Experienced gardeners always have crystalline iron sulfate, or ferrous sulfate, in their garden medicine cabinet. Like many others chemicals, it has properties that protect garden and berry crops from numerous diseases and insect pests. In this article we will talk about the features of use iron sulfate for treating garden plants from diseases and pests and about other options for its use on the site.
Retaining walls- the main tool for working with complex terrain on the site. With their help, they not only create terraces or play with planes and alignment, but also emphasize the beauty of the rock garden landscape, the change in height, the style of the garden, and its character. Retaining walls allow play with raised and lowered areas and hidden areas. Modern dry or more solid walls help turn the disadvantages of the garden into its main advantages.
There were times when the concepts of “garden tree”, “family tree”, “collection tree”, “multi tree” simply did not exist. And it was possible to see such a miracle only on the farm of the “Michurintsy” - people who were amazed by their neighbors, looking at their gardens. There, on one apple, pear or plum tree, not only varieties of different ripening dates, but also various colors and sizes ripened. Not many people despaired of such experiments, but only those who were not afraid of numerous trials and errors.
The front garden is the face of the garden and its owner. Therefore, for these flower beds it is customary to choose plants that are decorative throughout the season. AND special attention In my opinion, front garden perennials that bloom in spring deserve it. Like primroses, they bring us special joy, because after a dull winter, more than ever, we want bright colors and flowers. In this article, we suggest getting acquainted with the best ornamental perennials that bloom in spring and do not require special care.
The climatic conditions of our country, unfortunately, are not suitable for growing many crops without seedlings. Healthy and strong seedlings is the key to a high-quality harvest, in turn, the quality of seedlings depends on several factors: Even healthy-looking seeds can be infected with pathogens that long time remain on the surface of the seed, and after sowing, getting into favorable conditions, are activated and affect young and immature plants
Our family loves tomatoes very much, so most of the garden beds are devoted to this particular crop. Every year we try to try new ones interesting varieties, and some of them take root and become loved. At the same time, over many years of gardening, we have already developed a set of favorite varieties that are required to be planted every season. We jokingly call such tomatoes varieties “ special purpose» - for fresh salads, juice, pickling and storage.
Coconut pie with cream - “kuchen”, or German coconut pie (Butter milch shnitten - soaked in milk). Without exaggeration, I will say that this is an incredibly tasty pie - sweet, juicy and tender. It can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time; cakes with cream are prepared on the basis of this sponge cake in Germany. The recipe is from the “Guests on the doorstep!” category, since usually all the ingredients are in the refrigerator, and it takes less than an hour to prepare the dough and bake.
The snow has not yet completely melted, and restless owners of suburban areas are already rushing to assess the work ahead in the garden. And there really is something to do here. And perhaps the most important thing to think about is in early spring– how to protect your garden from diseases and pests. Experienced gardeners they know that these processes cannot be left to chance, and delays and delays in processing can significantly reduce the yield and quality of the fruit.
If you yourself prepare soil mixtures for growing indoor plants, then you should take a closer look at a relatively new, interesting and, in my opinion, necessary component - coconut substrate. Everyone has probably seen at least once in their life a coconut and its “shaggy” shell covered with long fibers. Many delicious products are made from coconuts (actually a drupe), but the shells and fibers used to be just industrial waste.
Fish and cheese pie is a simple lunch or dinner idea for your daily or Sunday menu. The pie is designed for a small family of 4-5 people with a moderate appetite. This pastry has everything at once - fish, potatoes, cheese, and a crispy dough crust, in general, almost like a closed pizza calzone, only tastier and simpler. Canned fish can be anything - mackerel, saury, pink salmon or sardines, choose according to your taste. This pie is also prepared with boiled fish.
Fig, fig, fig tree - these are all names of the same plant, which we firmly associate with Mediterranean life. Anyone who has ever tasted fig fruits knows how delicious they are. But, in addition to their delicate sweet taste, they are also very beneficial for health. And here’s an interesting detail: it turns out that figs are a completely unpretentious plant. In addition, it can be successfully grown on a plot in the middle zone or in a house - in a container.
This delicious creamy seafood soup takes just under an hour to prepare and turns out tender and creamy. Choose seafood according to your taste and budget; it can be a seafood cocktail, king prawns, or squid. I made soup with large shrimp and mussels in their shells. Firstly, it is very tasty, and secondly, it is beautiful. If you are preparing it for a holiday dinner or lunch, then mussels in their shells and large unpeeled shrimp look appetizing and pretty on the plate.
Quite often, difficulties in growing tomato seedlings arise even for experienced summer residents. For some, all the seedlings turn out to be elongated and weak, for others, they suddenly begin to fall and die. The thing is that it is difficult to maintain in an apartment ideal conditions for growing seedlings. Seedlings of any plants need to be provided with plenty of light, sufficient humidity and optimal temperature. What else do you need to know and observe when growing tomato seedlings in an apartment?
