Morea Is An Exquisite Collector's Item. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

In the Iris family there are many plants with the status of "exclusive". And if some stars take root with us quite actively, slowly from exotic plants becoming familiar cultures, others are very rare. One of the most interesting plants, we still have a curiosity - the sea. Surprisingly graceful bulbous with large, spectacular flowers, reminiscent of a hybrid of iris and cyclamen, - the most delicate of accent plants. It is not easy to grow by the sea, this is a capricious African beauty, who cannot stand even light frosts and needs a strict selection of growing conditions. But if you are an experienced gardener and are looking for a truly rare plant to be proud of, the seas are for you. After all, it is also one of the most grateful iris crops.

Content:

Types and varieties of morea
Using the sea
Sea growing strategies
Conditions required by the sea
Landing of the sea
Care of the seas
Wintering of the sea
Pest and disease control
Reproduction of the sea

Types and varieties of morea

Herbaceous corms perennials, which have spread from South Africa to gardeners' collections, have taken their place in the list of the most attractive plants. Morei are real exotics, which are rightfully called beautifully flowering. After all, thermophilicity, sensitivity to frost and at the same time luxurious, unusual flowering are inherent only in selected plants.

Morea (Moraea), or "tulips from the Cape", African irises are one of the rarest representatives of the Iris family. And one of the finest garden and indoor accents. This is a gentle, but unusually spectacular plant, which, even against the background of congeners with their variety of elegant flowers, can become the center of everyone's attention. Morea is both simple and original, unusual and elegant. Its beauty is laconic and expressive, and the modesty of forms and colors only emphasizes attractive details. This plant evokes associations with orchids, irises, and cyclamens, but once seeing it during flowering, it is difficult to forget the sea.

In height, the seas are limited to 45-90 cm, although in the middle lane they practically never exceed half a meter. Her leaves are typical for all corms exotics - linear, rather narrow, they are perceived as a graceful addition to the branched, but very thin peduncles. The flowers of the sea are called iris-shaped. But outwardly, in some species, they are closer to cyclamens and orchids: the upper sepals are often rudified, form only a beautiful core, and the flower itself seems to consist only of round-ovoid wide three or four "petals". But there are also seas, in which the inner tepals are only slightly shorter than the outer ones. They differ only in their upward direction and lanceolate-elongated, and not in a wide shape.

One of the most attractive features of this plant is the presence of beautiful spots and patterns on the petals, emphasizing the base blue or lilac color and giving expressiveness to the elegant yet simple flower. Adds to the plant charm and pearlescent texture of the petals.

The bloom of the sea lasts from 3 to 9 weeks. Each flower lasts only 3 days. But a plant when planted in a group does not allow you to notice this drawback. The timing of the flowering of the sea in the room and greenhouse culture is winter or spring. In the garden, everything depends on forcing, planting, dormancy, but traditionally flowering falls at the end of summer and the eve of autumn.

After flowering at the seas, oblong or rounded capsule fruits are tied. Seeds in regions with severe winters, even in room culture, rarely ripen, but they can be found on sale.

Despite the fact that there are about two hundred separate plant species in the genus of the seas, about a dozen plants are grown as an ornamental cultivated plant, of which the large sea (Moraea gigandra) is recognized as the leader. It reaches no more than half a meter in height, produces a single leaf, but it is wide, spectacular, longer than the peduncle. The flowers are bluish with a pink tint, often quite bright blue, the middle seems to be black and blue, original, contrasting.

Also on sale in garden culture you can find:

