Gazania - planting and care, photo of African daisies

Tell me how gazania is grown, planting and care, the photo of its flowering is especially interesting. I bought seeds, but forgot to ask how to sow them - for seedlings or you can directly into the ground. Will gazania grow in a shady place or does it need sun?

Lush rosettes with bright flowers resembling chamomile amaze not only with their color range, but also with long flowering. Unpretentious gazania, planting and care (photos of plants will be in the article) for which they are simple - a frequent visitor, or rather, a resident, flower beds. It is for the riot of colors and simplicity in growing that it gained its popularity.

Charming baskets with a yellow heart are decorated with two rows of petals. There are solid varieties such as yellow and orange, but variegated varieties are the most attractive. Most of them have a darker longitudinal line in a contrasting color in the center of the petal. There are also gazanias, which have darker or lighter bases or tips of the petals. At the same time, the bushes bloom all summer and autumn, until the first frosts freeze them.

Gazania - planting and care, photo

By its nature, gazania is a perennial and grows in its natural environment in hot Africa. In our climate, this flower is grown as an annual plant. Due to the low winter hardiness in the open field, gazania does not survive after wintering. It grows in a lush bush, forming dense clumps with long narrow leaves, pubescent on the back.

Some growers know the plant as gatsania, and among the people it is lovingly called African chamomile.

Where and how to plant

At home, gazania reproduces mainly by seeds using the seedling method. This makes it possible to bring its flowering closer by almost a month. Seeds for seedlings are sown at the end of March, and they are planted on a flower bed in mid-May, when the frost ends.

You can sow gazania directly into open ground, but not earlier than the end of April.

The main thing to consider when growing gazanias is that they need a lot of light to bloom. Therefore, it is worth highlighting a sunny area for African daisies. They are sensitive to lack of lighting and do not want to open the buds even on cloudy days. Gazania is not demanding on the soil, but it will bloom longer and more abundantly on fertile soil.

How to care for gazania in the garden

In addition to good lighting, delicate flowers still need very little attention, namely:

1. In hot summer, it is advisable to water the bushes more often, especially young ones. Mature plants tolerate drought well.
2. When grown on poor soils, fertilizing with a mineral complex for flowering plants does not interfere. It will be enough to make them when watering twice a month.
3. Pruning faded inflorescences will help prolong flowering and stimulate the formation of new buds.

Finally, we will reveal to you one secret of how to turn gazania into a perennial and keep it until spring. You just need to dig a bush in the fall, plant it in pot and send them to the basement for the winter. And in the spring, plant it again in the garden, and then it will bloom earlier than the young gazania planted with seeds.

Growing gazania from sowing to flowering