Peony Solange

You can add grace to your own flower garden not only with the help of exquisite varieties of roses. Other plants do a good job as well. For example, peonies of the Solange variety look no worse than the queen of flowers. When you look at them, you feel a surge of tenderness and sincere admiration.

History of creation

Solange is a French variety bred at the beginning of the last century. In 1931, he was named the winner of the APS competition - the American Society of Peony Lovers. This variety of this plant has not yet lost its bestseller status, remaining popular with flower growers. In Russia, they paid close attention to it about 10 years ago.

Description

Solange is a herbaceous perennial up to 0.9 meters high, rather spreading, formed by thick, strong stems. The shoots of the culture are covered with dissected, large, fleshy leaves, reaching a length of 30 cm and colored dark green. They have an elongated oval shape, glossy sheen and pointed ends. The stems, despite their strength, still need support during flowering, since, due to the severity of the inflorescences, they are able to lean to the ground and even break. The root of this plant is powerful, spindle-shaped, brown in color.

The French charm of decorative culture is, of course, due to the presence of luxurious flowers. Their size is impressive: about 18 cm in diameter. The shape of the peony flowers can be safely called spherical, because in the phase of complete dissolution, the magnificent dense double buds really resemble spheres, which are important swaying on long peduncles. They are so lush that they are associated with whipped cream. At the same time, the flowers of the Solange cultivar are tightly packed with petals. At first glance, their color is light cream. On closer inspection, the presence of pinkish, pale salmon shades and even snow-white tones becomes obvious. In addition, the delicate buds exude a fresh, heady scent, making the noble plant attractive to insects such as butterflies and bees.

Solange is a late flowering variety. Gorgeous inflorescences appear on the shoots in late June and early July and stay on the bush for a long time. The buds open slowly. The flowering of this peony is long and abundant. In place of flowers, hook-shaped fruits appear in the amount of 3-6 pieces. Their ripening occurs in the first half of autumn: inside the fruits, black oval-flattened seeds are formed. In the year of planting, you are unlikely to wait for the French handsome man to bloom: this time the plant uses to build up the root system.

A spectacular shrub with high winter hardiness. It is able to withstand temperatures as low as -40 ° C, which makes it possible to grow the variety in regions with harsh climates. This crop has good immunity to insect pests and most fungal diseases. She does not care about both drought and downpours. Solange feels great in one place for about 20 years, after which a transplant is required.

Features of agricultural technology

For good growth and development, the peony should be planted in a sunny place, where at midday in the summer it will be in the power of partial shade. The shade does not suit the shrub at all - this factor deprives the plant of its ability to fully bloom. The crop must be protected from strong winds to avoid damage to the flower stalks. It is better not to place the plant near any buildings: the water flowing down from the roofs after rains or during a thaw will destroy the sprouts that break through in the spring.

The best soil option for planting shrubs is loamy soil. In any case, the soil should be selected fertile, loose, with a slightly acidic reaction. The recommended depth of the planting pit is 60 cm. The composition of the soil mixture can be as follows: humus, garden soil, peat and sand. All components are taken in equal parts. It is desirable to add superphosphate and wood ash to the resulting substrate.A peony seedling is deepened into the soil so that the buds are 4 cm below the ground level. Solange cannot be placed next to other large plants: it is required to maintain a distance between them of at least a meter. At the end of planting work, the soil under the crop must be abundantly moistened.

Caring for the ornamental flowering shrub Solange consists in the regular implementation of the following activities: watering, fertilizing, loosening, pruning. Water the plant 1-2 times a week. The soil is moistened abundantly: an adult bush will have to use up to 15-20 liters of settled, not cold water at a time. If the summer is hot and dry, the frequency of watering can be increased to 3-4 times a week. During the first month after planting, the crop must be watered every two days. In September, watering is completely stopped.

Fertilization depends on the phase of development of the peony. So, in the spring, Solange is fed with urea, during the period of bud formation - with a mineral concentrate. A couple of weeks after flowering, the culture needs feeding with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer: superphosphate and potassium sulfate.

From time to time, the soil under the flower needs to be loosened. The frequency of this event: 3-4 times a month. Loosening is performed on extremely moist, but not wet soil. Weeds are removed at the same time. If you wish, you can simultaneously mulch the soil under the plant with sawdust. This will help retain moisture in the soil.

Although the peony is resistant to all sorts of diseases and pests, prevention will not hurt. For this purpose, in autumn and spring, the plant is treated with fungicidal and insecticidal preparations. Solange will be protected from root rot, mosaic and rust by Fitosporin, Topaz, Bordeaux mixture. Solange can be attacked by nematodes or ants. The perennial will rid Karbofos of these pests.

During the summer period, sanitary pruning of the plant is carried out, during which damaged, dry and diseased shoots and leaves are removed from the shrub. In the absence of seeds in the collection plans, faded inflorescences should also be removed to allow new buds to develop. With the arrival of autumn, all shoots are greatly shortened, cutting off the shrub above the soil level. Covering the plant is not worth it, given its excellent frost resistance.

To achieve the appearance of larger flowers on the bush, in the second year of Solange's life, one future inflorescence must be left on each of the shoots. Keep in mind: bud elimination should be done early in development.

It is recommended to transplant a luxurious peony in the spring (in April and the first half of May) or at the end of summer. In general, this procedure is similar to that of planting a plant. However, after that it is necessary not only to water the flower, but also to mulch the zone of the near-stem circle with humus.

Use cases

Solange fits perfectly into the design of a garden, flower garden, park. This plant looks spectacular in splendid isolation against the backdrop of a green lawn or a lush lawn. It is suitable for creating group compositions and mixborders, where it goes well with a variety of decorative flowering and decorative deciduous perennial crops. Roses and clematis, which have inflorescences of similar or contrasting shades, make a wonderful company to the peony. Garden ensembles are attractive, where the owner of lush cream flowers coexists with dwarf conifers. The buds of this crop stand in water for a long time, and therefore Solange is often used as a cut variety.