spatulate sea (moraea spathulata), flaunting high, up to 60 cm peduncles with bright yellow flowers;
white-flowered, with beautiful blue spots at the base of the petals, spinous sea (morea aristata);
charming pink, with bright purple and purple spots and beautiful veins on the petals of the sea tricolor (moraea tricolor);
very variable in the basic colors of the petals, but always decorated with blue spots of the sea shaggy (moraea villosa), whose drawings on the leaves resemble peacock feathers (the plant even earned the nickname "peacock flower", is grown only as a room);
pink-colored, with a dark purple center , Barnard's Sea (moraea barnardi);
similar to an outlandish butterfly, lilac-blue with contrasting speckled moraea fugax;
producing larger tufts of belt-like leaves and sturdy flower stalks with fragrant yellow flowers with brown spots in the Hutton Sea (moraea huttonii);
most of all outwardly resembling irises, with pronounced upper petals, a graceful structure of light lilac with yellow spots , the Carson Sea (moraea carsonii) up to 30 cm high;
rich lemon, with a beautiful flower and nondescript leaves, more often found in room culture, dwarf sea lemon yellow (moraea citrina);
spectacular large, with high branched peduncles, crowned with purple flowers, a sea of many ears (moraea polystachya);
flaunting with long yellow spots, violet-blue, tiny, releasing only 2 leaves of the sea blue-eyed (moraea sisyrinchium) with iris-shaped flowers.

In most species found only in nature, the flowers are small, unimportant, lose out to the more hardy and better adaptable sea to large and other popular species both in size and in the showiness of flowers.

There is considerable confusion over species names. The thing is that due to the small distribution and rarity of the sea, we are often attributed to other, also exotic, but much more common corms - dietes (dietes). But despite the fact that these cultures are really related, they should not be confused with each other. They even have a form of growth - the seas develop from corms, while dieteses form rhizomes and rhizomes - they are nothing alike. And the similarities in flowering are not a reason to consider them plants of the same species.

Previously, dieteses were part of the genus of the seas, but today they are considered as an independent plant. It adds to the difficulty and the habit to call one of the types dietesa - dietes iridioides - irises Moray (Morea Iris), and the use of Russian literature instead of 'moraea' name 'morea', as well as the total for the two cultures nickname "African Iris".

Using the sea

This plant is an exclusive exotic, the pride of the collection. It needs to be placed accordingly. Both in the interior and in the garden, it is better to display the sea in the most prominent, advantageous places. The more plants you have, the more effective they look, the less noticeable the short flowering period. Morea is best perceived as bright accents that crown the design and give it a zest.

Sea growing strategies

The main disadvantage of the seas is their low winter hardiness, because of which, in regions with severe winters, the plant must be dug up every autumn and stored outside the soil. But a much bigger "minus" can be considered the complexity of the acquisition. Morea are very rare, they are ranked among the overvalued exotics and it is really not easy to find planting material.

Morea can be grown:

as a houseplant with a cool and dry dormant period;
as a greenhouse or greenhouse culture, which is driven out at a convenient time;
as a garden pot and container plant, which is removed for the winter indoors;
as a garden seasonal plant, which is planted in the soil in spring and dug up in early autumn.

Moray develop specifically. They actively vegetate in winter and bloom in spring, and in summer they leave for a dormant period. When grown in indoor culture or greenhouses, it is best to maintain the natural cycle. In gardens, the dates are shifted, the plant is kept in cool rooms with complete dryness in late autumn and winter, and stimulates waking up in spring for flowering at atypical times.

Conditions required by the sea

In regions with mild winters, the sea is rightfully ranked among the easiest crops to grow. But where winters are harsh, she is much more capricious and demanding. But all the difficulties are associated with only two features. The first is the need to harvest the sea from open soil for the winter. The second is a much stricter choice of growing conditions. But if from the very beginning you approach the correct assessment of lighting, soil and choose a suitable location or growing technique, the sea will surprise you with its ease of care.

The only locations that are suitable for the sea in regions with severe winters are sunny areas. For flowering and development, normal vegetation in conditions of not the hottest and longest summer, this beauty should receive maximum illumination. Optimal conditions can only be created in greenhouses or greenhouses with artificial lighting. But avoiding the slightest shading isn't enough for success. Morea does not tolerate drafts, windy areas. She has thin peduncles that are severely affected by the wind. Therefore, for the "cape tulips" you need to choose the most protected, secluded, warm areas.

Soil selection is key to any form of sea cultivation. The soil mixture for this plant should be light, water and air permeable, the place should be well drained. The fertility of the soil is also important, but the sea is not able to accept only any stagnation of water, while the nutritional value of the soil is easy to compensate for with top dressing. These corms are best placed in places with minimal risk of waterlogging, on hills, in rock gardens or rockeries. Sandy loam soils are better suited for this plant than loamy soils, while the acidity must be neutral.

