Doronicum (Doronicum): flowers in the photo with a description of cultivation

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Doronicum (Doronicum) – a genus of perennial herbsbelonging to the Asteraceae family, wild representatives – inhabitants of the mountain and foothill regions of the temperate zone of Eurasia. Widespread in culture.

  • Family: aster or Compositae.
  • Homeland: mountains and foothills of Eurasia.
  • Rhizome: tuberous, superficial.
  • Stem: straight.
  • Leaves: basal petiolate, cauline stalked.
  • Fruit: seed.
  • Reproductive ability: propagated by segments of rhizomes, division of bushes and seeds.
  • Illumination: photophilous, tolerates partial shade.
  • Watering: drought tolerant.
  • Content temperature: winter-hardy.
  • Flowering duration: up to 40-45 days in spring or summer, depending on the species.

Description of the flower doronicum

A beautifully flowering perennial with simple or slightly branched stems 30 – 100 cm high. The leaves are pale green in color, the lower ones are rounded oblong, elliptical or heart-shaped, petiolate, formed into basal rosettes, the stem ones are oblong, alternate, mostly stem-bearing. At the end of the stem on an almost leafless peduncle, large, from 5 to 12 cm in diameter, solitary, in some species collected in corymbs of 2-6 pieces, yellow flowers similar to chamomile bloom. The inflorescence is a basket with female reed marginal flowers arranged in one or two rows, and bisexual tubular median flowers. The fruit is a brown or dark brown achene, smooth or covered with white hairs. Seeds are small, up to 6000 per 1 g, remain viable for 1-2 years.

The genus includes up to 40 species, of which 10 are used in culture. The aerial part of most species is poisonous; it is not for nothing that the doronicum flower got its name from the Arabic word “doronish”, denoting an unknown poisonous plant. In Russia, where about 12 species grow, flowers are also known under the name “kozulnik”.

Doronicums are widely used ornamental plants , valued for their unpretentiousness, winter hardiness, long and early flowering, they are planted in mixborders and rockeries. The flowers stay fresh for a long time in bouquets and are often grown for cutting .

Common ornamental species and varieties of doronicum

Oriental doronicum (D. Orientale Hoffing) , another name: Caucasian doronicum (D. Caucasicum), is most often found in our gardens. In the wild, distributed in the Mediterranean, the foothills of the Caucasus, Transcaucasia. The plant is up to 50 cm tall, with horizontal rhizomes having a clearly swollen shape. Basal leaves are serrated petiolate, stem leaves are sessile and ovoid.

Ephemeroid, with simple single baskets of yellow flowers up to 8 cm in diameter, blooming in mid-May. It blooms for 30-40 days, then the aerial part dies off, and new rosettes appear only at the end of summer. In culture since 1808, two varieties are grown:

Spring Beauty (Fruhlingspracht) with bright yellow double flowers, up to 45 cm tall early dwarf Gold Dwarf, only 15 cm tall. Of the new varieties, we can recommend undersized, up to 35 cm “Little Leo”.

Doronicum plantain (D. Plantagineum) is higher than the previous species, up to 140 cm, its yellow flowers are larger, up to 12 cm in diameter, and it blooms a week later. In nature, distributed in southwestern Europe, cultivated since 1560. Characterized by slight pubescence of leaves and trunks, tuberous rhizome. Popular varieties are Miss Mason and Harpuf Crewe.

Doronicum Columna (D. Columnae) is also grown in gardens. Its compact clumps up to 40 cm high, in early summer are decorated with yellow flowers with narrow petals, up to 5 cm in diameter. Looks good on rocky hills, there is a profusely flowering Gold Straus variety with branching stems.

Sometimes in flower beds there is an Austrian doronicum (D. Austriacum Jacq) , a plant flowering in July up to 70 cm tall, with bright yellow flowers collected in inflorescences-shields.

Let’s also note the undersized doronicum Clus (D. clusii) , which grows in nature in high-mountain alpine meadows. A plant 10-30 cm high blooms in July-August, the leaves are shaped like jagged spearheads, they, like the upper part of the peduncles, are strongly pubescent.

Below are photos of the doronicum species listed.

Doronicum Austrian in the photo.

Doronicum large-leaved in the photo.

Doronicum Poisonous in the photo.

Care, reproduction and planting doronicum

All doronicums are light-loving plants, but they also feel good in partial shade, while the duration of flowering and the size of the inflorescences even increase. The only exception is doronicum plantain, which is best grown in an open sunny place. In full shade, near the trunks of large trees, these flowers do not grow.

Plants are unpretentious to the soil, however, for abundant flowering, it is better to grow doronicum on loose, well-fertilized lands, sufficiently moist, but not damp. The root system is superficial, so the flower does not tolerate deep loosening and digging. To preserve moisture and protect against weeds, it is recommended to mulch the bushes using wood shavings or chips, mowed grass. After flowering, the foliage dies off, the plant goes into a dormant period. New rosettes appear at the end of summer, at the same time, under favorable conditions, doronicum may bloom a second time. During the period of formation of flowers and buds of renewal, sufficient watering is required, without waterlogging; at rest, plants easily tolerate a lack of moisture and even drought. Faded shoots are recommended to be cut off. Doronicums are not picky about nutrition, usually they have enough fertilizers applied to the soil during digging and mulching. If necessary, top dressing is carried out in the first half of summer with organic or mineral fertilizers.

In a temperate climate, the flower winters well, in the presence of snow cover it does not require shelter, cut bushes can only be lightly sprinkled with peat. If there is not enough snow, you can cover the bushes with spruce branches or compost. Doronicum spring frosts are well tolerated even in flowering form.

The plants are durable, they can grow in one place without transplanting for many years, but for better flowering it is recommended to rejuvenate the bushes every 4-5 years, dividing into several parts. The division is carried out from mid-August to early September, although the flower tolerates transplants well even in flowering form, provided that the earthy coma is preserved.

For propagation of doronicum, not only division of bushes is used, but also segments of rhizomes or seeds. Segments of rhizomes with a renewal bud are dug up immediately after flowering, in June-July, and immediately planted in a permanent place. In the case of seed propagation of doronicum, planting is carried out in open ground in May or autumn. Seedlings appear at temperatures above 16 ° C. When grown through seedlings, seeds are sown in April to a depth of about 5 mm in greenhouses, where they germinate in 7-10 days. Seedlings dive, when 1-2 true leaves appear, they are planted in open ground in the last days of June at a distance of about 25 cm from each other, and in August they are transplanted to a permanent place with an interval of 30 to 50 cm. Young plantings bloom in the second year.

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