Saxifrage flower: description of garden and house plants

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The saxifrage flower (Saxifraga) is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows in the temperate and cold climates of the Northern Hemisphere. The family includes 30 genera, which unite almost 600 species of this beautiful flower.

  • Family : Saxifrage
  • Homeland : Japan, China.
  • Rhizome : fibrous.
  • Stem : long, dense, leafy up to 1.5 meters long.
  • Leaves : Large, simple, entire, pinnate and palmate.
  • Fruit : the fruit is a capsule that opens along the internal partitions.
  • Reproductive ability : seeds, daughter plants.
  • Illumination : shade, partial shade.
  • Watering : moderate, regular.
  • Content temperature : summer 20-22°C, winter 12-14°C.
  • Flowering time : May-September

Where does the saxifrage bell grow?

Where does the saxifrage grow, delighting amateur flower growers with its lush flowering and lush greenery? A wide variety of species of this plant is concentrated in the mountains of Asia, Europe and America. In addition, saxifrages make up most of the green cover of the earth in the zones of the alpine and arctic tundra.

Description of leaves and flowers of saxifrage

The plant got its name (“saxifrage”) due to the alpine species that live on the rocks. It is believed that saxifrages are capable of forming cracks in rocks.

Almost all representatives of this family are herbaceous perennials, the height of the stems of which can reach several centimeters or one and a half meters, depending on the species.

The leaves of the saxifrage can have a different shape; in nature and home floriculture, there are plants with simple, pinnate and palmate leaves.

Flowers can be solitary or collected in inflorescences.

The drought-resistant varieties of this plant, plucking in the lowlands, have a well-developed root system and pubescent leathery leaves. It is thanks to the fleshy leaves covered with dense skin that saxifrage is able to tolerate a lack of moisture. The shape of the flower is very reminiscent of bells, so the plant is often called saxifrage bell.

The saxifrage flower, the photo of which is given below, feels great both in the garden and in the winter greenhouse and on the windowsill in the apartment:

Despite the fact that this plant is a perennial , in the conditions of a garden or flower bed, most of its species are not able to exist all year round, since at temperatures below +6 ºС it starts to hurt and eventually dies.

Therefore, it is advisable to transplant it along with a clod of earth into boxes or temporary pots , in which it will grow on a veranda or balcony all winter. You can initially grow saxifrage in portable outdoor flowerpots to make it easier to protect it from cold and frost.

Falling atmospheric precipitation is collected in sockets and nourishes the growing shoots of the flower. The saxifrage plant, which lives in the wild on rocks and screes, in addition to the fibrous rhizome, has a forked main root that goes deep into the soil. Such plants are characterized by a cushion form of growth and the presence of shortened shoots pressed to the ground.

Alpine grass saxifrage is capable of exuding lime on the surface of its leaves. Along the edge of the leaf, these types of plants have special pits into which dissolved calcium carbonate enters from conducting vessels.

After the water molecules evaporate, a lime residue remains in these pits. It is thanks to the accumulation of this sediment that the evaporation of moisture from the leaves decreases and the detrimental effect of excessive high-mountain irradiation on the plant decreases.

Blooming saxifrage at home and in the garden: perennial reproduction

Reproduction of perennial saxifrage can occur by seeds, as well as by daughter rosettes. After a certain period of time in the process of growth, the so-called mustache appears in the saxifrage, on which daughter plants begin to develop.

These young plants should not be separated immediately. Under them, you need to substitute bowls with soil, into which they will begin to germinate quickly. It is important that the mother plant itself is located higher than the daughter sockets.

This will help the children to continue to feed on the adult plant and at the same time actively take root, so that later they can be painlessly separated.

Some varieties of the saxifrage plant, the photo of which can be seen below, are able to reproduce quite successfully by sowing seeds for seedlings:

Seedling boxes should be placed on a well-lit windowsill. Seeds are sown in moist and loose soil in March-April and sprinkled with dry sand on top.

The amazing properties of saxifrage, which can be grown both in the garden and indoors, allow you to create original ampelous compositions. About a hundred species of saxifrage are houseplants able to delight flower growers for a long time, decorating the window sill in living rooms and on balconies.

Indoor saxifrage at home blooms only at the age of 2-3 years. Most species have white flowers, but there are also plants with pink, yellow, blue and red flowers.

Blooming saxifrage will become a real decoration of the garden or window sill during its flowering period, which lasts from early May to the end of September.

How the saxifrage blooms and how to care for it

Since the saxifrage, the photo of which can be seen below, is a shade-tolerant plant, it feels great in cool and dry rooms:

However, the rays of the sun will still be useful for this plant. It is best if they are morning or evening. But direct sunlight on the leaves is highly undesirable. This will cause them to become lighter or fade completely.

Therefore, homemade saxifrage should be placed on the northern windows, which are not exposed to the scorching midday rays. If there is no suitable window in the apartment or house, the plant can be placed in the back of the room, away from the window and the scorching sun. It is important to remember that the saxifrage indoor plant needs fresh air, so the room in which it grows must be well ventilated. In the summer, it can be taken out to the balcony or terrace.

The optimum temperature for growing saxifrage bell in summer is 20-22 °C. If the air in the room is dry and the temperature exceeds the norm, then the plant must be sprayed and the soil kept moist, but watering should remain moderate. In winter, the temperature should not fall below 12-14 ° C, but too warm air near central heating radiators will adversely affect the leaves of the plant. Therefore, next to the flower you need to place some container filled with clean water.

With the approach of spring, watering becomes more frequent and top dressing is introduced. It is recommended to use liquid fertilizer once every 10 days. In winter, you can also feed the plant, but less often – 1 time in 1.5-2.0 months and the solution should be less concentrated. It is important to take into account the fact that saxifrage indoor flowers respond well to top dressing only when the ambient temperature does not drop to 10 ° C.

In home gardening, Arends’ saxifrage is most often used, which is a hybrid that appeared only a hundred years ago.

Also, saxifrage in the garden can be represented by stony, “urban”, shady and some other perennial species of this plant. For their unpretentiousness, decorativeness and ability to grow rapidly, saxifrages are very loved and revered by landscape designers and amateur flower growers.

They go well with carnations, low coniferous and heather crops, gentians and irises.

Usually the garden saxifrage has beautiful openwork rounded leaves, sometimes with a whitish edging. This flower forms beautiful rosettes that quickly turn into attractive sods. If the soil moisture is insufficient, “bald spots” may form inside these sods, gradually overgrowing over the course of one season when growing conditions normalize.

The saxifrage blooms very beautifully and spectacularly, starting from late spring-early summer and ending in late autumn. This low ground cover forms a very beautiful cap of their small flowers, white, pink, yellowish and red depending on the species.

After the end of flowering, dried flower stalks are removed in order to return the saxifrage to its decorative properties. In addition, the timely removal of faded flower stalks will help stimulate the active growth of new shoots and prevent uncontrolled self-seeding.

This plant is very unpretentious and under natural conditions is able to grow on very depleted soils, but in garden conditions it is planted in very loose, well-drained soils. The place should be sunny or semi-shaded. When transplanting into the soil, it is worth adding humus.

How to care for saxifrage in the garden? It is not necessary to weed these plants in order to remove weeds, since not a single weed is able to break through the curtains formed by the saxifrage. 3-4 years after planting, the flowering saxifrage must be rejuvenated, otherwise the bushes will lose their decorative effect and shape. The plant can be propagated by seeds and daughter bushes, which can take root both on the street and in a pot.

Studying the video of growing saxifrage, which is presented below, will help you understand what conditions should be created for this plant:

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