Tomato varieties of the “Altai” series are very popular among gardeners due to their sweet, delicate taste, more reminiscent of the taste of a fruit than a vegetable. These are large tomatoes, the weight of each fruit is on average 300 grams. But this is not the limit, there are larger tomatoes. The pulp of these tomatoes is characterized by juiciness and fleshiness with a slight pleasant oiliness. You can grow excellent tomatoes from the “Altai” series from “Agrosuccess” seeds.
Since ancient times, the herb has been considered by people to be very useful, which treats many different diseases.
For most people, it is not dangerous, or rather, its toxicity has a very weak negative effect, while in birds it causes serious poisoning, which can even lead to death, and it is because of this that it got its name - St. John's wort.
But there is also a version that St. John’s wort got its name because it gives a person so much strength that he can overcome any animal. It is St. John's wort that will be discussed in our article, then we will get acquainted with the description various types this and their photo.
His homeland is considered European countries Mediterranean and Türkiye. The height of the Olympic St. John's wort reaches 35 cm, and the diameter of the bush is about 25 cm. Its rhizome is quite strong, but not deep.
The leaves are elliptical in shape and greenish-gray. Blooms large yellow flowers up to 6 cm in diameter, which are collected in apical semi-umbrellas. Flowering occurs at the end or beginning of August, in greenhouses and does not begin to bloom three years after planting.
Tall varieties are often planted together with others to create. St. John's wort is common in northern Africa, almost throughout Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus. 
Did you know? St. John's wort extract is used in the preparation of the popular drink "Baikal".
Tetrahedral (four-winged)
St. John's wort is very similar to the common one. It can be distinguished from the ordinary one by four longitudinal sharp ribs on the stem, while the ordinary one has a cylindrical stem with two grooves.
The sepals do not have yellowish cilia along the edges. Black dots can be found on flower petals.
Distributed in eastern Europe and Asia. IN medical purposes its use is not recommended due to great content toxic substances. 
Drawn
It has straight, cylindrical stems that have two or sometimes more ribs. The height of the bush does not exceed half a meter. The glands are presented in the form of rare dark lines and dots.
The leaves fit tightly to the stem and are opposite each other. Their shape is oval or elliptical, the tips are blunt. The length is from 2 cm to 4 cm, and the width is from 0.5 cm to 1 cm.
The flowers are pale yellow, about 3 cm in diameter, often not numerous, but can be found large inflorescences in the form of panicles up to 17 cm long, solitary ones are less common. Flowering begins in July and ends in September. 
IN wildlife it can be found in the steppes, on the slopes of ravines, small mountains, and on the banks of rivers. Distributed in Mongolia and Korea.
St. John's wort is an erect plant, reaching a height of 30 cm to 70 cm. It differs from other subspecies in the presence of wide sepals and a stem with four protruding ribs.
The color of St. John's wort is most often brown, sometimes reddish. The flowers are small, no more than 2 cm, golden in color, located in the upper part of the plant and collected in a sparse inflorescence. During the ripening process, a box with small seeds is formed.
This species is distributed throughout Europe, as well as in the southern regions of Siberia. It can most often be found in dry tall grass meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes, and along roadsides. He has high healing properties and is used for medical purposes.
Important! Long-term use St. John's wort preparations can cause temporary impotence in men.
St. John's wort is a plant whose stems branch and reach a length of over 10 cm. But sometimes there are erect, rather branched naked plants that form turf up to 15 cm in height.
The leaves are small, elongated, with a small spine at the end. The flowers are also small, up to 1 cm in diameter, solitary or collected in small loose inflorescences. The petals are yellow, with black dotted glands.
It blooms all summer, but is quite moisture-loving and does not tolerate shade. One of the advantages of this species is its high frost resistance. St. John's wort prostrate grows comfortably in Western and Central Europe in fields, meadows and arable lands. 
In the second half of summer, fields, meadows, and forest edges look like chickens. They are covered with small bright yellow flowers. And there are so many of them that they can easily be confused with weeds - well, a cultivated plant cannot grow in such quantities. Indeed, it is not a weed. Yellow flowers- This medicinal plant, which is called St. John's wort, you will recognize it immediately from the photo. St. John's wort smells like summer, honey, meadow herbs, morning dew.
St. John's wort is popularly valued for its healing power, after all, St. John's wort, Wikipedia claims, is capable of overcoming neither more nor less, but 99 diseases. But be careful. St. John's wort can only save people from 99 misfortunes. For animals, namely livestock, it is a poison. Where do you think the grass got its name from?
St. John's wort. Useful properties and contraindications
St. John's wort blooms in summer. And then you can pick it and prepare it for home herbal preparations. This is easy to do - just dry the flowers in the shade, and then lightly rub them with dry hands. The stems easily separate from dry flowers and leaves. Or you can decorate your home with dried flowers.
