Persian chamomile - Pyrethrum pink

The herbaceous perennial pyrethrum (Pyrethrum), or Persian chamomile, belongs to the Asteraceae (Asteraceae) family. This genus includes about a hundred varieties. All varieties have one feature - the reed flowers are painted in white or pink colors. The homeland of the Persian chamomile is European, Asian and North American territories. The scientific name is given for the reason that some varieties of Persian chamomile have medicinal qualities, namely, they lower the body temperature ("pyretos" translates as "fever, fever"). Popular names: chamomile, popovnik, chamomile.

Persian chamomile: description and characteristics

Persian chamomile: photo of flowers

Most of the varieties of Persian chamomile are perennials. Among the large number of varieties, there are also annual plants. Shoots are ribbed, branched, erect or ascending, pubescent upper side. The stems grow up to sixty-one hundred cm. The root system of pyrethrum is strong, penetrating into the depth of the soil by 3 meters.

The leaves of Perennial Persian chamomile are dissected, arranged in turn, and consist of narrow segments. The outer part is painted gray-green, the inner part is ash-gray. The leaves growing at the roots have petioles with grooves, which are twice as long as the leaves themselves. The leaves growing on the stem also have petioles, shortening to the top of the shoot. The basket in cross section is fifty to sixty mm, the inflorescence-shield, located at the top of the shoot, consists of the baskets. The basket contains reed-shaped flowers, which are sterile and marginal, as well as small tubular flowers of both sexes, located in the middle, staining white, red and all pink tones. The plant blooms in May and June days. The fruit is an achene of a pale brown color, ribbed (five to ten pieces), their crown is in denticles or consists of lobes. The germination capacity of grains lasts for two to three years.

Persian chamomile: planting

Persian chamomile: photo of flowers

How to grow perennial Persian chamomile by seed method?

With self-collection of seeds, the safety of maternal characteristics will be at zero. Therefore, if you need the flowers to have signs of a certain variety or be painted in a certain color, then purchase the seeds in a specialized store.

The seeds of the Persian chamomile are very small in size, for this reason, they combine with the sand to facilitate sowing. Grains are sown at the beginning of the first spring month, and they are buried into the ground by thirty to fifty cm. You can plant the grains more easily - distribute them over the soil surface layer, after which the seeds are sprinkled on top with earth. The plantings are sprayed. The container is covered with polyethylene or glass, and then it is removed into a room with good illumination and a warm temperature regime (eighteen to twenty degrees). After the first shoots appear, the covering material is removed. Plants dive in separate containers after the development of 2 true leaves. Before transplanting into open conditions, the flower is hardened for fifteen days.

Perennial Persian chamomile is also cultivated without seedlings, but only in the south. Grains are sown in open conditions at the beginning of the first autumn month.

Planting Persian chamomile in the garden.

Perennial Persian chamomile loves to grow in fertile soil.Therefore, when cultivating in the garden, it needs a loose, nutrient-rich soil, and it must allow air to pass through. The cultivation of Persian chamomile on depleted, dry soils or sandstones is prohibited, and it cannot be planted in a lowland where liquid stagnates, since the flower does not respond well to long-term excessive moisture, especially in cold weather. The optimal place for planting is lit by the sun's rays only 3-4 hours a day, most of the day is spent in the shade of a flower.

When planting, there should be an interval of twenty-five to thirty cm between pyrethrum. Planted plants need to be watered abundantly, and in the first ten days after planting they must be shaded from the direct sun. Perennial flowers begin to bloom next season after planting.

Persian chamomile: care

Persian chamomile: photo of flowers

Caring for Persian Chamomile is very easy. Such a perennial plant is suitable for those who cannot constantly care for garden vegetation. After strengthening the flowers after transplanting, they will not be afraid of weeds, as they are able to inhibit its growth. Therefore, weeding is required only in the first days of the growing season, and to reduce the frequency of weeding, the surface soil layer is mulched with organic matter. For good growth and development, the crop needs to be watered regularly. After watering, the surface soil layer is loosened to avoid the formation of a dense crust on it.

Feeding pyrethrum with organic substances and minerals. Do not overfeed the plant with nitrogen, otherwise, a quick green mass collection will occur, it will bloom poorly. There is a good reaction of the flower to the manure, which is quail.

The shoots are large, not so strong, because of this they will have to be tied up. After the plant has finished blooming for the first time, all peduncles are removed, you should not wait until the grains begin to form. Then, at the end of summer, the bush will begin to bloom again. Without transplanting in one area, the plant can be cultivated for four years, no more. During this time period, their strong growth will occur, so they will bloom poorly. For this reason, once every four years, the bushes are transplanted to a new site. Plants during transplantation, if necessary, need to be divided.

Diseases and harmful insects.

