Saponaria sounds like saponaria in Latin - from "sapo" or soap, it is also called soap root, dog soap, white cloves, etc. All these names are logically justified, firstly, because of the large amount of washing and lathering compound saponin contained in its rhizomes. And secondly, from the belonging of the perennial to the Carnation family and the external resemblance to the carnation.
The soapwort comes from the European and Asian highlands, there is also in the Mediterranean, in many European regions of Russia, in Siberia, in the Caucasus. These are herbaceous perennial plants with decorative flowers of various colors that appear in the second half of summer. Each of them lives for three days, and in general, flowering lasts almost two months. Decorative flowers are collected in fragrant paniculate inflorescences. This article contains information on planting and caring for a soap dish in a garden.
Brief description, origin
There are quite a lot of soapworms. In the garden, the soapwort saponaria can be seen on the lush, soft cushion of leaves and pinkish flowers. It grows to a height of 90 cm, but because of the creeping shoots it seems undersized, as if covering the ground with a soft light "blanket". It blooms very profusely in May, covered with loose inflorescences of small five-petalled flowers. During flowering, the stems grow well, therefore, the soapwort is trimmed by about a third closer to the middle of summer, so that the hats look neater.
It looks like a soap flower close up
For all the simplicity of the plant, the soap flower has many advantages that flower growers appreciate:
- almost any lighting suits him - he grows well in partial shade and in the sun;
- the plant is winter-hardy, it can also easily tolerate drought;
- grows quickly, has good seed germination;
- undemanding to the soil - the soapwort plant has sufficiently well-drained soil of any type.
In nature, it grows on rocky soil or in pine forests. Originally from the Alps, the mountainous regions of Spain, the soapwort is also widespread on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. In Russia, it is found in the wild in the mountains and foothills of the Caucasus, although you can find it even in Siberia.
It looks like a plant in natural conditions
Interesting! The most famous purpose of the herb is to decorate the garden. A pretty and profusely blooming ground cover quickly occupies a sunny and open lawn, adapts to growing on rocky slopes, and blooms in flower beds. It is also known as a medicinal plant containing vitamins and useful compounds used in the cosmetic industry. Various parts of the plant are used to prepare infusions for the treatment of skin diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.
Application in medicine
How is soapwort used in medicine? A photo of this plant allows you to accurately represent its appearance and not be mistaken when collecting. However, it is better not to risk it and get the herb at the pharmacy. What properties does this plant have?
The composition of soapwort contains a lot of ascorbic acid, as well as saponins and glycosides. Thanks to these components, remedies based on this plant are often used for severe coughs and bronchitis. In addition, medicinal soapwort has a laxative and diuretic effect.It is often added to various blood purification fees. Often, the herb is used for the preparation of diaphoretic drugs.
The plant is suitable for the treatment of certain respiratory diseases, jaundice, metabolic disorders and joint pain. Usually, soapwort is used in the form of decoctions and infusions, which are easy to prepare. The preparation from the roots is used to treat diseases of the liver and spleen.
As for the method of application, the herb is used for the preparation of lotions, ointments, powder and bath solution. Such funds are used to treat skin rashes, dermatitis, furunculosis, eczema and scabies. Also, preparations based on this plant can be used by those who cannot overcome lichen scaly.
Popular varieties of Saponaria
There are more than 40 species in the genus Saponaria, but much less are adapted to decorative cultivation - about a dozen. Breeders are working on developing new varieties of this plant.
Perennial lupine as a honey plant
It is customary to distinguish medicinal and decorative soapwort. The decorative one includes basilicum soapwort. It is interesting in that it looks like pink foam, blooms together, for a long time. For the abundance of delicate small flowers, this soapwort is also called "moon dust". The varieties of basil-leaved soapwort include, for example, Camilla saponaria - a plant with multiple light pink flowers. In addition to her, there are several more varieties that are popular with gardeners.