This herb is very useful and complex in its composition, so we will not list the substances and components included in the chemical composition. It’s better to pay more attention to how useful St. John’s wort is, a herb medicinal properties which has been valued since the times Ancient Rus' when medicine was still in its infancy.
St. John's wort is medicine not only traditional medicine. Traditional medicine He also doesn’t “flap his ears.” She makes the most of St. John's wort, the medicinal properties of which chemists and doctors have studied far and wide, adding it to homeopathic preparations. Medicines such as Novoimanin and Imanin are made from St. John's wort. It has been proven that the plant extract eliminates inflammation and destroys pathogenic microbes. Therefore, these drugs are used for wounds, even purulent ones, for burns of varying degrees, for sinusitis, mastitis, pharyngitis and some other diseases. And psychiatrists prescribe the medicine Gelarium for depression. The basis of the medicine is the same - St. John's wort.
In folk medicine, St. John's wort is used to treat many (remember, how many?) diseases.
- St. John's wort is invaluable as a tonic and astringent. It should be on hand for coughs, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, gum and liver diseases. The grass can even stop blood, making it thicker.
- Some drugs prescribed by doctors for rheumatism, ulcers of various origins, gout, stress, depression, diarrhea or the presence of helminths also contain flowers, leaves and extract from St. John's wort.
- And dentists advise rinsing your teeth with a decoction of the plant to get rid of bad odor, stop bleeding gums, and relieve inflammation.
- St. John's wort (use and recipes will come a little later) will also help those who suffer from pain in the liver, stomach, kidneys, intestines and gallbladder. It strengthens stool, relieves pain due to gastritis, and treats ulcers.
- And if you administer a drug containing St. John's wort extract intravenously, the heart begins to work better, more rhythmically, faster. At the same time, the blood vessels narrow and the pressure rises.
- You can bathe your children in a bath with St. John's wort to prevent diaper rash, rashes, and diathesis. And in the presence of ulcers, abscesses, and swelling of the mammary glands, herbalists highly recommend making compresses.
- St. John's wort root is also useful. Its decoction or tincture is used for bone tuberculosis and dysentery.
This strong plant is St. John's wort. It has contraindications, and serious ones, and they must be treated very responsibly.
- St. John's wort constricts blood vessels, contracts the ventricles of the heart, causing blood to flow through the veins faster. Therefore, St. John’s wort is contraindicated for heart patients suffering from arrhythmia, tachycardia, and vascular sclerosis.
- It is not recommended to consume it in any form if you have high blood pressure.
- St. John's wort is also contraindicated for expectant mothers - it is unknown how the changing body will react to the action of the plant.
- St. John's wort treats gastritis, but a strong infusion of the herb, on the contrary, can provoke this disease.
- St. John's wort – sunny grass. Maybe that’s why the skin (if you drank tea, infusion) is so susceptible to sun tanning. Or rather, to ultraviolet rays, and they are so harmful to our skin.
- Men, do not be alarmed if, after treatment with St. John's wort, you suddenly feel male impotence. This is all the tricks of St. John's wort. In a couple of weeks everything will work out and you will forget about the misunderstanding. Or do not drink the herbal infusion for more than a couple of weeks.
- St. John's wort is generally not recommended for treatment for a very long time - it is not a component proper nutrition. Otherwise, you may feel bitterness, heartburn, pressure on the liver, and even hives.
St. John's wort. Decoctions and infusions
St. John's wort is used in the form of infusions, decoctions, and compresses.
The infusion is prepared like this. Take a large spoonful of dry herb per glass of boiling water. You need to insist for half an hour, take a third of a glass before meals 3 times a day.
A decoction of St. John's wort is prepared at the rate of a spoonful of herb per glass drinking water. Boil the mixture for 15 minutes, then filter it. This glass is also drunk a day - every time before eating. You can also gargle with it to eliminate bad breath or for a sore throat.
And now in more detail about St. John's wort. The herb, the instructions for use of which are followed by the patient, is doubly healing. Avicenna also thought so.
For the stomach
For gastritis and colitis, we prepare a herbal mixture. Take St. John's wort in equal parts and mix them. For every tablespoon of the mixture there is a glass of boiling water. Let it brew and drink 0.5 cups no more than five times a day.
If you suffer from heartburn, then you will need another mixture: our St. John's wort, and cinnamon, also known as cudweed. For 3 tablespoons of mixture there is a liter of boiling water. Leave for two hours and drink 0.5 cups of infusion before meals.
For the liver
The recipe for the infusion for the liver is the same as for the stomach. But you need to take it in the morning on an empty stomach, half a glass for a week. After 30 minutes you can have breakfast. During the day, drink 2 spoons after meals. This will increase bile production and speed up the treatment of cholecystitis or gallbladder disease.
