Asclepias, or, as it is also called, vatochnik - This is a perennial herb or shrub with a height of 0.5 to 1.5 m, which is considered the birthplace of North and South America. Uterus has a strong horizontal rhizome, thickened straight stem.
Large lanceolate leaves are located oppositely or whorled. The length of the leaf can reach 20 cm, the leaves have a dense vein in the middle, the lower part of the leaf is densely pubescent.
Vatochnik blooms in the second half of summer with small flowers of red, pink or white color, which are collected in a brush-like umbrellas. After a hot summer, spindle-shaped seeds ripen, covered with fluff, externally similar to cotton, for which the plant was given the name “vatochnik”.
Types of perennial decorative leaves
As an ornamental plant, these types of vatochnika are used: meat-red, tuberose and Syrian. Consider each of these types in more detail.
Did you know? Asklepias has about 80 species, but only three are used for decorative purposes.
Butcher meat red
Grouper-red grows up to 1.2 m tall. Stem branched, with many elongated, slightly pubescent leaves. The bush of the meat-red vatochnika is dense, has a beautiful shape, it grows wide over the years.
The flowering period is July, the duration is up to 35 days. The flowers are red or purple-pink, less white, have a delicate, slightly chocolate flavor. Flowers form umbrella-shaped inflorescences with a diameter of 5-6 cm.
Butcher tuberose
Shtochka tuberose, or tuberiferous - 0.5-0.7 m high. Stem hard, upright. Oblong leaves pubescent. Blooms thick buds of small fragrant orange flowers. The flowering period is quite long - from mid-summer to early autumn. Some varieties of the tuberose vatochnika have flowers of yellow and red color.
Syriac Butcher
The Syatoan stalker reaches a height of 0.8-1.5 m, this species is a long-liver, it can grow up to 30 years. The shoots are straight, densely covered with oblong leaves, about 14 cm long. Leathery leaves of dark green color resemble rhododendron foliage.
A feature of this species is the fall of the lower leaves and the exposure of the root part of the shoot. Blooms Syrian vatnik pink flowers with a diameter of 8-10 mm, which form an umbrella-like fragrant inflorescences. The flowering period begins in July and can sometimes last until the first frost. This type of vatochnik allows shoots to a distance of more than 1 m from the mother bush. 
Did you know? The aroma of vatochnika resembles the sweet smell of pastry.
Choosing a landing site
The shank is an unpretentious plant, it grows in almost any soil, but weakly acid loams are preferred for better development. The place where the spring will grow should be sunny, without closely located groundwater.
In order for a vatochnik to be lush and beautiful, it needs to provide enough space for development, when planting it is necessary to maintain a distance of at least 2 m to the nearest plant.
The Syrian species is different from other aggressive soil population, so it is recommended to plant in a pot with a thick layer of drainage. Capacity with vatochnik digs into the ground, thereby limiting the growth of its processes.
Important! Growing in one place for more than 10 years, the bush in the bush needs a transplant for more favorable growth.
Growing vatochnika through seedlings
The grouper rather successfully propagated by seeds. The only difficulty that can be encountered is the absence of seeds on a growing adult plant, since the vatuchnik needs a hot summer to ripen them.
In any case, seeds of a vatochnika can often be found on sale, and it is easy to grow seedlings from them; We describe this process in more detail.
When to plant seeds for seedlings
For propagation of seedlings with seeds, they are planted in seedlings at home in March - April. Seeds remain viable for 3 years. Planting seeds is carried out in the ground, intended for domestic plants or indoor plants.
Seed Depth
Seeding depth should be about 10-15 mm. A drainage layer is poured into the seedling box, then loamy soil, in which furrows are made and seeds are not densely sown. Approximately in two weeks after sowing the first shoots of the tapering will appear.
Optimal conditions for seedlings
After sowing seeds, the soil is moistened, and the planting container is covered with a film to create a greenhouse effect. Every day you need to air the seedlings, opening the film for several hours.
The soil is moistened every two to three days, you can periodically spray them with warm water. When sprouts appear, the container with the seedlings is placed in a well-lit place with air temperature no higher than +18 ° C. After the seedlings get stronger, the film is removed completely.
Dive seedlings
Grown seedlings should be dived in separate pots or in a large container with space for the favorable development of the seedling. New tanks should be with a drainage layer of 2-3 cm. The top of the seedlings can be pinned, thereby stimulating the growth of the plant. After picking, the capacity with seedlings for a couple of days is best to priten.