Ordinary
The common soap plant is a perennial with narrow oval leaves and small pink or red-pink flowers. A separate plant is rather inconspicuous, but it looks very attractive in a flower bed.
White
White soapwort is one of the most beautiful, noble and rare plant species. The Betty Arnold variety differs in that it has a height of up to one meter. At the same time, the plant is strewn with extraordinary flowers of a snow-white color. Very nice and decorative.
Terry
Terry soapwort is a type of basil-leaved soapworm, which is distinguished by the doubleness of the flower and its slightly larger size. Terry saponaria are bred by breeders, they are not found in the wild.
Soddy
Soddy soapwort is a plant, which is widespread in nature mainly in the Pyrenees, grows on slopes of stones and looks rather rustic. The height of the bushes is no more than 15 cm, the flowers are pinkish, the leaves are lanceolate.
Soapy medicinal
Medicinal soap is a tall plant (up to 90 cm), rather unpretentious, grows everywhere in central Russia. It has a branched stem, densely covered with leaves. The flowers are fragrant, they look very impressive in the inflorescences, their color is pink.
Pink
The variety pink does not exist; it is customary to call the type of Olivan's soap dish pink soap. This is a hybrid bred by breeders for breeding specifically on alpine slides. The plant is short, creeping, has a cap of bright pink flowers of saturated color.
Others
Other plants from the group of decorative varieties have many shades. Soap boxes with shades of yellow and lilac look very beautiful.
Interesting! There is a dwarf soapworm that rises only a few centimeters above the ground. There are also glutinous varieties and many others with similar characteristics to all soapworms.
Medicine for bloating and nausea
Soap oil is often used to combat bloating and nausea. To prepare the drug, you need a mixture of herbs. The collection includes 5 grams of soapwort roots, 10 grams of St. John's wort and 3 grams of celandine. All components should be chopped and mixed. A tablespoon of the resulting mass must be brewed with a glass of boiling water. The product should stand for about half an hour. After that, the drug should be filtered.
It is recommended to take such a drug no more than three glasses per day. Such a collection of herbs helps to cope with gallstone disease.
Growing from seeds
Perennial garden geranium - planting and care in the open field
Basically, the plant is grown in seedlings. On sale you can often find a soap box "Inspiration" or a soap box "Olivana", and "Moon dust" is also in demand.
Planting capacity and soil
For seedlings, seeds are sown in containers or other boxes equipped with drainage holes. The simplest soil is suitable, but it is well permeable to water. It can be sod land, better calcareous and fertilized.
Soapy girl looks good not only in the garden, but also as part of flower arrangements on the balcony
Seed preparation and sowing
Seeds can be wetted before planting to speed up germination. This plant is completely unpretentious, the seed grows well, sometimes you even have to fight self-sowing. After sowing, the land must be watered, covered with foil and wait for shoots.
How to care for seedlings
Seeds are planted in the ground, watered and covered with film or glass until the first shoots. As soon as the sprouts hatch, the shelter is removed, when the second true leaf appears, they dive in separate containers. Before planting in open ground, like other seedlings, it is hardened by taking it out into the street.
Timing
The timing of the emergence of seedlings from seeds is 2-3 weeks. Seedlings are planted in the ground after the danger of recurrent frosts has passed. This is usually mid-May.
Landing in open ground
The soapwort has very viable good roots, so planting and caring for the soapbox in the open field is not difficult. A lump of earth with a sprout is simply rolled out of the pot and planted in a permanent place with gaps of 25 cm between plants.
Root features
The root of the plant contains substances that cause foam when rubbed in the hands. The above-ground part has the same property, but it lathers worse. In addition to surfactants, the roots also contain other components, including alkaloids. Therefore, the plant is used in some traditional medicine as a pain reliever.
Medicinal soap tea
To prepare such a product, you only need a teaspoon of raw materials. To do this, you can use not only the roots of soapwort, but also the grass. This amount of the plant should be poured with one glass of boiling water. In this form, the product should stand for three hours. After the drug is infused, it is necessary to pour more water into it, preferably boiled, so that the initial volume is obtained.