For sinusitis
Cook St. John's wort in a steam bath. The proportions are the same as for the infusion - a spoonful of herbs per glass of water. First, you need to put drops into your nose to narrow the blood vessels and relieve swelling of the mucous membrane.
Inject the strained broth into the nostril using a syringe or a syringe without a needle. After rinsing, be sure to blow out the nose well.
From alcoholism
St. John's wort gives battle even to the green serpent. But there is one “but”. An addicted comrade must want to get rid of addiction.
And the recipe is simple. Heat 2 tablespoons of herbs and a glass of boiling water in a water bath for 20-30 minutes. Drink the decoction on an empty stomach in the morning and before meals in the evening, 2 tablespoons. In 2 weeks you can completely get rid of alcoholism.
For vitiligo
Those suffering from a lack of melanin production (vitiligo) know how difficult it is to overcome this scourge. The disease does not cause any particular inconvenience, except for aesthetic reasons - the skin, which was once even in color, becomes covered with white spots. But St. John's wort can help get rid of vitiligo. You only need 8 sessions of 3 weeks each. The break between sessions is 8 days.
In a teapot, brew a teaspoon of St. John's wort in a glass of boiling water. After half an hour, strain the tea and drink 1 large spoon four times a day.
St. John's wort is also useful in cosmetology.
- For acne, steep a spoonful of the herb in a glass of boiling water for 20 minutes. And wash your face with this infusion every morning and every evening. You can freeze ice cubes from the infusion. This will also narrow enlarged pores.
- For oily skin, washing with a decoction of St. John's wort and wiping the face with a frozen infusion are also good. And the pulp can be used for face masks. The duration of the procedure is 10 minutes.
- Ice cubes from a decoction or infusion tone the face, tighten the oval and smooth out fine wrinkles. The skin becomes young and radiant.
- Men! Have you noticed that a bald spot has appeared? Drink St. John's wort infusion: 1/3 glass twice a day before breakfast or before dinner. Don't be afraid, it won't do any harm other than good.
- And women can soften their heels. Make them pink and smooth. Let's do it. Pour 8-10 tablespoons of St. John's wort into a liter of boiling water and cook for 5-7 minutes. Then we pour it into a basin, wait for the broth to cool a little, and take a foot bath.
St. John's wort oil at home
In addition to decoctions and infusions, St. John's wort oil is often used. It has found application in both medicine and cosmetology. And you don’t have to buy it when you can make it at home from regular ingredients.
Oil can be prepared from both fresh and dried St. John's wort flowers. The flowers are infused in vegetable oil for 2 weeks. It can be sunflower, wheat - whichever you like most. To prevent the oil from spoiling, it must be strained after 2 weeks and stored in a dark jar in the closet.
- Proportions for oil from fresh flowers: 1 part flowers to 2 parts oil.
- Proportions for oil from dried flowers: 1 part flowers to 1.5 parts oil.
Don't be surprised if the oil turns blood red. There is a fairy tale that one day a lightning-fast fantastic bird descended to earth - it was wounded by some evil monster. Where the bird's bloody feathers fell, St. John's wort grew. People did not invent fairy tales just like that, but to try to explain the incomprehensible...
The oil is usually used for masks, rubs, and compresses. Sometimes, as in the case of ulcers, it is taken orally, 1 spoon on an empty stomach or three hours after a meal.
A method of treating vitiligo has already been described above. Enhance the result with a special recipe oil. Press St. John's wort flowers and pour them vegetable oil and place the jar in the sun for 2 weeks. After two weeks, add fresh flowers, tamp down until the oil covers them and leave in the sun again for a couple of weeks. Do this 5 times. As a result, the oil should become viscous and thick. Apply this substance to the white spots, allowing the cream to absorb. And after 0.5 hours, the excess can be washed off.
The oil according to the classic recipe helps with ulcers, stomatitis, bedsores, wounds and even large burns.
And the Ancient Romans rushed into the forests at midnight to trample St. John's wort with their left feet. They believed that a white horse would appear, capable of rushing them off to an enchanting land for the whole night and endowing them with the most incredible abilities (also for one night). Maybe that’s why the barbarians destroyed them - the Romans, who believed in white horses, could not adequately assess the danger...
Well, they have had this for a long time, but in our country St. John's wort was used to protect the house and sleep of babies from all evil spirits. And, surprisingly, witches and ghosts did not visit such houses. But the point here is not the grass, but the fact that ghosts do not exist, and witches were burned at the stake in time...
Family St. John's wort.
It’s not often that you come across a plant that, while possessing medicinal properties, is quite attractive in appearance. This is exactly what the St. John's wort flower can be called. By planting it on your plot, the gardener will become the owner of a valuable crop that will help create beautiful unusual compositions, but besides this, it will help get rid of various ailments. The advantages of the St. John's wort plant include excellent external characteristics, high winter hardiness and the ability to rapid recovery, so there is practically no hassle with it.