Did you know? Asklepias is a good honey plant, one hectare of its plantings gives about 600 kg of light honey with fruit aroma.
Planting seedlings in open ground
Vatochka seedlings, which were grown from seeds, can be planted in the open ground at a prepared site from the beginning of June according to the scheme 0.5 × 0.5 m. For the first time after planting, young plants need to be watered every day. After 3-4 years, the plant should bloom.
Other planting and propagation methods
Reproduction vatochnika also carried out by sowing seeds directly into the ground, dividing the bush and cuttings. Each gardener chooses for himself the most appropriate option.
Sowing seeds directly in open ground
Sowing seeds directly into the ground in early spring in a moist soil, immediately after the descent of snow. Planting area is pre-dug deep, remove the roots of weeds and loosen.
After that, the furrows are made, they are moistened and seeds are sown to a depth of about 30 mm.
Then the seeds are sprinkled with earth, while small holes are left on the ground for watering in the first weeks after planting. If the seeds were planted in a dry land, it is desirable to cover the beds with a film to accelerate the appearance of sprouts.
Reproduction by cuttings
In order to propagate the votnika, cuttings must be made at the very beginning of summer to cut a young shoot into 15 cm long segments, from which the lower leaves are removed, and the cutting is placed in wet sand. This type of breeding requires efficiency, since the cutting, which has lost a lot of milky sap, will be worse to take root. Cuttings take root for about twenty days.
Splitting bush
Reproduction vatochnika method of dividing the bush is carried out in late autumn, after the flowering period. To do this, dig a shrub, divide the rhizome into pieces of 10-15 cm, divide the stems of the stalker and plant the separated parts of the bush for a permanent growing place.
Each part of the rhizome must have new buds.
With this method of reproduction, plants tend to take root, and new bushes are able to bloom in the next summer season.
Important! Vatochnika juice in contact with skin causes irritation.
What plants does the vatnika combine with?
The gadder grows well next to almost all plants, but the best combination is formed with a meadow crown, perlovnik and miscanthus. High bell, fizostegiya, ekhinatseya and aconites perfectly complement the powerful bushes vatochnika decorative view and add bright colors dacha site or garden.
How to care for an opener in the open ground
Growing a garden votnika in the garden or at the dacha is not particularly difficult, even a novice gardener can master this process. In addition to watering and fertilizing, which we describe later, vatochnik must sometimes be trimmed, forming a neat shrub. If you wish to rejuvenate the plant, you can cut off all the ground parts, and soon new shoots will grow from the root. It is recommended to cut flower stalks after flowering has ended, if you do not plan to collect seeds.
What watering to provide
After planting, the scrubber needs regular intensive watering. The grown-up plant has a branched powerful root system, which is able to independently provide the plant with moisture. However, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the soil, in the dry season the vatochnik should be watered in the evening.
When and how to feed
In early spring, after the snow leaves the area on which the seedling grows, it is necessary to clean the material from which the plant was covered for the winter, this will facilitate the growth of young shoots.
After the appearance of green shoots can be fertilized with complex mineral fertilizers, bringing them directly into the soil. It stimulates the growth of stems and leaves, as well as provide lush blooming of the vatochnika in summer.
Possible problems with growing
It is resistant to various diseases and pests, in rare cases its bush can climb a small fly - whiteflythat feeds on its juice, which can lead to desiccation. Get rid of the pest can be drugs "Fufanon" "Rovikurt" or "Aktellik", prepared according to the instructions.
Another problem that may arise in a vatochnik during planting and care is improper air humidity. With excessive moisture, the plant will be affected by mold, and with insufficient moisture, the leaves will turn yellow and begin to fall. In the first case, it is necessary to reduce the level of humidity, if it is a seedling or plant in a pot, then the container with vatnik must be moved to a drier place, in the second case, periodic spraying will help.
Did you know? Fluffy fibers that cover Asklepias seeds repel moisture: this “cotton wool” used to be used in the manufacture of life jackets.
Shelter for the winter
In order for the growing wilderness in your landscape design to successfully overwinter and in the next season to please with its lush bush, it needs to provide shelter. Dry leaves are suitable for shelter, some gardeners use for this purpose mulching with sawdust or dried bark of trees. Before sheltering for wintering, it is desirable to cut dry shoots at a level of 10 cm from the ground, this will improve the decorative appearance of the plot, and cut stems are suitable as a covering material.