Persian chamomile has good immunity to various diseases and harmful insects. But rarely an illness can strike her. For example, a plant may at times be infected with fusarium or gray rot. Gray rot is a fungal disease, it damages plant fragments located above the soil surface, as a result, their surface is covered with a bloom of gray color, they are deformed, as a result of which the bush dies. Diseased pyrethrum is removed from the soil and destroyed, and the place of their growth is spilled with a solution of a fungicidal preparation. Also, Persian chamomile can get sick with fusarium, this is also a fungal infection. The penetration of its pathogens to the flower is carried out through the roots, and at first the vascular system is affected. The affected bush is not treated, so it is removed from the ground and destroyed in order to prevent the disease from spreading further. The soil and other bushes are treated with a fungicidal agent, which contains copper.

Persian chamomile: photo of flowers

The flower can be attacked by thrips, slugs, aphids. Slugs love the leaves, so you will need to collect them by hand. To get rid of these pests as soon as possible, birds or hedgehogs are attracted to the territory. Thrips can often settle on the bush. There is no government on them, for this reason the plant is removed from the soil and destroyed, and the soil surface layer and the rest of the bushes are sprayed with insecticidal agents of systemic action.When settling on pyrethrum, aphids are destroyed, but attempts can be made to treat, for this purpose, treatment with insecticidal preparations is carried out, it can be "Aktara", "Biotlin", "Aktellik". Usually, all the aphids are not destroyed the first time, for this reason, for the final disposal, it is necessary to carry out the treatment two or three times.

Feverfew after blooming.

After flowering culture in autumn, its aboveground part is cut to the level of the surface soil layer. Before the winter season, the surface soil layer is mulched with peat or covered with spruce branches. When hiding flowers for the winter season, they will not be afraid of frosty periods. After spring comes, spruce branches are removed, the layer of mulch is raked off, thanks to this, young shoots will quickly break through the thickness of the earth.

Varieties

Persian chamomile (Pyrethrum): video about growing a flower

Growers cultivate few varieties of Persian chamomile. But it is necessary to take into account the fact that feverfew has many different varieties and types.

• Pyrethrum "Beautiful" (Pyrethrum pulchrum, Tanacetum pulchrum).

This type of Persian chamomile is found in the North China, Kazakhstan, Central Asian, North Mongolian and Siberian territories. Pyrethrum loves to grow in the tundra zone, on a placer and a slope of stones near the glacier. This perennial has a rhizome, it is also semi-rosette, it grows up to fifty cm, the surface is hairy. There are few shoots, they grow vertically, there are few leaves on them. The leaves growing at the roots are green in color, sit on elongated petioles, pinnate, cut into two lobes, may be bare or slightly pubescent. The leaves stretch up to fifteen cm, and are two cm wide. The leaves on the stem are sessile. Baskets can grow singly or form inflorescences in two or three baskets. Baskets consist of tubular-shaped flowers of gray color and reed-shaped flowers of white color.

• Pyrethrum "Large-leaved" (Pyrethrum macrophyllum, Tanacetum macrophyllum).

This perennial Persian chamomile comes from the Caucasian territory. Plants stretch up to one and a half meters. The inflorescence-scutellum in cross section is about ten cm, contains small white flowers. At the end of flowering, the color changes to red-brown. It is good to grow this variety in a larger composition, it goes well with such vegetation as: rod-shaped millet, variegated miscanthus, sharp-flowered reed grass, and other decorative cereals.

• Feverfew "Shytkovy" (Pyrethrum corymbosum, Chrysanthemum corymbosum, Tanacetum corymbosum).

Homeland - Caucasian, Eastern European territories, foothill Altai zone, grows on dry land. This rhizome perennial bears a din or two or three vertical shoots branching at the top, growing up to forty to one hundred and fifty cm. The leaves growing at the roots sit on elongated petioles, grow to thirty to forty cm. The leaves are pinnate, dissected into segments. The leaves on the stem resemble the leaves at the roots, but they are not so elongated, and the apical and median leaves are completely sessile, and those located below are sitting on the petioles. Inflorescence-scutellum is loose, contains fifteen to twenty baskets, which are located on elongated pedicels covered with hairs. The color of the achenes is gray, and the flowers of the reed type are white. The plant blooms in June days.

• Pyrethrum cinerariifolium, or Dalmatian chamomile.

This herbaceous flower grows up to fifteen to forty-five cm. Leaves are silvery-gray in color, feathery, can be cut two or three times. The baskets have achenes of gray color and flowers along the edges of a light yellow or white color.

• Pyrethrum "Red" (Pyrethrum coccineum, Chrysanthemum coccineum), or "Caucasian chamomile".

This plant can often be mistaken for feverfew "Pink".This species grows wild in the Caucasian territory. It has many different subspecies with reed-like flowers, which are painted in different colors from dark cherry to white. Quite often among them you can find subspecies that have terry baskets. Differs feverfew "Red" from feverfew "Pink" by the presence of feathery, twice dissected leaves. The aerial parts of the flower have poisons for harmful insects, but at the same time, they are safe for people and all warm-blooded animals.

