Scented stone rich, silver herb, Lobularia maritima – care

In its homeland, silverweed blooms all year round and is a busy neophyte, which is very welcome because of its decorative appearance. If you keep an eye out for scented stone during your holiday on the Mediterranean, you will even encounter the undemanding flower on ruderal areas and along the path.

location

A look at the dense blossom leaves no doubt that silverwort wants a sun-drenched location. Of course, the Mediterranean flower has a good degree of flexibility, so that it knows how to adapt to less than ideal conditions. Allocate scented stone rich this place in the bed and on the balcony:

• Sunny, shady to semi-shady position
• Warm and airy
• Ideally protected from the blazing midday sun

Beach silverwort feels extremely at home in the sun-drenched rock garden, gravel bed and roof garden. Stonecress creates floral opulence on sunlit wall crowns. Irrespective of this, the flower just as easily establishes itself in the perennial border or under the protective leaf canopy of mighty deciduous trees. As long as there are a total of 6 hours of sunshine in the morning or evening, the carpet of flowers meets our expectations.

soil conditions and substrate

Wherever the soil is sandy-loamy and dry to fresh quality, silverweed thrives tirelessly throughout the summer. The soil should be humus and permeable. Too rich a supply of nutrients, however, is not an advantage. In case of doubt, soil that is too nutritious is therefore thinned out with sand.

Since Scented Stone Rich is a popular underplanting in the tub or adorns the flower box as the main actor, the question of a suitable substrate is also justified. The frugal flower is satisfied with common potting soil, which is optimized with fine sand, expanded clay, grit or lava granules.

watering and fertilizing

If the summer weather is interrupted by short downpours, additional watering of the alyssum is superfluous. Otherwise, the flower will receive a sip of water in the early morning or late evening. Since the substrate in the pot and balcony box dries out more quickly, the moisture content is tested here every few days with a thumb test in order to water a little if necessary. Scented stone rich proves to be just as frugal in terms of its nutrient supply. A start fertilization with compost and horn shavings in April/May completely covers the need. If you decide to cut back after the first flowering, we recommend a further application of organic fertilizer to provide the necessary energy for the second flowering. In the planter, apply a liquid fertilizer for flowering plants at a concentration of 50 percent every 4 weeks.

To cut

Without horticultural intervention, the summer blooms noticeably diminish from July/August. Anyone who takes the time to cut off the withered flowers will be rewarded for their efforts with a second bloom that leaves nothing to be desired. This advantage is all the more important if the silver herb is fertilized again after pruning.

Allow Scented Stone Rich enough time in autumn to sow itself. In this case, you no longer have to make any effort to enjoy the flower cushions again in the next season. However, if seeding is not desired, cut off the withered flowers in good time or dig up the remains.

multiply

To multiply silverweed, you have a choice of different methods. Cultivation behind glass and direct sowing have proven to be best. These two approaches are explained in more detail below:

Sow seeds on the windowsill

From the beginning/mid-March, the light conditions on the windowsill have improved to such an extent that silverweed can be sown successfully. In the weeks before, the lack of daylight regularly causes seedlings to sprout, which stretch out their shoots in search of every single ray of sunshine. Instead of investing in expensive lighting, wait until spring arrives with a sufficient amount of sunlight with you. How to proceed correctly when sowing:

• Fill a seed tray or small pot with common seed soil or peat sand
• Mix the fine seeds with sand and sow
• Sieve thinly with sand, substrate or a seed aid such as vermiculite
• Moisten with a fine shower and cover with a transparent film

Germination begins within 8 to 14 days in a partially shaded window seat at 16 to 18 degrees Celsius. When the first cotyledons appear, remove the foil. Keep the seed constantly slightly moist while more leaves thrive. If the seed pot is tight, the strongest seedlings are transplanted into individual pots. By mid-May, when the planting season begins, vital young plants have developed from the seeds, which are planted out in small tuffs outdoors or in rows in balcony boxes. Until then, do not apply any fertilizer so that your youngsters make a great effort to develop a strong root system. The plants only receive initial fertilization when they are planted out.

direct sowing

From mid-April the time window opens for direct sowing in the bed. Prepare the sandy-loamy substrate in a finely crumbly manner in a sunny to partially shaded location. Scatter the seed mixed with fine sand on the fine subgrade and then cover it with 1-2 cm of sieved substrate. Before showering the seedbed, press down the soil with a wooden board.

To prevent hungry birds or voracious pests from attacking the seeds, the area is protected with a close-meshed net. In the further course, separate the seedlings to a distance of 15 x 15 cm. This is the ideal time to give young silverwort the necessary impetus for vital growth with the addition of sieved compost or nettle manure.

Diseases

Due to the densely leafy, compact growth, scented stonecrop is one of the preferred victims of fungal infections. It is primarily powdery mildew that can affect the flowers. A mealy-white coating spreads out on the leaves as a clear symptom. How to fight the disease with natural means:

• Make a mixture of water and fresh milk in a ratio of 9:1
• Add a drop of washing-up liquid as an emulsifier
• Pour into a hand sprayer and apply repeatedly at intervals of 2-3 days

In the advanced stage, cut off all infected silverweed parts and treat the plant with a mixture of 1 liter of water and 2 heaped tablespoons of baking soda, again supplemented with 1-2 drops of dish soap. The subsequent flowering that follows has good prospects of mildew-free growth. Please note that the infected plant parts should not be disposed of in the compost but in the household waste.

Beautiful varieties

The selection of silver herb is by no means limited to the white flowering classics. Skilled breeders have now produced colorful strains. We have put together a selection of the most beautiful Lobularia maritima for you here:

• Great Auricular (Lobularia maritima var. benthamii) – The white flower towers over the traditional silverwort by more than 10 cm. This breed is therefore perfectly suited to impressively green larger areas, growth height 30-35 cm
• Rosy O Day (Lobularia maritima) – With its rich pink to burgundy flowers, the variety forms a contrasting community with white-flowered silverweed. This effect is just as effective in beds as in balcony boxes, growth height 10-20 cm
• Tiny Tim (Lobularia maritima) – An indispensable classic for every garden with sunny, dry locations. As long as there is enough sun and the soil is not too moist and nutrient-rich, Tiny Tim can accommodate any design wish, growth height 10-20 cm
• Oriental Nights (Lobularia maritima) – Magnificent variety with deep violet flowers, very vigorous and lime tolerant. Wonderful fragrant stone for edging beds, as underplanting in large tubs and on graves, growth height 12 cm
• King’s carpet (Lobularia maritima) – Premium variety with dark red to wine-red flowers from June to September. In combination with Tiny Tim and Oriental Nights, floral paintings are created in the bed that do not require any other perennials, growth height 12 cm
• Wonderland (Lobularia maritima) – This creatively assembled seed mix surprises with white, pink and purple flowers all summer long, plant height 12 cm

Conclusion
Silverwort combines the floral vitality of an annual flower with the consistency of a perennial if given the opportunity to self-seed. Hobby gardeners have been using these advantages for generations to create dense cushions of flowers in lean, dry and sunny locations. Once scented stone has established itself in the bed, on the roof garden or on the top of a wall, the white, pink or violet flower cushions reliably appear every year.