There are more than 100 species of this plant.
St. John's wort is popularly also called hare tree, St. Ivan's herb, bloodworm, bloodworm and is considered a remedy for a hundred ailments.
In order to understand what St. John's wort is, you need to get acquainted with the description of this flower, with its many species, which will help you create beautiful compositions in the garden.
This culture will diversify and enliven the front garden thanks to its bright yellow flowers. Undoubtedly, it will be able to take its place on the site and become one of the gardener’s favorite flowers.
Where are St. John's worts common?
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) prefers a temperate climate and in the wild is most widely distributed in the Mediterranean, almost throughout the entire territory of the European part of Russia, in Ukraine and the Caucasus, in Central Asia, Western Siberia, and the Yenisei basin. He chooses dry and light forests, clearings, edges and meadows. It grows in very dry areas - in cracks in rocks, on rocky outcrops, sands, in pine forests, thickets of bushes, savannah, these plants are common in pastures, fallow lands, along roads. Many species are found in the foothills and high mountains, extending into the alpine belt. At the same time, St. John's wort is distinguished by its great plasticity in appearance, varying from herbs to low trees.
Settles among bushes, on fallow lands, on the edges of fields, and is often found in vegetable gardens and fields as weed. St. John's wort does not like the northern and northeastern regions - it is almost never found here.
In other words, it grows practically underfoot and in the wild, few people pay attention to it, usually remembering it in those cases when it is necessary to prepare preparations of this herb for medicinal purposes.
It grows both singly and in groups of plants, but large thickets are not common. Prefers fresh clearings and young clearings, where it can be found in bulk. St. John's wort flowers are very loved by bees, who obtain its pollen.
Botanical description of the perennial St. John's wort
According to botanical description St. John's wort in nature is a perennial herbaceous plant 30–100 cm high, which has an erect stem, branched in the upper part, cylindrical, with two longitudinal prominent edges.
Leaves are opposite, oval or elliptic, oblong-ovate or oblong, entire, sessile, obtuse, with numerous translucent light and rare black glands, 0.7–3.0 cm long and 0.3–1.5 cm wide.
If you look closely, you can see numerous light specks on them that are visible, as if holes were made in the leaves. That's why botanical name plants – St. John's wort. Speckled leaves are its characteristic feature. And the light spots on the leaves are essential oil glands that produce and store essential oil.
The description of the flowers of the perennial St. John's wort deserves special attention; they are free, regular, with a five-leafed calyx and a five-petalled corolla; The petals are bright yellow, oblong-oval, obliquely cut at the top, with black-brown dots (on the underside). Stamens (50–60 pcs.) grow together at the base into three bundles. The ovary is ovoid, 3–5 mm long. The pistil with a three-locular upper ovary and three free bent columns is twice as long as the ovary. The flowers are numerous, collected in widely paniculate, almost corymbose inflorescences 7–11 cm long, 5–11 cm wide. Bracts lanceolate, 0.5 cm long, acute. The calyx is deeply divided, 5 mm long, almost two to three times shorter than the corolla. Sepals are lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, acute or finely pointed, equal to or longer than the ovary, with sparse glandular black oval points, smooth or slightly jagged along the edge. Corolla golden yellow; petals are oblong-elliptical, mostly unequal, 1.2–1.5 cm long and 0.5–0.6 cm wide, obliquely cut at the top, with numerous black glands along the edges and upper part. Blooms from June to September depending on the species.
The fruit is an oblong-ovoid capsule 6 mm long and 5 mm wide, opening with three doors. The seeds are numerous, very small, 1 mm long, cylindrical, brown, longitudinally fine-meshed. The fruits ripen in September.
Not all gardeners know how bright and elegant the St. John's wort flower looks; perhaps for this reason it is undeservedly forgotten in ornamental gardening.
St. John's wort shoots and roots
According to the structure of the shoots St. John's wort- a winter-green perennial with rosetteless wintering shoots (renewal shoots), which, after the snow melts, begin to grow at the top and summer shoots arise from the terminal bud. The uniqueness of the population model of behavior of St. John's wort in forest communities is determined by the specific development of renewal buds located at the base of the anisotropic shoot. The buds can develop into enrichment shoots, which provides an increase aboveground shoots, or “meristematic nodes,” which ensures the preservation of the species in the community through vegetative regeneration.
When describing the herb St. John's wort, it is worth noting that its underground part is very developed and complex. The plant has numerous rhizomes, varying greatly in length (from 3 to 15 cm), thickness (from 3 to 5 mm) and depth (2–5 cm on compacted ones and up to 10 cm on loose soils). Large rhizomes, bearing three to five aboveground shoots, are often connected underground by thin, root-like bridges up to 15 cm long. Numerous adventitious roots extend from the rhizomes, in addition to which there are quite powerful deep roots that penetrate to a depth of 155–160 cm, developing well in a layer of loess-like loam. Deep roots often branch, giving large lateral roots of the first order.
