Peony Laura dessert (Laura dessert)
Varietal peonies are no less popular with modern florists than roses. This is explained by the fact that they often have a luxurious appearance, resistance to a number of adverse external conditions, and also durability. For example, the Laura dessert variety, with proper care, can grow in one place for several decades. Rest assured, this variety will become one of the brightest diamonds in your garden.
Creation history and description
This variety has been tested by time, since it became known to the world at the beginning of the last century. The variety was bred in France in 1913 by the Dessert company. The plant is famous for its magnificent crown double flowers, which are large in size (up to 16-20 cm in diameter) and a double shade pleasant to the eye. The outer, rounded and wide petals are white with a slightly noticeable pinkish tint. The core of the bud is formed by narrower, shorter petals, aged in light yellow or cream tones, as well as canary yellow staminodes. Due to the splendor of the buds, the peony was given another name - Bomb Peony. The inflorescences of Laura dessert are very fragrant, which is an indisputable advantage of the variety. In their fragrance, you can catch fresh citrus notes. Laura dessert is a herbaceous perennial of early to medium flowering period. The French beauty gets its first flowers at the end of June. The flowering of the noble plant is abundant enough.
This milky-flowered peony is a vigorous, powerful perennial with strong shoots and fleshy root tubers. The shrub grows quite strongly over time and becomes sprawling. The height of the culture varies from 80 cm to 1 meter. Leaves on strong stems are dark green, large, dissected. The plant is very winter-hardy: it is not afraid of frosts from -34 to -40 ° C. For this reason, the culture does not need shelter. The decorative flowering perennial has medium resistance to diseases and pests. The French pearl also has one not very pleasant feature: its gorgeous flowers fade in the sun, turning from pale yellow to snow-white. However, someone likes the final color of the inflorescences even more than the original one.
Growing and care
For planting shrubs, you should choose a moderately sunny place, where in the midday hours of summer days the plant will be in openwork partial shade. Cold drafts are contraindicated for culture, as Laura dessert is a thermophilic perennial. In addition, it does not tolerate the close occurrence of groundwater to the soil surface: in such a situation, the roots of French women begin to rot. Dessert Laura prefers fertile, loamy soils with a slightly acidic reaction of the environment.
Planting a beautiful peony takes place in several stages. First, you need to dig a hole about 60 cm deep and the same width. After a day, it should be filled with a mixture of garden soil, peat, humus and sand in equal amounts by 2/3. Then ash and superphosphate are added to the hole, everything is sprinkled with soil. Only after that do they begin to plant the culture directly. Be sure to make sure that the buds are 5 cm below the soil level.At the end of this procedure, the seedling is well watered.
You need to take care of a flower, like any other cultivated garden plant: watering in a timely manner, do not forget about fertilizing, periodically loosen the soil under a perennial, only do it in relation to moist soil. When watering, in no case pour too much water under the peony bush: the event should be held in a moderate mode, 1-2 times a week. It is recommended to feed Laura dessert with a nitrogen complex in the spring - in order for her to grow and develop better, acquire green mass; in the budding phase, during flowering and after flowering - with mineral fertilizers, best of all those that contain phosphorus and potassium.
After the first autumn frosts, the perennials begin to prepare for winter.Its shoots are cut short at soil level and covered with dry earth. It is advisable to specially cover only young peonies with insulation, and even then only when cultivating them in a region with a harsh climate and little snow. To protect against pests and diseases, it is important to spray the flower 2-3 times during the spring-summer season with solutions of an insecticide and fungicide.
Use cases
Laura dessert variety looks good on a green lawn in splendid isolation and in the company of others like them. Landscape designers also grow it in beddings, mixborders, on round classic and tiered flower beds, in borders on both sides of garden paths. The plant is suitable for decorating a low hedge, pionaria. The small size allows you to plant the culture in containers and flowerpots. The French variety is ideal for mixed plantings. Laura dessert goes well with daylilies, honeysuckle, irises, cloves, heuchera, petunias, astilbe, pelargonium, hellebore, sage. A good option is to place a cream flower next to coniferous and evergreen crops: thujas, dwarf pines, junipers, box trees. If you want to add vertical lines to the flower garden, plant a delphinium or foxglove next to the peonies of the described variety. In a small area, it is not forbidden to combine a varietal plant with daisies, cuffs, primrose or badan. The lush inflorescences of our heroine will decorate any bouquet, especially since they do not lose their freshness for a long time when cut.
