Arabis

The genus Arabis, or Rhesus (Arabis), unites more than 120 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants. Many of them have decorative value - in spring or early summer, countless flowers are formed, simple or double. The species described below are perennial. Arabis caucasica is an evergreen perennial with a height of 10-20 cm, forming dense pillows of oval gray leaves. Blooms with white flowers for a long time. There are also double varieties with long peduncles, with yellowish edges of the leaves. The most common Arabis alpina (A. alpina) is a hardy plant with a height of 25 cm with climbing, creeping along the ground, rooting stems. Small white, rarely pink, flowers collected in a brush are simple or double. The leaves are oval oblong gray pubescent. Blooms in spring. Arabis light blue (A. caerulea) - a graceful and very unpretentious plant with blue flowers, in nature it grows even in the mountains, on slopes and scree. A. turrita is a species up to 75 cm tall. Obovate-ovate pubescent leaves with a toothed edge on the upper side are green, on the lower side they are purplish-blue. Many light -yellow flowers are collected in a brush. A. procurrens is a species that forms many thin, creeping stems on the ground. The leaves are whole, ovate or oblong-lanceolate. The flowers are large and white.

The genus Arabis, or Rhesus (Arabis), unites more than 120 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants. Many of them have decorative value - in spring or early summer, countless flowers are formed, simple or double. The species described below are perennial.

Arabis caucasica is an evergreen perennial with a height of 10-20 cm, forming dense pillows of oval gray leaves. Blooms with white flowers for a long time. There are also double varieties with long peduncles, with yellowish edges of the leaves.

The most common Arabis alpina (A. alpina) is a hardy plant with a height of 25 cm with climbing, creeping along the ground, rooting stems. Small white, rarely pink, flowers collected in a brush are simple or double. The leaves are oval oblong gray pubescent. Blooms in spring.

Arabis light blue (A. caerulea) - a graceful and very unpretentious plant with blue flowers, in nature it grows even in the mountains, on slopes and scree.

A. turrita is a species up to 75 cm tall. Obovate-ovate pubescent leaves with a toothed edge on the upper side are green, on the lower side they are purplish-blue. Many light -yellow flowers are collected in a brush.

A. procurrens is a species that forms many thin, creeping stems on the ground. The leaves are whole, ovate or oblong-lanceolate. The flowers are large and white.

Cultivation

Species of the genus Arabis are grown outdoors: in rock gardens, when decorating flower borders, rocky areas in mixborders. Plant in the open ground in autumn, choosing well-drained soil, you can among the rocks and in the cracks of the walls. It is recommended to carry out top dressing with organic fertilizers of 2-3 kg /m2. During the spring period, a complex mineral fertilizer is added 2-3 times to the water for irrigation, 15 g per bucket. In summer, after flowering, you can prune the plants, leaving 3-4 cm of the stem from the surface of the soil, lightly sprinkle with light soil or sand. Soon the Arabis tree will grow back and retain its appearance of a gray-silver carpet until late autumn.

Species of the genus Arabis are grown outdoors: in rock gardens, when decorating flower borders, rocky areas in mixborders. Plant in the open ground in autumn, choosing well-drained soil, you can among the rocks and in the cracks of the walls. It is recommended to carry out top dressing with organic fertilizers of 2-3 kg /m2. During the spring period, a complex mineral fertilizer is added 2-3 times to the water for irrigation, 15 g per bucket.

In summer, after flowering, you can prune the plants, leaving 3-4 cm of the stem from the surface of the soil, lightly sprinkle with light soil or sand. Soon the Arabis tree will grow back and retain its appearance of a gray-silver carpet until late autumn.

Location

Plants are planted in partial shade, but it is also possible in the open sun.

Temperature

These plants are resistant to both high and very low temperatures.

Watering

Rhesus plants are resistant to drought, so they are rarely watered, except at an early stage of development.

Care

Remove faded, dry and damaged parts.

Reproduction

Propagate by seed; sow in summer in a peat-sand mixture. Then the seedlings are kept in a closed place, and in the spring they are finally planted. Cuttings are carried out in the summer, 2-3 lower leaves are removed from the cut shoots and planted on a prepared bed, in a greenhouse or in a permanent place in the ground. Plant to a depth of 3 cm, obliquely, shade from the bright sun. Cuttings take root in 3-4 weeks.

Diseases

Such pests of these plants, such as gallica larvae, cause bloating on the stems, which stops growth and flowering. However, the damage is rarely so severe that insecticide treatment is necessary, usually limited to simply removing the affected parts. White rust of cruciferous plants can provoke the formation of whitish lesions on the leaves and stems. Cruciferous downy mildew leads to yellow spots on the upper side of the leaves; on the reverse side, in the places corresponding to these spots, a grayish-white fluff appears. Both diseases are treated by treatment with appropriate antifungal medications. However, if the infection is insignificant, you can limit yourself to removing the diseased parts of the plant. Mosaic Arabis disease causes extensive spots on the leaves, and the growth of the plant stops. Today, there is no cure for this disease, so it is necessary to remove the affected parts of the plant.