The description of St. John's wort is accompanied by a photo below, in which you can see the features of its structure:
Valuable types of St. John's wort herb with photos
3 polyphyllum willow (N. polyphyllum)- a subshrub 15-20 cm high with small leaves and large yellow flowers up to 5 cm in diameter.
3 creeping willow (N. reptans)- a small plant with bright yellow flowers, 8-10 cm high. Blooms from July to September.
3 rice willow (N. cans)- an evergreen perennial plant up to 15 cm high with large yellow flowers.
3Gebler's willow (N. gebleri)- a species that is a herbaceous perennial with thick roots and a straight tetrahedral stem up to 80 cm in height. The leaves are sessile, opposite, oblong-oval. The flowers are golden yellow, up to 4 cm in diameter. The fruit is a capsule.
Places of growth - mixed-grass meadows in river valleys, forest edges, clearings.
St. John's wort coarse or hairy– herbaceous perennial species, the height of which varies from 50 to 100 cm. The plant is completely covered with small hairs, which is why it got its name. Root system creeping, with numerous roots 2 mm thick. The stem is cylindrical, thin, and has no beards. The leaves are oval, light green, about 5 cm long, about 2 cm wide. The flowers are collected in an inflorescence-panicle, the length of which can reach from 5 to 20 cm. Flowering begins in the third decade of July and lasts until the end of August.
Here you can see a photo of this type of St. John's wort and understand what this plant is:
St. John's wort is a perennial herbaceous species, the height of which varies from 20 to 60 cm. It has numerous, sometimes single, bare stems of a brown or bluish tint. The leaves are lanceolate, wide, with transparent glands. The inflorescence is a raceme or panicle. The flowers are numerous with white or yellow petals. The fruit is an oval, pointed at the end, brown capsule, inside which contains cylindrical, brown seeds about 2 mm long. Flowering from May to July.
When describing the St. John's wort plant, it is worth noting that it is a low-growing shrub up to 40 cm high and up to 30 cm in diameter. The rhizome is powerful, but short. The leaves are greenish-gray, elliptical in shape. The flowers are large, up to 6 cm in diameter, yellow in color, formed at the tops of the plant, collected in semi-umbrella inflorescences. Flowering lasts from late July to mid-August. This species is used for planting in greenhouses and garden plots. It looks most successful in flower beds in combination with other variegated perennials.
The culture also uses St. John's wort (H. calycinum), a low-growing subshrub no more than 50 cm high with reddish bark. The leaves are dense, leathery, elliptical, pointed at the end, dark green, up to 7 cm long, up to 3 cm wide. The flowers are single, yellow in color, with oblong bracts, the length of which reaches about 1.5 cm. Flowering begins at the end of May and lasts for throughout July. The fruits are formed in October.
The description of the St. John's wort plant is supplemented with the following photo, which will help to better imagine this species:
St. John's wort – medium-sized species, reaching about 100 cm in height. Its bark has a reddish tint. The leaves are elliptical, pointed at the end, less often obtuse, up to 10 cm long, up to 3 cm wide, light green, bluish underneath. The flowers are yellow in color, collected in inflorescences - umbrellas of 3 - 8 pieces each. The ovaries can be round or oval in shape. Flowering begins in June and lasts until the end of July.
This is very valuable species St. John's wort herb, which is successfully used in ornamental gardening. It is planted on hills or planted along paths.
Other types of St. John's wort flowers and their photos
St. John's wort tetrahedral - outwardly resembles another type of this crop - “ordinary”, but differs from it in the presence of four longitudinal ribs on the stem. There are small dots on the flower petals.
St. John's wort drawn- a perennial herbaceous species about 50 cm high with cylindrical stems that have a pair or more ribs. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, blunt at the ends, closely pressed to the stem. The length of the leaf blade can reach 4 cm, width - 1 cm. On the surface of the leaves there are glands - dark lines and dots. St. John's wort flowers of this species are few in number, light yellow in color, about 3 cm in diameter. Flowering from July to September.
St. John's wort spotted- a perennial herbaceous plant, the height of which varies from 25 to 60 cm. The stem is straight with four convex ribs. The bark is brown or reddish. The sepals are very wide. The flowers are small, yellowish, formed at the top of the plant, collected in sparse inflorescences. The fruit is a capsule with numerous small seeds.
St. John's wort prostrate– an annual groundcover species with branching stems no more than 10 cm long. Less common are erect, branched specimens 15 cm high. The leaves are light green, oval-elongated, with a small spine at the end. The flowers are small, up to 1 cm in diameter, yellow in color with black dots on the petals. They can form singly or be collected in inflorescences. Flowering from June to August. Has high frost resistance.