This tea should be taken in several glasses a day with a strong cough. You can also add chamomile broth to the resulting preparation. The ready-made solution can be used for wraps and compresses.
Features of care in the garden
Now about how the sapling planting and care are carried out.
Watering
Soap water is watered regularly, but not very abundantly.
Humidity
Spraying it to moisturize is optional. Only forest soapwort requires relatively higher humidity, other species tolerate normal summer quite well.
Priming
The plant does not tolerate excessive waterlogging of the soil, therefore the land must be light, drained. If there is groundwater nearby, then it is better to plant flowers in a high bed.
Top dressing
Since the plant as a whole is unpretentious, it is not necessary to take special care of feeding. It is enough to apply phosphorus fertilizer or bone meal once a season when planting.
Interesting! This plant can also perform soil-protecting functions, strengthen slopes from erosion, you can hide ugly walls or props in the summer cottage and garden plots behind a cap of flowers.
Decoction from the roots of the plant
This drug is used for some liver diseases, as well as eczema. Preparing a decoction from the roots of soapwort is very simple. To do this, take 10 grams of prepared raw materials, chop the roots and pour boiling water over it. This amount of plant requires 250 milliliters of liquid. You need to cook the product on fire for five minutes after boiling. Strain the finished decoction of the roots.
It is recommended to use such a drug from soapwort up to three times a day, 100 milliliters each. The broth can be used for sore throat instead of a solution for gargling.
When and how it blooms
Types of flowers
With all the similarity of the common signs of soapworms of different species, flowering may differ. There are plants with the usual five-petal flowers, and there are double chic representatives of the family. There are flowers reaching a diameter of 4 cm, most of them still have flowers of a rather modest appearance and size.
Flower shapes
The flowers of the soapwort can be of different colors, the shape of the inflorescences is similar in all species.
Flowering period
The basil-leaved soapwort blooms in two waves, almost all summer delighting the gardener with a lush flower cap.
Some plant varieties have a particularly beautiful sophisticated "appearance", such as the Rosea Glen hybrid
Changes in care during flowering
In order for the flowering to be abundant, lush, long, it is recommended to feed the plant with complex fertilizers during this period.
What is this herb
Medicinal soapwort is a herbaceous plant. Belongs to the genus Carnation. This plant has a fairly powerful root system, which is strengthened in the soil with long spreading roots. They are characterized by a brownish-red hue.
The stems of the soapwort are bare and straight. It is on them that the leaves are located, which gradually taper towards the base. They have opposite and very short cuttings. As for the inflorescences, these are panicles. In soapworms, they are of a pale pink or even white tone. As a fruit, the plant ripens a box filled with seeds. The flowering period is from June to November.
There is a soapworm, the photo of which is presented below, in Central and Southern Europe, in Western Siberia, as well as in the Caucasus. The plant usually grows near residential buildings, on forest edges, in meadows, fields and valleys, as well as along river banks.
Possible growing problems
Perennial is quite resistant to garden pests and plant diseases. He is practically not affected by the classic diseases inherent in horticultural crops. Still, it is worth paying attention to some points.
Leaf problems
Leaves can be affected by a fungus, which becomes noticeable by the characteristic darkening of the leaves or their covering with brown spots. Usually, excessive waterlogging of the soil becomes the cause of the disease. For the same reason, soapworms suffer from root rot. In case of damage, the plant must be cleaned of diseased leaves, if the underground part is also damaged, then remove it completely.
Pests
The garden scoop butterfly can cause great harm. Caterpillars hatching from butterfly eggs can damage the plant to a large extent. They gnaw the shoots, and the plant dies. It is recommended to fight the pest with special protective preparations, manual collection of larvae and caterpillars helps.
If you do not control the pest on flowers, it can spread to vegetable crops.
