The herbaceous perennial is a popular spring bloomer, which only comes into its own in plant groups. For a few weeks, it transforms your garden into a lush sea of flowers. Robust and lush, the plant, which is only about 20 centimeters high, covers a large area of its planting site within a few months. This makes the perennial Omphalodes verna a desirable and easy-to-cultivate ground cover. The spring memorials are also known by the terms “spring navelnuts” and “spring memorials”. The perennial is available in different flower colors, which can easily be combined with each other.
location and soil
The plants with the flowers resembling forget-me-nots need a light planting spot in the semi-shade. Spring memorials are well suited as underplanting for tall perennials or deciduous trees. Just avoid full sun and locations that are too dark, because the growth and flowering of the plant suffer here. The spring memorial is considered to be an extremely robust and undemanding plant. When choosing the right place to plant, you should still pay attention to humus-rich and loose soil. If possible, avoid sandy substrates or upgrade them with larger amounts of compost and clay.
watering and fertilizing
Omphalodes verna needs a moderately moist substrate. However, once the plant is firmly rooted, it easily tolerates short-term drought in the hot summer months. When there is a lack of water, the plants often have brown leaves and withered shoots, from which the ground-covering plant completely recovers. Pour the ornamental shrub – if possible – with lime-free water. It is poured in the early morning or late afternoon. In this way you avoid an excessively high evaporation rate of the water and the perennials receive more moisture.
The carpet-like, dense growth of the plant makes regular mulching and working of compost into the soil difficult. Mix small pebbles under the soil when planting to counteract compaction of the substrate by the roots of the plants. This also prevents the formation of waterlogging. For the supply of nutrients, you should use liquid or slow-release fertilizers in the second year of planting at the latest. Fertilize strictly according to package directions to avoid over-supply.
plant
Between April and early June, the ground-covering perennials shine in full bloom and conjure up a touch of spring in your own garden. But even during the rest of the vegetation period, the deciduous plants are an ornament and cover up some dreary locations. The spring memorial comes into its own best in groups of plants. In addition to numerous variations of the Omphalodes verna, you can also combine the perennials with Pulmonaria, elf flowers or Waldsteinia, for example. When choosing plants, you should pay attention to the growth of the individual species so that the perennials do not compete with each other for light and nutrients. Planting outdoors is usually done in spring. This gives the ornamental perennials enough time
To do this, proceed as follows:
- The planting hole must be 1/3 deeper and wider than the root ball.
- Mix the excavated soil with compost and pebbles.
- Add compost to the planting hole.
- Plant perennials up to the root neck.
- Fill with substrate and press down.
- Pour firmly.
Keep a distance of about 30 centimeters between each plant. To immediately achieve a dense area, you can plant up to 9 perennials per square meter. After a few months, remove sedentary or dwarfed spring memorial plants to give the other groundcovers more room to flourish.
multiply
The approximately 25 centimeters high perennials are propagated by division in spring or autumn. However, under ideal site and soil conditions, the plants also like to take care of their own propagation by means of foothills. Separate the young plants with a spade and plant them elsewhere if necessary. In this way you can fill in existing planting gaps or cover other locations in the garden with perennial plants.
For root division you need large, strong plants. Use a spade or a sharp ax to break it up into pieces of the same size. Further treatment of these freshly harvested plants is not necessary, you can put the plants back into the substrate immediately. Clean the tool before and after work to prevent the transfer of any fungal pathogens.
To cut
The spring navel nut belongs to the type of perennials that you can stimulate to a second bloom with a replacement cut. To do this, cut the plant back to a hand’s breadth above the ground immediately after flowering in May or June. Immediately after this action, the perennial must be sufficiently supplied with liquid fertilizer. This encourages new growth of the Omphalodes verna, around six to eight weeks after pruning the ground-covering plants form a second flower. However, this is much smaller than the first bloom. In addition, regularly remove wilted and diseased leaves. This measure also preserves the growth and resilience of the plants.
hibernate
Spring memorials are extremely hardy and do not need special protection for the cold season. The only exception here are potted plants. To protect the planter from freezing, the entire pot must be wrapped in fleece or sacking. You should not completely remove the fallen leaves of trees and shrubs from the omphalodes outdoors. Due to the slow decomposition of the material, the ground-covering plants receive important nutrients.
sorts
The plant with the creeping growth and the heart-shaped leaves is available in different heights and flower colors in specialist shops. The best known and most popular varieties include:
- Omphalodes verna “Alba” – From April to May, the flowers of this variety shine in their white splendor. Healthy, strong plants can also cope with a shady location.
- Omphalodes verna “Elfenauge” – This variety of the memorial impresses with a delicate blue to turquoise flower, the center of which is decorated with a light eye. The growth height of this variety is about 15 centimeters.
- Omphalodes verna ‘Grandiflora’ – This short spring memorial variety also features sky blue flowers. If you are looking for a slow-growing ground cover, this species is ideal.
In recent years, other cultivated forms of the popular, perennial perennial have appeared on the market. The flowers of these Omphalodes varieties vary from white-blue to lavender colors. However, some of the new breeds are only partially hardy and should be additionally protected by leaves or bark mulch in the cold season.
diseases and pests
Fungal pathogens and harmful insects are rarely found on healthy plants. However, the dense growth and incorrect care often weaken the perennials and thus offer some unwelcome lodgers a nutritious host plant.
aphids
The densely packed plants are a true gourmet paradise for the insects, which are only a few millimeters in size. An infestation is often only recognized when the upper side of the leaves has already assumed a silvery speckled colour, which slowly turns brown. Aphids not only damage the infested plant, but also attract ants with their excrement. These complicate the use of natural predators, as they defend the lice against other insects. If you want to fall back on ladybugs and the like, you should first take action against the ants and eliminate them completely.
A variety of natural home remedies have proven effective against aphids. For example, you can spray the Omphalodes verna with a decoction of nettles or field horsetail. The method is lengthy, but has proven itself well. You should also put up yellow adhesive boards in the immediate vicinity of the affected perennials. The insects are attracted to this color and eventually perish on the sticky surface of the traps.
Powdery and downy mildew
Not only pests like the group planting of spring memorials. Under certain circumstances, fungal pathogens also feel at home on the ornamental perennials. Powdery mildew is known as the fair-weather fungus. This term is no coincidence, because hot summer months and plants weakened by drought promote infestation. An easily removable, dusty coating on the underside of leaves and shoots is the first visible indication of powdery mildew. Downy mildew, on the other hand, prefers moisture and, unlike the fair-weather variant of the fungal pathogen, this type of mildew penetrates directly into the interior of the plants. A grey-purple fungus lawn forms on the underside of the leaves, while the upper side only shows yellowish discolouration.
Remove the parts of the plant affected by powdery mildew and dispose of them in the compost. Spreading of the fungal pathogen from there is impossible, as both types of powdery mildew require living tissue. Powdery mildew can be successfully combated with a water-milk mixture. Apply this over a large area over the perennials, because unaffected plants also benefit from this measure. You can use fungicides to efficiently combat downy mildew on ground-covering perennials. If your plants are prone to mildew, avoid watering directly over the leaves if possible. Make sure, however, that the substrate does not dry out completely in summer.