In the photo below you can see what a prostrate St. John's wort looks like and appreciate its decorative qualities:
St. John's wort- a perennial plant with a straight, simple stem about 50 cm high. The stem may branch slightly. The leaves are large, oval, rough, 6 cm long. The flowers are collected in inflorescences, the petals are yellow.
St. John's wort– a herbaceous plant 100 cm or more in height. It has erect, slightly branched stems. The leaves are oval, oblong, pointed at the end, opposite, dark green, bluish below. Flowers are formed singly or collected in inflorescences of 5 pieces. The petals are yellow. Flowering begins in June and lasts until July.
Here is a photo of the St. John's wort plant, which shows how impressive it looks in the garden:
St. John's wort- a herbaceous perennial 20–40 cm high with numerous woody reddish stems at the base, ascending to the top. Covered with hard glands. The leaves are narrow, lanceolate, oval, and also covered with glands. The inflorescence is corymbose-paniculate. The flowers are numerous, with yellow petals. Flowering from May to June. The fruit is an oval-cylindrical brown capsule containing brown seeds.
To better understand what the St. John's wort plant looks like, you need to look at the following photo:
Eastern St. John's wort– this species is an evergreen erect shrub with a height and diameter of 15 cm. The leaves are oval, narrow, serrated along the edges, dark green, up to 4 cm in length. The flowers are star-shaped, up to 3 cm in diameter, with golden petals. Collected in apical inflorescences. Flowering from July to August. The species is frost-resistant.
St. John's wort (H. officinalis)– an evergreen perennial subshrub 100 cm high. The leaves are narrow, lanceolate, green, 3 cm long. The flowers are blue-violet, with a strong, pleasant aroma. This species is used primarily as a medicinal plant.
St. John's wort– a low perennial herbaceous plant, reaching up to 30 cm.
What the herb St. John's wort looks like of different species that grow in nature and are used in culture is shown in the selection of photos below:
How to grow St. John's wort on the plot
Although St. John's wort is often found in our country, its natural reserves have been significantly depleted due to improper mass procurement of the plant. Therefore, owners of summer cottages can grow this medicinal herb right next to their home. First you need to collect the seeds of wild St. John's wort. This should be done in September, having previously determined the places where it grows.
Location. When choosing a site for growing St. John's wort, you should not set aside for it best places, because it is unpretentious and can grow anywhere. Little-used places in the garden with good lighting are well suited for it, as this crop loves sunlight. You can plant it between the beds or along garden paths.
The soil. The plant is shade-tolerant and grows on any well-drained garden soil, black soil and sandy soil. Negatively relates to clayey, aluminous, acidic and alkaline soils.
Feeding. When growing St. John's wort and caring for it, you need to take into account that this perennial can significantly deplete the soil over several years of its growth and development, and this will affect both its decorative properties and productivity. Therefore, the soil must be fertilized annually using organic matter or Nitroammofoska. The first fertilizing is applied in early spring, and the second before the flowering of the crop.
During the flowering period, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil in the area where this perennial grows and regularly remove weeds.
Watering. Caring for St. John's wort includes watering, which should be moderate even in severe drought. When overwatered, rotting of the rhizomes is observed. To avoid this, water the plant only when the top layer of soil dries out. During periods of heat and drought, the amount of watering can be increased.
Wintering. The culture is highly frost-resistant and usually easily tolerates cold winters. If the winter is cold and with little snow, the bushes may freeze. To avoid freezing, the plants are lightly covered with spruce branches. But if the plants are still frozen, the gardener should not worry, as this perennial quickly recovers.
Features of growing St. John's wort from seeds
Having chosen a method of growing St. John's wort from seeds, the gardener must first obtain them by purchasing them in a store or extracting them and preparing them for sowing himself.
To obtain seeds, choose strong healthy plants and cut off the inflorescences with ripened brown boxes and dry them thoroughly. Then the boxes are crushed by hand and the resulting mixture is sifted through a sieve to separate the small seeds from the husk.
The best predecessors for St. John's wort are winter crops. It prefers well-fertilized soils. In the fall, before planting, the area under St. John's wort needs to be dug up, organic fertilizers applied and the seeds planted before winter or in the spring, in late April - early May, in previously harrowed and weed-free soil. You need to dig up the soil well in advance, then walk through it twice with a hoe and level it with a rake. Under digging for everyone square meter it is necessary to add 3–4 kg of rotted manure or peat compost and 2–3 kg complex fertilizers– nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Between the rows you need to leave 45–50 cm, the grooves should be shallow - up to 1 cm. To make the distribution of seeds more uniform, it is better to mix them with river sand. If you sow St. John's wort in the spring, you can speed up the emergence of seedlings by watering the furrows well before sowing, and then covering the bed with film.
