pests. The culture has a high immunity to fungal infections, including scab.
The plant gets sick most often due to waterlogging of the soil. In combination with cold soil, this condition can provoke powdery mildew infection. Similar conditions develop in spring with unexpected nighttime cold snaps. For prevention, black cohosh leaves emerging from the ground are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, Fundazol or Topaz.
Growing mistakes: why black cohosh does not bloom
Black cohosh foliage is bright, juicy, collected in luxurious bushes, decorative in itself. But, without waiting for flowering, novice growers are trying to find and eliminate the cause. Often the plant does not emit peduncles or the buds that appear do not open, regardless of the quality of care.
Possible natural reasons why black cohosh does not bloom:
- Lack of sunny days. Although the plant belongs to shade-loving, in a particularly cloudy summer, the flowers do not open, and the peduncles wither.
- Cold spring or sudden cold snap in summer. Black cohosh flowers cannot stand temperatures below + 15 ° C. Stems may not develop or buds may fall off.
- With prolonged drying out of the soil or the formation of a dense crust on the ground, the plant begins to save nutrients and the bloom of black cohosh may not occur.
- Growing in an area that is too sunny or completely shaded can produce beautiful foliage, but leave the plant without peduncles.
Of mistakes in care, the main obstacle to the development of cimicifugi is excess moisture, which provokes root rot. The lack of trace elements also adversely affects the condition of the bushes. The fact that it is time to feed the plant can be judged by the state of the leaves, which become pale, dry out or wither.
In many black cohosh inflorescences appear in the middle of summer, but the flowers do not open immediately. Late flowering species may simply not have time to fully form in temperate climates. If the summer in the region is short, and it gets colder early in autumn, the earliest varieties of cimicifuga should be chosen for growing.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for black cohosh is not difficult. To successfully grow an ornamental plant with amazing flowers that look like silver candles, you need to maintain a balance of light and shade, moisture and dryness of the soil. With minimal attention, black cohosh can decorate the garden for decades, becoming more beautiful every year.