Diseases
If black spots appear on the leaves, you need to cut out the affected areas. If the affected area is large, remove the entire plant and burn. Treat the rest with fungicides.
Signs of improper care
If not properly watered, the plant can lock up and die. Excessive drought is also harmful. Finally, the lack of weeding can lead to the fact that weeds will clog the entire cultivated part of the flower bed. Otherwise, there should be no problems.
Saponaria is an interesting plant for the gardener that does not require significant physical costs in care, is unpretentious and grows on any soil. Together with other ground cover plants, it helps to decorate the garden and make the site more attractive.
Infusion of soapwort medicinal
In alternative medicine, the roots of soapwort are used to prepare a drug that will get rid of increased gas formation. Decoctions and infusions from this plant can cure gout and rheumatism. In addition, drugs of a similar plan are used to combat certain skin ailments: furunculosis, scaly lichen, eczema, and so on.
To prepare an infusion for these diseases, it is necessary to brew a teaspoon of the roots of soapwort medicinal, previously crushed, with a glass of boiling water. This drug should be infused for 4 hours. It is recommended to use the ready-made composition no more than three times a day, preferably before meals. The dosage should not exceed 2 tablespoons.
Beneficial features
According to many healers and medical reference books, it is in the rhizome that there is a storehouse of the most useful vitamins and other substances. In particular:
- Vitamin B, D
- Large amount of ascorbic acid
- A little echinacea
But even such a large number of useful elements will not affect the human body in any way if you brew or consume a lot of rhizomes in dishes.
But, not observing the proportion, then you will have: upset stools for a long time, insomnia, poisoning and a further increase in intoxication.
During collection, people often confuse soapworms with other plants, so we advise you to always focus on the photo of the soapbox to prevent poisoning.
- Improvement of the general condition in case of rheumatic pains.
- With prolonged constipation, the soapstone will adjust the chair.
- During a cold, it has an expectorant effect.
In official medicine, doctors use various ointments that contain soapwort extract, they help accelerate the process of tissue regeneration and have an anti-inflammatory effect.
How the plant is planted
For propagation and planting of the plant, three methods are used: by seed, cuttings and root division.
Seeds
Soap grass seeds can be sown at different times, it all depends on the method of growing from seeds: for seedlings or in the open field. So at the end of autumn they are sown in open ground to quickly get seedlings next spring. In March they are sown indoors for seedlings, and in May for growing perennials in the open field.
When sown before winter, the seeds germinate very well in spring after natural stratification. But the seeds bought in the spring are sold already hardened, so there is a particular difference in the development of those and other plants.
Soapy can be planted with seeds
For any method, the sowing technology is the same:
- the soil is pre-mixed with sand and moistened;
- seeds are scattered over the substrate and sprinkled with a small layer of dry sand;
- in order for sprouts to appear sooner, the room temperature should be at least 20 degrees.
When sowing in open ground, the beds are covered with a transparent greenhouse. When the first three leaves appear on the sprouts, the seedlings are planted in open ground, and if they are already growing in the garden, they are thinned out. So that in the future the plants do not interfere with each other, RThe distance between the bushes should be at least a third of a meter. With seed reproduction, flowering occurs only in the second summer.
The soapwort can also reproduce by self-seeding. This happens when, after flowering, the fruit pods are not cut off from the plants. When autumn is dry and warm, they, when ripe and cracked, scatter seeds in the wind.
Cuttings
When grafting in late spring, before flowering, the apical cuttings are cut off, almost all the leaves are cut off from them, leaving only a couple of the upper ones.This material is first planted in the shade, and after rooting, together with an earthen clod, it is transplanted to a flower bed.
By dividing the root
This method has two goals: reproduction and rejuvenation. It is practiced in the spring. Divide the plant like this:
- shake off the ground from the dug out bush;
- with a sharp knife, cut the rhizome into 2-3 segments, each of them must have at least one growth point;
- a little bone meal is poured into each hole and a new plant is lowered there.