Planting St. John's wort seeds and caring for seedlings
Autumn and spring planting and caring for St. John's wort have some features, their pros and cons. At winter sowing The best growing results are achieved if the spring is moderately rainy and not hot. Autumn planting allow you to get earlier shoots. In this case, the seeds are sown on the surface itself, without being buried in the soil, but only slightly dusted with earth. The seeding rate is 0.3–0.4 g per square meter with a row spacing of 45 cm. But one danger awaits you in winter sowing. If the spring is too dry and hot, the seedlings will die or not appear at all.
After planting St. John's wort in open ground It is imperative to take care, since the seedlings grow slowly and require regular weeding, watering and loosening of the soil. In the first year, only a part of the plants bloom, usually in late summer - early autumn. A full harvest of medicinal raw materials can only be harvested in the second year.
At spring sowing the seeds need to be stratified - mixed with sand and slightly moistened, then kept in the refrigerator at a temperature of +5 °C for 1-2 months. Then they will rise more amicably and be more resistant to weather changes. But the plants will develop slowly and will bloom later than their wild counterparts. Therefore, the best way out of the situation is to grow St. John's wort seedlings. This can be done in warm or cold greenhouses, and then planted in the beds. When growing seedlings in pots, the plants will tolerate transplantation well and will give good harvests, and quite early.
St. John's wort can grow in one place for a long time, but after 4–5 years the plantings will begin to thin out and the yield will decrease, so it is advisable to renew the plantings every 3–4 years.
Propagation of St. John's wort by cuttings
Can be propagated quite successfully this culture and green cuttings. Before starting work, you need to familiarize yourself with information on how to grow St. John's wort using cuttings. They are cut in the spring, choosing well-developed, strong specimens. The cuttings are placed in a light nutrient soil with the addition of sand and create greenhouse conditions, that is, covered with film or glass. Place it in a warm, bright place, ventilate the greenhouse daily and water it as the soil dries. In such conditions, the cuttings will “overwinter”, grow and develop. Planting in a permanent place is carried out in the spring of next year. After planting the strong cuttings of the St. John's wort bush, the young plants are cared for so that they quickly adapt and take root.
An adult, heavily grown bush is divided into parts, trying to do this so that roots remain on each of them. The delenki are immediately seated in a new place and cared for. Prepare before planting planting pits, placing there a small layer of drainage and humus mixed with mineral fertilizers. After planting, the bush is watered.
Plants quickly take root and begin to bloom in the same year.
Both methods are quite effective for propagating all types of St. John's wort grown in gardens.
What does a decorative St. John's wort flower look like in the garden?
St. John's wort is considered to be a plant grown mainly for medicinal purposes, but it would be completely unfair not to remember decorative qualities of this culture. These perennials boast lush green foliage and beautiful flowering. Scatterings of yellow flowers resembling stars look very impressive and are in no way inferior to the main favorites of the garden. It is simply impossible not to notice these scatterings of yellow flowers.
St. John's wort grows from old roots that overwinter in the ground, which produce buds every spring. With the arrival of warmth, the latter begin to grow. And now bluish-green smooth stems are visible, studded with small leaves that are located opposite each other.
Low-growing species are perfect for borders, rock gardens, slopes, and rocky gardens. Tall - for group plantings on lawns, in mixed borders, in flower beds in combination with other bright perennial flowers.
Yellow flowers will decorate garden paths. With their help, you can decorate a pond in a beautiful and original way by planting low-growing species along with similar flower crops.
St. John's wort can also be used for cutting.
Flowers are used to dye fabrics: water infusion gives yellow paint, and when taken hot, depending on the concentration, pink and red.
The following photo shows how St. John's wort flowers look in beautiful garden compositions in combination with other ornamental crops:
Preparation and storage of St. John's wort
The culture is highly valued for its medicinal properties. With its help, many diseases are treated: colds, nervous disorders, dermatitis, burns, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and many others.
There is a popular belief: St. John's wort has a special magical and healing power, if collected on the night before the holiday of Ivan Kupala (June 24, old style). It has quite scientific explanation. The fact is that it is at this time - from late June to early July - that its mass flowering begins. During this period, the plant contains a maximum active ingredients. Therefore, it is necessary to collect St. John's wort for home preparation and treatment right then. Infusions and teas prepared from it will give the best effect.
During flowering, the upper parts of the stems are cut off and tied into bunches, which are hung in the air in a shaded place - under a canopy or in well-ventilated attics. You can spread the grass in a layer 5–7 cm thick and periodically stir up the hay. It is allowed to prepare raw materials in a dryer at a temperature of 50–60 °C.
The plants are harvested again after 30–40 days, when they grow and bloom again. After the grass has dried, it is placed in wooden boxes or packed in canvas bags. The shelf life of raw materials is 3 years.
Warning! You cannot pull out the plant by the roots, otherwise it will die and will not produce the next harvest.
