I had the idea to get a small pond for a long time, I liked to dream about it so much that I even began to select plants that would be planted on its banks.
I did it slowly, choosing from dozens and hundreds of applicants only the most worthy, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the arrangement of the pond was postponed indefinitely, but I have already purchased several plants for it, maybe someone will come in handy as an idea… one of them is Virginia spider. For the second year I have been growing a long-term variety “Osprey” with large white flowers.
What can I say from personal observations? Tradescantia virginiana is unpretentious, resistant to diseases and pests, practically does not require maintenance, the main thing is that the soil is always moist, so I chose it as a plant for the environment of the reservoir. It won’t just dry out there)
I put mine in a light penumbra, so that it does not stretch up, as in a thick shadow, and does not suffer from the heat, as in the open sun. Flowering begins in June and lasts until October-November. Realizing that such an abundant flowering depletes the plants, and considering that Tradescantia virginiana grows under an apple tree, it needs top dressing, which I use 5 times during the growing season.
Another mandatory operation is the removal of withered inflorescences. This preserves the strength of the plant and stimulates the formation of new stems. The flower of Tradescantia virginiana lives only 1 day, but there are so many of them on a compact bush that it never looks “naked”.
That’s what’s strange-the flowers are completely odorless, and they always have a lot of bees and any other insects. I thought honeybees were supposed to have a sweet smell, isn’t that right? Then what attracts them, if not the smell?
Last year I ruthlessly removed all the wilted flower stalks, and this year I want to leave 2-3 for the seeds. This is a hybrid, so the varietal properties will not be preserved during seed propagation. Who knows what will happen if you sow its seeds? Maybe the flowers will be a completely different color and size, or the plant will be lower, it is very interesting to experiment!
If you have any information on this subject, please share it in the comments.
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