Calistegia - Planting And Care

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

A bindweed named kalistegia will decorate your garden

Three years ago, my friend gave me a flower called Kalistegia pink, warning me to limit the growth of its roots. I wanted to know more about this unusual plant.

It turned out that the birthplace of calistegia is East Asia, Western Europe and North America of the temperate climate zone. This is probably why pink calistegia is often called American.

There are about 25 species of this plant. The most common, besides the pink calistegia, is the Daurian calistegia with pubescent leaves. The name of the plant comes from the Greek words "kalyx" - calyx and "stegon" - to cover - for the large bracts that cover the calyx.

I dug a plastic bucket without a bottom in the flower bed, poured fertile soil there, adding half a glass of ash, a tablespoon of complete mineral fertilizer, humus and planted the calistegia in the middle of such a wonderful flower bed. In the first year, three stalks, about 1.5 meters high, have grown.

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They amicably and synchronously wrapped around their support, which they served as a small-diameter water pipe. Then they gave out several charming light pink double flowers about 5 centimeters in size. In the second year there were more flowers. In the third year, it was 2012, which turned out to be very damp and cool, their number decreased.

Three years after planting, I decided to change the place of growth. I dug a bucket out of the ground and shook out its contents: I still regret not having photographed the view of the roots then - they looked like a huge spool of thick white threads that spun around the bucket's diameter. The roots did not go deep into the bucket in search of food. And it became clear to me why the flowering of the plant had weakened - its roots became too crowded, and therefore there was not enough food for a violent flowering.

If I had planted this plant not in a bucket, but in open ground, then its roots with great speed, as does its relative, the bindweed (bindweed), would fill the space around it and turn into an aggressor plant.

By the way, outwardly, these plants are similar, because they belong to the same family - bindweed and differ only in the shape of the flowers. Therefore, I recommend planting calistegia in containers without a bottom. And so that in a year or two you do not have to transplant this plant, I advise you to choose a larger container. For this, for example, a small old barrel is suitable. Since the roots of the calistegia do not run deep, the height of the barrel can be reduced so as not to dig it deep.

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The best time for transplanting and planting is spring. I transplanted a couple of rhizomes into the same container (called a bucket without a bottom), renewing the earth, and this year Kalistegia bloomed again profusely in a new bright place and on a new support. I believe that it is better to make the support in the form of thick nylon ropes tied to a metal or wooden base. Then each stem of the calistegia can twine its own separate rope.

The higher the support, the higher the calistegia climbs, and it grows up to 4 meters! The disadvantage of the plant during flowering is the presence of only one double flower in the leaf axil. But these flowers form in the axils of each leaf. And every flower blooms for several days.

Flowering lasts longer in cold weather than in hot weather. In a sunny place, Kalistegia begins to bloom in late June, and in a shady place - only in late July - early August. Flowering continues until frost.

I gave the extra planting material to my friends, who wanted to have such a completely unpretentious beauty.

The fact is that the care for it is minimal: feed with complex mineral fertilizer in the spring for rapid growth. Before flowering, water with a manure solution, and then one more time during flowering. Water as needed. The moisture in the confined space of the buckets lasts longer, and therefore the number of waterings is reduced. In the winter, the shoots of the calistegia die off, and in the spring they grow back and are ready to quickly curl around the vertical support and give pleasure to the owners and guests. There is no need to insulate the plant for the winter.

The pests of this plant are snails and slugs, which spoil the appearance of the plant. To prevent this from happening, it is better to plant the klistegia in a bright, sunny place. I did not find any other pests. In a damp cold summer, powdery mildew may appear on its leaves. In order to prevent the disease, you can spray the plant with a solution of the Topaz preparation.

Kalistegia is well suited for vertical gardening of arbors, arches, benches. Unlike other climbing plants, it does not form dense, impenetrable thickets. I strongly advise all gardeners to plant this unpretentious beautiful plant.