Planting and caring for mirabilis in open ground, 20 best varieties and cultivation

Mirabilis is a flowering plant that is most often found in South America. However, flower growers can grow this flower anywhere in the world. Before planting it, you need to understand the planting and care of Mirabilis.

Description and features

Mirabilis, or night beauty, is a perennial plant that is often planted in gardens and flower beds. Such flowers have a tuberous root system. Flower bushes have a rounded shape; they grow up to 70-90 centimeters. Flowers can be colored yellowish, purple, crimson and red.

Kinds

There are six common varieties of mirabilis, which are often grown by gardeners.

Jalapa

This is a popular species that is suitable for decorating large flower beds. The advantages of Yalapa include the following:

• colorful petals;
• ease of care;
• abundant flowering.

This flower is planted in early April so that in summer you can enjoy the flowering of mirabilis.

Multifloral

A perennial herbaceous seedling that grows up to eighty centimeters. The multi-flowered plant has powerful, erect stems that are covered with ovoid-shaped leaves. At the end of spring, inflorescences with a diameter of 4-7 cm are formed on mirabilis bushes.

Round-leaved

A compact shrub that grows well even in small pots. The height of the round-leaved flower does not exceed thirty centimeters. The leaves of this mirabilis are oval in shape, their length is 7-8 cm. Flowers are formed in the upper part of the seedlings, blooming in the evening.

Blood red

This is a plant with fragrant reddish flowers that open only in the evening after three o'clock. The mirabilis shrub is medium-sized, its height is 85 cm. The stems of the blood-red seedling are branched and at the same time erect.

Bright red

This is a wide leafy flower bush with thick stems with a perfectly smooth surface. With proper care, the seedling grows up to ninety centimeters. The leaves of the plant are oval shaped and colored green. Flowering of the seedling begins in June.

Violet

This is a medium-sized variety of mirabilis that can be planted both outdoors and indoors. The main difference from other types of flower seedlings is the bright purple color of the petals. Flowers bloom in late spring and June.

Popular varieties

There are several popular plant varieties that are most often planted in flower beds.

Iolanta

A low, compact, spherical bush that grows up to fifty centimeters. Iolanta has multi-colored flowers, on the petals of which you can see colored strokes and stripes. Mirabilis flowering begins in mid-July and continues until October.

Red lollipop

A wide and rounded shrub, intended for planting and further growing outdoors. The main stem of the Red Lollipop grows up to 80-95 cm. The leaves of the variety are green and oval in shape. The diameter of each flower is 6-8 centimeters.

Elvira

A round, medium-sized bush with erect stems growing up to 70 cm in height. The leaf blades are oval, have a sharp and oblong tip. The inflorescences of this mirabilis are not very large; they have wavy petals of red color with a purple tint.

T Time Red

This is a frost-resistant variety that copes with nighttime drops in temperature. Ti Time Red shrubs are distinguished by dense foliage and oval shape. The variety has powerful and tall stems that do not need staking. T Time Red blooms in summer.

T Time Fomyula Miksche

A spherical bush 0.8 meters high. In spring, oblong-shaped leaves form on its stems. Their surface is painted a dark green color. Inflorescences form in early May and bloom within two and a half weeks.

Marbles

These are unique flowers with two-color petals. Bushes of the Marbles variety are considered tall, since the height of the main stem is 80-85 centimeters. The stems are colored red, their surface is woody and durable. Marbles bloom in spring and summer.

Serenade

Serenade is considered a common variety of mirabilis, which is grown to decorate flower beds. The petals of this variety can be colored lilac, yellow, red and white. Among the advantages of Serenade are resistance to frost and known fungal pathologies.

Marble

This is a flower with brightly colored petals, on the surface of which there are thin darkish veins. The marble variety is classified as a medium-sized variety of mirabilis. Its flowering begins in the twentieth of July and ends in August.

Mathis

Many people plant Matis to decorate gardens and lawns.The main distinctive feature of this variety is the rich color palette of flowers. They can be painted bright pink, red, crimson, yellowish and even lilac.

Dragon

When decorating ridges and flower beds, you can plant the Drakosha flower. This is a low-growing variety that can grow up to forty centimeters in open ground. Drakosha's flowers are medium in size, their diameter does not exceed 5-6 cm. They bloom in the evening, after 15-16 hours.

