Night Violet (another name is “evening party”) is a flower, very beloved by gardeners and gardeners due to the subtle and at the same time very rich aroma, which intensifies with the onset of the evening time of day.
Did you know? The scientific name of the plant is Hesperis (from the Greek. "Hesperis ", which means" evening ".The night violet has attracted people for a long time, the description of the flower is in the records of the ancient Greek doctor and philosopher Theophrastus and the ancient Roman writer Pliny.
Varieties of night violets
The name "night violet" combines several dozen different species and varieties of perennial cruciferous plants. They envelop the territory from Asia to Central Europe with their fragrance, capturing the eastern regions of the Mediterranean.
However, in our latitudes under the name "night violet" grow two flowers of Matthiola (better known and familiar name - left) and, in fact, Hesperis.
There are quite a few varieties of levkoev, but two of them are most common - two-horned and gray-haired. It is a double-leafed plant, an annual plant, it blooms for up to two months and is self-pollinated. It has small flowers of 2-3 cm in size, the inflorescences resemble brush of dark pink shade.
The gray-haired levokoy flowers have the correct form, the same, smooth or terry, while there may be a variety of shades. The first bloom only a few days, the second - more than two weeks. Some terry varieties have up to 100 petals in a flower.
Also popular are Levkoi Starlight and Evening Fragrance. Mattiola Starlight They look like a mixture of varieties with flowers of different shades and have a rather high (up to half a meter) stem.
Evening aroma is distinguished by a large number of very fragrant even in comparison with other representatives of the type of purple flowers located on a branched stem (its length is slightly shorter than that of Starlight).
Hesperis (evening party), in turn, includes many varieties of night violets, the most common among them is Matron, lat. - Hesperis Matronalis (she is an ordinary, Caucasian, master party, Hesperis Matrona, Hesperis female and many others.).
Flowers at the evening party Matrona are of two types: smooth white and terry reddish-purple. The stem of the flower is high, slightly less than 1 m, the leaves are oval oblong.
Other representatives of the evening party are the Siberian evening party and the dark evening party.
Siberian party - one of the highest flowers, its stem can reach 1.3 m. The leaves are covered with villi, the flowers are mostly pink or white. Begins to bloom in June.
Dark nightwearit is also called sad; it is a shrub up to 60 cm tall with a thin stalk and small velvety leaves. Its flowers have a very unusual color - when they begin to bloom, turn brown or purple, and eventually turn into a dark yellow shade. Bloom in late spring - early summer.
Strictly speaking, night violets are not really violets. The name of the flower is due to the fact that its aroma really resembles the smell of violet and is particularly rich in the dark in warm weather.
Place and soil for night violet
When choosing a place to plant a night violet, one should proceed from the fact that the plant loves light. Moreover, the evening party can feel comfortable both in direct sunlight and in diffused light, however, if the climate is too hot, the night violet can also develop normally in the shade and dusk.
Important! The hot sun that has just risen to the seedlings of the night violet is contraindicated, therefore, if it warms up too early, the plant should still be sown in shaded places.Soil night violet prefers loose, moist and fertile, slightly alkaline or neutral. It is good to have lime in the soil. When it comes time to sow night violet in open ground, the soil should be dug up, mixing it with organic fertilizers (for example, compost or humus) and a full complex of dry mineral additives.
Although the evening party is considered immune to diseases and pests, it should not be sown in places where other cabbage used to grow, since the probability of infection with their characteristic diseases and pests can increase dramatically.
Sowing Night Violet Seeds
The main way in which night violet propagates is to grow from seed., although some varieties, especially terry violets and varieties that bloom twice a year, can also breed by dividing the bush.
The agrotechnical cultivation of the evening party is generally similar to the biennials that are common in our latitudes, such as mallow, Turkish carnation, and Pansies (viola). You can plant the seeds of the night violet in pots for seedlings (this is done in early spring), but there is not much point in this - the plant sprouts just as well if it is sown directly in the garden, in late spring - early summer.
Since the seeds are small, they should be sown shallowly, but not too tight. It is better to use special cups for planting than to plant a violet on a bed, as in this case it will be much easier to deal with weed control.
After sowing, the soil should be sprayed well (without applying watering, so as not to erode the seeds) and cover with a film, which later needs to be removed from time to time, providing airing to the soil.
The shoots of hesperis appear almost a month after sowing, if the soil is already warm enough. Night violet after planting requires not only watering, but also care in the form of loosening the soil and weed control. After the sprouts of three true leaflets form, they are dived, then they are watered abundantly and covered from direct sunlight. For the normal development of the plant, it is necessary to provide each individual with a “personal space” with a diameter of at least 30 cm.
Planting of the night matrona violet in open ground is carried out in late summer - early autumn, when the plant has completely formed large leaves.
Bloom hesperis begins in the late spring of the year following the landing. However, if the planting was carried out early, the plant sometimes has time to bloom in the first year, however, such individual flower stalks cannot be called full-flowering. The first bloom of the night violet can last up to one month (the duration of the bloom depends on the plant variety), but since the third year this period is sharply reduced, and the flower bed with the night violet has to be updated. We have to admit that many gardeners dislike this feature.
We select neighbors for night violet
Find partners for the night violet is easy. Mattiola coexists well with summer flowers such as petunia, nasturtium, viola, as well as with a variety of spicy herbs - melissa, mint, basil, thyme, sage, etc. - together these plants create amazing bouquets of aromas and color shades. An interesting combination with an evening party is also garden geranium, yarrow, monard, and nivyanik.
The unique combination of aromas arises if you plant a night violet next to a rose, especially a climbing one.
Important! When combining flowerbeds and alpine slides with the participation of night violet, it should be borne in mind that this plant quickly dries the leaves, after which it becomes not very nice. Therefore, it is important to “disguise” the party with such neighbors who, on the contrary, develop slowly and bloom late.
How to care for night violet
Caring for violet night - whether it be mattiola or hesperis - is not burdensome and consists in following simple rules.
Watering and loosening the soil
With all its moisture-loving, especially in the development phase, the night violet does not tolerate excessive irrigation, and especially water stagnation. Nevertheless, the drying of the soil should also not be allowed in any case. Thus, compliance with measures in watering night violets - the main component of the successful care of the plant. Watering violet night is better in the evening, avoiding overflow even with good drainage.
So that the soil can always be moderately wet, it should be loosened immediately after watering. This will help retain moisture longer and prevent the soil from drying out which is destructive to the plant.
Fertilization
It is enough to fertilize a plant no more than once a month, using for this purpose complex mineral fertilizers for decorative flower crops.
Since the night violet requires neutral or slightly alkaline soil, good dressing for the evening dress is wood ash: it not only saturates the soil with the substances necessary for the plant, but also increases the alkaline reaction, so the soil becomes less acidic, and the evening woman gets optimal conditions for development, as well as abundant and long-lasting flowering.
Before the first after planting in winter, a bed with night violet is recommended to be mulched so that insufficiently grown plants do not die (this can happen with a small amount of snow and severe frosts).
Did you know? The magical smell of night violet inspired many famous people to creative pursuits, and some Russian writers and poets even dedicated their works to this flower.Night violet does not belong to capricious flowers, in our latitude anyone can grow it, for this it is necessary only to follow certain rules and not to forget to give the plant a little attention. For its part, the evening party will thank the gardener for his works with a magical delicate aroma that will excite the imagination on warm summer evenings.