Landing of the sea

In regions with severe winters, the classical technique of planting seas with a slight deepening is impossible. The corms of this plant need to be buried 5 cm into the soil to stabilize the conditions and provide the sea with a comfortable environment, protection from late frost.

Landing time is a moot point. In indoor culture and in greenhouses or heated greenhouses, planting can be done literally throughout the year. But it is better to transfer it to open soil by the sea in the second half of April. Waiting until the threat of return frosts disappears completely for the seas is very dangerous, because in September it already needs to be dug out. And with such a late planting, the plant simply will not have time to go through the full growing cycle.

The distance between plants should be about 25 cm. Morea produces powerful peripheral roots, does not like tightness even in pots. When planting in the ground, corms should be placed in mesh baskets to protect them from rodents. When choosing containers, it is better to stop at containers with a diameter of about 30 cm.

Care of the seas

Indoor and container plants, as well as greenhouse plants, require not complicated, but systemic care. For the sea, a stable, moderate moisture content of the substrate should be maintained, without drought, but also without waterlogging. It is insensitive to dry air, and fertilizing is applied with fertilizers for bulbous plants or flowering crops, with half the doses compared to the recommended ones. The last dressing is applied no later than 2 weeks after the beginning of flowering.

Garden seas are easier to care for. They are very afraid of any waterlogging, but they are not afraid of drought. To maintain flowering after the beginning of budding, it is better to lightly water during a prolonged drought. Top dressing is applied either 1 time at the budding stage, or 2-3 times - a month after planting, during the release of peduncles and at the very beginning of flowering. Fertilizers may not be used at all on fertile, high-quality soil.

During the dormant period, for any form of cultivation, the sea is not watered.

Wintering of the sea

When grown in a room culture, after flowering for the sea, they completely stop watering and keep it completely dry until signs of growth appear. Transplantation and reproduction are carried out at the very beginning of the stage of active development, changing the substrate to nutritious and loose-sandy, and laying drainage at the bottom of the container.

Garden, greenhouse, greenhouse seas are also transferred for a dormant period after the end of flowering. Since the plant cannot withstand even freezing temperatures, it must be dug up and taken indoors at the very first autumn cold snap. Only in good years can the carrier be delayed until October: most often, the sea is carried away in September. The plant is dug up, the leaves and peduncle are cut off, the daughter corms are separated and, after a short drying, they are sent for storage in the sand. But it is better to use a strategy of retention in the substrate, transferring the bulbs to containers.

In winter, the seas are kept dry, in a dark, ventilated and cool room with a temperature of 2 to 5 degrees Celsius. Coolness and dryness are equally important for future flowering.

Pest and disease control

Morea are quite resistant crops that are not afraid of most indoor and garden pests. But in late spring, at elevated indoor temperatures, they can suffer from red spider mites. At the slightest humidity during the dormant period, the seas are subject to decay.

Reproduction of the sea

The easiest way to increase the collection of the seas and get new plants is vegetative methods. During digging, daughter corms can be freely separated from the mother plant (as for any bulbous), and if your sea has developed well, you have a sufficient supply of planting material, you can try to divide the bulbs into fragments. But in this case, they need to be stored very carefully for the winter. Moray do not like thickening and you should not grow babies and the mother bulb in the same containers. Timely separation of children will allow you to get a more spectacular flowering.

On sale we more often find seeds than corms. The plant grows beautifully from seed, blooming not earlier than the third year, but without causing trouble. It is recommended to sow seeds in late autumn for indoor culture and at the end of winter for garden crops, in low containers, deepening 3-4 mm into fertile, light soil. The crops are covered with a film, but it must be removed as soon as possible, as soon as shoots appear.

Waterlogging is dangerous for the sea, it needs ventilation and the longest daylight that you can provide it. Diving into separate containers is carried out 6 weeks after germination, after which it is better not to replant the plants for 2 years. And only in the third year can it be transferred from room to ordinary garden culture.