Cavalier

This is one of the most common varieties of Mirabilis. Cavalier buds are simultaneously painted in two colors - yellow and orange. The plant, like many other varieties, blooms in the summer. The flowers open only in the evening, after sunset.

White lollipop

A medium-sized seedling, the height of which, when grown outdoors, is 65-70 centimeters. White Candy has branched and powerful shoots with oval greenish foliage. At the end of spring, flowers with a diameter of 6-7 cm appear on mirabilis bushes. They begin to bloom on June 10-20.

Yellow lollipop

This is a flowering shrub with branched shoots on which there are many elongated leaves. Yellow lollipop gets its name from the color of its petals, which have a golden hue. Mirabilis flower buds open in the evening and close in the early morning.

Purple lollipop

This is one of the tallest varieties, whose bushes grow up to a meter. The stems of Purple Candy cane are thick and have a smooth surface. The leaves are oval, with a green surface. The petals of the flower are wavy and purple.

Grapefruit champagne

This variety has rounded-elongated bushes about sixty-five centimeters high. Grapefruit Champagne has a woody stem with erect side shoots.The flowers are reddish and emit a pleasant scent when blooming.

How to grow seedlings

Before planting Mirabilis in open ground, you need to grow strong seedlings.

Preparation of planting material

To prevent seedlings from getting sick, it is necessary to prepare the seed for planting in advance. First, the seeds must be soaked in manganese liquid for half an hour. Then the mirabilis seeds are dried and soaked for a day in warm water.

How to prepare the container and soil

You can grow flower seedlings in three containers.

Landing box

Some gardeners grow seedlings in special boxes. They are half filled with soil mixture, which consists of compost, sand and earth. In such a plant mixture, seedlings will germinate many times faster.

Pots or cassettes

To grow low compact varieties, use cassettes or pots. The containers are completely filled with soil mixture. In this case, the soil must be compacted so that it is located 5-8 millimeters below the side of the container.

Peat tablets

Peat tablets are popular among gardeners. They are filled with warm water so that the size of the container increases slightly. Then the tablets are filled with fertilized soil.

Deadlines

People who are going to grow mirabilis using seedlings should determine the timing of planting seeds in advance. Experienced flower growers advise doing this in early April, so that after 20-30 days the seedlings can be transplanted.

Sowing

After preparing the containers and seed, you can begin planting. Flower seeds should be planted in shallow holes 5-8 millimeters deep. The planted seeds are sprinkled with soil and watered with water.

Temperature

When growing mirabilis, you will have to carefully monitor temperature indicators.The most suitable temperature is 18-20 degrees. However, some varieties can tolerate lower values.

Illumination

This is a light-loving flower that needs to be grown in well-lit rooms. Therefore, you will have to install lamps near containers with seedlings.

Thinning

In order for Mirabilis seedlings to grow better, you will have to thin them out. It is recommended to remove the most weakened seedlings, which may die after being transplanted outside.

Watering

Mirabilis is classified as a plant that can cope with drought without problems. Therefore, it is not necessary to water the planted seedlings too often. It is enough to do this three times a week. For watering, it is better to use liquid heated to room temperature.

Top dressing

To feed Mirabilis, various fertilizers are used.

Calcium nitrate – “Buyskie fertilizers”

Many gardeners use nitrogen-calcium fertilizers to feed seedlings. They dissolve in water in a ratio of one to three. This fertilizer is suitable not only for flowers, but also for many vegetable crops.

BioThrive Grow+BioThrive Bloom fertilizer kit

To saturate the soil with nutritional components, you can use BioThrive complex fertilizers. Regular use of such fertilizing mixtures strengthens the root system of plants, promotes their growth and further flowering.

"Gumistar"

This is a biological fertilizer that is often used when growing mirabilis seedlings. This feeding should be used in the summer, before the seedlings bloom.

"Tsitovit"

To stimulate the development and flowering of seedlings, the mineral fertilizer mixture “Tsitovit” is used. It contains biological additives that Mirabilis needs. “Tsitovit” is used 2-3 times per season.

Powder Feeding Calcium

This is a powdered fertilizer that is used to enrich the soil with calcium. Before use, the powder is dissolved in water, after which the prepared mixture is poured under the root of mirabilis seedlings.