Soapy can be propagated by dividing the rhizome
Use in landscaping and in combination with other plants and flowers
Tips for decorating a garden plot with soapstone:
- A tall medicinal variety is planted next to tall perennials - phlox, dahlias, ferns or decorative asparagus.
- Ground cover varieties look good on alpine slides, in borders and other compositions with stones. They decorate stone walls and fences. Iberis, saxifrage, yaskolka, edelweiss are combined with them.
- If the subsoil water is close to the surface, the soap box needs an embankment or slide.
- A carpet of perennial low-growing varieties goes well with sage and bells.
Valuable breeding varieties of tall soapwort are included in cut flower arrangements.
Flower cultivation reviews
It is necessary to cut the stretched lashes by 2/3 of the length. By the way, this should be done regularly after flowering with basilicum soap. This makes the bush compact and stimulates flowering.
Gaura
She lives well with us, a new one is sown and the old one creeps apart. Grows more compactly in a sunny place. Every year, in the spring, she gave out in large quantities.
lemyro4ka
Mylnyanka Inspiration is a carpet perennial. Weed, not shrub. Neighbors keep asking about her: she liked it very much
It turned out to be a good idea to plant both a soap dish and a carnation in the tires: 2 lush hats turned out, but the tires are almost invisible!
Mama-Nadin
It turned out to be a good idea to plant both a soap dish and a carnation in the tires: 2 lush hats turned out, but the tires are almost invisible!Saponaria is a great plant for any flower garden. It is irreplaceable in landscape design when setting up ridges and rock gardens, perfectly sets off flower beds and lawns. Perennial does not require regular maintenance, has numerous healing properties and a strong pleasant aroma. Small bright bushes will decorate any area in those places where other plants do not take root.
Pest diseases and control methods
The most dangerous enemy of the soapworm is the garden scoop. She lives off the fruit pods ripening from the beginning of summer and lays eggs on the stems. And the caterpillars eat them to the ground. Collect them only by hand.
With stagnant water, plants are affected by fungal infections: leaf spot and root rot. Depending on the degree of damage, either the ground part of the plants or the entire bush is destroyed.
You can save yourself from spotting by spraying the bushes with Fundazol or 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.
Types and varieties of soapwort with photos and names
In nature, there are up to 40 species of soapwort, about 10 species with varieties and varieties are cultivated. Let's take a look at the best ones.
Saponaria officinalis
Common soapwort Saponaria officinalis 'Rosea Plena' photo
The most popular type. The height of the plant reaches 90 cm, the bush is gradually spreading, but it is compact, looks airy. The leaf plates are long - about 12 cm, oblong in shape, densely cover the stems. The diameter of the flowers is about 3 cm, the colors are snow-white and pink. The species is resistant to low temperatures, grows well on any soil. Shaded landing is preferred.
Varieties:
Flore Pleno - creamy pink double inflorescences;
Betty Arnold - double flowers, snow-white;
Variegata - has a variegated leaf color;
Dazzler - variegated variety, pink flowers;
Alba Plena, Rubra Plena, Rosea Plena - a group of varieties distinguished by dense inflorescences, colors are white, pink, purple.
Saponaria ocymoides
Saponaria ocymoides photo
It is a ground cover. The height of the stems barely reaches 30 cm, they are densely covered with small oval leaves. The diameter of the corollas is 1 cm, the colors are pink, lilac. In order for the rug to grow well and please with lush flowering, plant in an area with well-drained neutral soil. Do not allow the soil to become waterlogged, it will normally tolerate a short-term drought. Grows best in light shade.
Features of growing soapwort
Mylnyanka is an unpretentious plant, it grows and blooms even with the laziest grower. But for high-quality flowering, she needs certain conditions.
Lighting and location
The soapwort is not demanding on lighting, but in the dense shade, the shoots are too elongated, and the flowers are pale and small. The plant is not afraid of bright sunlight, so it is better to plant it in bright areas.