Dive

When Mirabilis seedlings begin to grow, a dive is carried out. A separate pot is prepared for each flower. The containers are completely filled with soil mixture, after which the seedlings are planted in them.

Hardening

The seedlings are hardened in the second half of May, when the temperature rises to 15-17 degrees. The seedlings are taken outside every day and brought indoors after sunset.

How to plant in open ground

There are several recommendations that will help you transplant seedlings correctly.

Deadlines

It is necessary to decide in advance on the timing of planting the flower. Experts do not advise replanting mirabilis seedlings too early. Therefore, it is transplanted to a new place at the end of May, after the weather warms up.

Selecting a location

In order for Mirabilis to bloom better, it must be planted in the most suitable place. It is necessary to plant it in a sunny bed that is not shaded throughout the day. Also, the selected area should be well protected from the wind.

Soil requirements

The plant is very demanding on soil. It should not be planted in areas with overly acidic soil. Dry soils with a good level of loosening are considered ideal.

Planting scheme

Before planting mirabilis, holes are made on the site 8-10 centimeters deep. The distance between them should be 25-35 cm. No more than one seedling is planted in each hole.

Care

Mirabilis, like other flowers, must be properly cared for.

Watering

Even though the mirabilis flower copes with drought, it still needs to be watered. This is done once every four days.For each bush, 2-3 liters of heated water are consumed. In summer, the plant will have to be watered more often due to drought.

Loosening and weeding

Weeding and loosening the soil should be done regularly. Experts recommend loosening the soil after prolonged rains and watering, after which a crust may form on the surface. Weed removal is done once every 3-4 weeks.

Top dressing

For normal growth, the plant needs nutritional components. During the season, each bush is fed four times. Organic and mineral compounds are used as fertilizer for mirabilis.

Trimming

It is not necessary to trim the flower, as it will grow well without it. However, if dry twigs appear on the stem, they can be carefully cut off with scissors.

Preparing for winter

Before the start of winter, the flower tubers will have to be dug out of the ground and placed in containers filled with peat and sand. The tubers are periodically moistened and stored until spring. When it gets warmer, they are replanted in their old place.

Pests and diseases

Sometimes Mirabilis suffers from dangerous diseases that need to be treated promptly.

Root rot

This is a dangerous disease due to which the root system of the plant begins to rot. It is impossible to cure root rot, and therefore infected bushes will have to be burned. To prevent the occurrence of the disease, crop rotation must be observed.

Rust

Due to rust, a reddish spot appears on the surface of the leaves. To get rid of rust, you need to remove all the affected leaves and treat the Mirabilis seedlings with a fungicide.

spotting

With the development of such a disease, the foliage of Mirabilis becomes covered with brown spots. If you do not get rid of the disease in a timely manner, the infected seedlings will die.To eliminate spotting, drugs containing mancozeb are used.

Reproduction

There are three ways to propagate Mirabilis.

Seeds

The easiest way to propagate a flower is by seeds. To do this, in the summer, ripened seeds are collected from adult bushes, which can be planted in the garden in the spring.

Cuttings

Sometimes seedlings are propagated using cuttings. Before planting, they are kept in a peat mixture for several weeks for rooting, after which they are transplanted into the garden.

tuber

Some gardeners propagate mirabilis by tubers. They are carefully dug out of the ground at the end of summer and stored in a cool room until spring. Tubers should be planted in late April or early May.

After flowering

After the end of flowering, the tubers of the plant are dug up. Then their shoots are cut off, after which the tubers are wrapped in paper and placed in a box for further storage.

Errors during cultivation

Common mistakes include the following:

• incorrect choice of planting location and growing a flower in the shade;
• waterlogging of the soil;
• irregular application of fertilizers;
• use of cramped containers when growing seedlings.

Use in landscape design

Flower growers recommend using tall mirabilis in landscape design. They must be combined with cloves, petunias, yarrow and daisies.

Beneficial features

Anti-inflammatory drugs are prepared from flower tubers. You can also prepare solutions from Mirabilis leaves that help get rid of abscesses and boils. For better wound healing, use juice squeezed from flower stems.

Conclusion

To decorate flower beds and summer cottages, some people use mirabilis.Before planting this plant, you need to understand the most well-known varieties and recommendations for their cultivation.