Soil requirement
This perennial grows naturally in the mountains, where the soil is calcareous. Therefore, before planting in the garden, humus-rich soils are made looser with the addition of sand and pebbles. The plant also needs drainage.
Acidic soils are limed with dolomite, calcite or hydrated lime. They are brought to the site in spring or autumn every 5-6 years. It is also the enrichment of the earth with calcium, which is necessary for the normal development of the plant.
Mylnyanka prefers loose soils with good drainage
General information
In the wild, the flower grows throughout Eurasia. The people call the culture "soap", in view of the fact that its botanical name translated from Latin means "soap". This feature is due to the fact that the root of the plant has foaming properties and is used in soap making, thanks to its saponins.
In addition, the plant has medicinal properties, therefore, having grown a culture on your site, you can not only use it as an effective means of traditional medicine, but also as a spectacular garden decoration, which will delight you with its lush flowering for a long time.
What care is needed for a soap dish
All measures for caring for soapworms are reduced to watering, weeding, pruning, feeding and preparing for winter. Watering should be moderate: the plant tolerates drying out of the soil better than stagnant water. In the latter case, the roots rot.
The plant tolerates wintering normally and does not need shelter. Only during particularly harsh and snowless winters can you cover it with foil and branches. But in most cases, the frozen bushes are restored due to self-seeding.
To avoid the appearance of weeds and give the bushes more decorativeness, it is good to pour a small layer of rubble, gravel or expanded clay around them.
Fertilization and feeding
Soapy milk does not require special feeding. It is more important in the spring to "lighten" the clay soil with a mixture of compost and sand. Sometimes, two-time feeding of a perennial with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers is practiced after the snow melts and before flowering.
The soapwort does not need frequent feeding
Pruning soapwort
The plant is pruned for different purposes:
- During the summer, faded shoots are removed in order to prolong flowering and avoid spontaneous reproduction by self-seeding.
- In the fall, it is pruned for better wintering. The medicinal species is shortened by a third, and only a five-centimeter trunk is left in the basilicum.
Plant transplant
Soapyanka needs periodic rejuvenation by dividing the bush and transplanting the divisions
It is permissible that the soapwort grows in one place for no more than 8 years, it grows rapidly and needs rejuvenation. To thin out the planting in the spring, they do the procedure of dividing the bush. This was discussed above.For rejuvenation, the bush is dug up in late autumn and immediately assigned to a new bed.
Description of the plant soapwort
Among the soapworms, there are both undersized specimens and rather tall plants growing up to one meter. Stems are highly branched, erect and erect. Smooth, sometimes covered with a small downy. Leaves are oblong, wide and round at the base, pointed towards the ends. Five-petalled flowers with large stamens are collected in corollas. Most often white, but can be of different shades ranging from pale pink to purple.
Mylnyanka is a hardy mountain plant. It can grow on heavy soil, easily tolerates sudden changes in temperature, it is rarely attacked by harmful insects and affects various kinds of diseases.
The blooming of the soapwort is quite long, it begins in early summer and lasts until autumn. Common varieties and types of plants can be propagated both by seeds and by vegetative methods. But terry varieties need to be propagated only vegetatively, since with family reproduction all the characteristics of the variety can be lost.
Soapy reproduction by cuttings
In addition to the above methods, cuttings can be used. To do this, you need to choose the strongest and thickest stems and cut off their tops before flowering.
From the cuttings obtained, the lower leaf plates must be removed and rooted in a container with wet sand. After the seedlings have their own root system, they can be planted in open ground.
Flowering saponaria
The flowering time of the culture falls on the summer. Inflorescences can be in the shape of an umbrella, loose brushes in the case of double flowers, and also have single small flowers on short stalks. Everything will depend on the variety.
The color of the flowers of the saponaria varies from snow-white to bright crimson. The inflorescences have a pleasant, sweet aroma. After flowering, seed pods are formed with dark, small seeds used for propagation of the crop.