• Pyrethrum roseum, or Persian chamomile.

This perennial Persian chamomile comes from the Caucasian territory. It has been cultivated for over two hundred years. Shoots are vertical, can reach up to sixty to seventy cm. Basal leaves of a light green color sit on petioles, and they are also dissected. The leaves growing on the stem are not as large as rosette leaves. The baskets can be about fifty mm in size, the inflorescence-tassel consists of two or three baskets, and the basket can also grow alone. The tubular flowers are yellow, and the reed flowers are pink. Persian chamomile has many different varieties and subspecies, often referred to as "Hybrid" feverfew. In all this variety, you can find flowers with terry baskets, painted in white, dark red or pink colors. The hybrid group "Robinsons mix" is the most widespread, this vegetation grows up to eighty cm, pink or red baskets in cross-section are about twelve cm. The most popular varieties of pyrethrum "Hybrid" are presented below.

• "Atrosanguinea". The bush grows up to sixty cm, the inflorescence in diameter can be equal to sixty mm. The flowers are tubular, painted yellow, and the reed flowers are dark red.
• "Brand". The flowers are reed-type, painted in deep pink colors.
• James Kelway. The bush reaches a height of sixty cm, the baskets in cross section are about sixty mm. Flowers located at the edges are colored scarlet red.
• "AND. M. Robinson "... Flowers located at the edges have a pinkish coloration.
• Kelway Glories. The flowers of the tubular type are painted in yellow, and the reed flowers are in scarlet.
• Lord Rosebury... Baskets of dense terry structure.
• "Vanessa"... The baskets are of a terry structure, the middle is yellow and convex.

Famous garden species: pink, red, double pink, low, double white.

• Feverfew "Maiden" (Pyrethrum parthenium, Chrysanthemum parthenium, Tanacetum parthenium).

This is the most popular type of annual feverfew. She comes from the southern part of European territory. The wild flower belongs to perennials, like the previous plants, but growers cultivate it as an annual vegetation. The bush is compact, grows up to fifty cm, strongly branches. Leaves of greenish or yellow-green color sit on petioles, feathery, dissected or deeply cut, their surface is pubescent. Tassel inflorescence is located at the top, contains small baskets, reaching fifteen to thirty mm in cross section, their structure can be double or simple. Reed-like flowers are yellow or white. The most popular cultivated subspecies are: “Yellow-leaved” (leaves with large lobes, pale yellow color, marginal flowers of white color), “Disc-like” (flower for borders, marginal flowers of yellow color). Also popular are varieties that have terry-shaped inflorescences in the form of a ball, they will be presented below.

• "Zilbeoteppich"... Terry baskets in the form of a ball, white color.
• Schneebal... The bush grows up to twenty-twenty-five cm, the leaves are light green in color, the inflorescences are terry structure, white in color, in cross section are about twenty-five mm, they consist of tubular flowers.
• Dahl White... The inflorescence is white, resembles a button.
• Snow Puffs, Snow Ball, White Stars". The inflorescence of these varieties is rounded, has skirts, which consist of shortened not narrow reed-type flowers.
• Virgo... The bush grows up to eighty cm. Baskets of a terry structure, in the form of a ball, white in color, reach fifteen mm in cross section.
• Goldbal. The inflorescence of a double structure, yellow in color, in cross section is twenty-five mm, consists of tubular flowers.

The benefits and harms of Persian chamomile

Persian chamomile: photo of flowers

The benefits of perennial Persian chamomile

A long time ago, with the help of a plant, they lowered the body temperature, eliminated head inflammations and pains. Aspirin and feverfew have the same qualities. In the seventeenth century, British scientists issued an official statement that feverfew had medicinal qualities. At the time, it was used as a remedy for headaches. In the 80s. In the 20th century, English scientists learned that the plant can easily cope with migraines, which a lot of people get sick with. Pyrethrum leaf powder fights migraines quickly and effectively. This is because the plant contains parthenolide, which blocks the production of serotonin by the pineal gland. As many people know, excessive amounts of serotonin in blood vessels and brain cells can develop migraines.

The drugs "Lizurit" and "Metisergide" can also cure migraines, but taking them can cause different side effects. And the flower has no side effects. In addition, feverfew blocks the production of histamine, prevents blood clots, and is directed against microbes and allergies. The leaves are used to treat rheumatism and arthritis, asthma attacks and pain during critical periods. In combination with other medicines, Persian chamomile is used against allergies, to combat psoriasis and dermatitis.

Why is Persian chamomile harmful?

Perennial Persian chamomile is prohibited for use by pregnant women, during breastfeeding, children under two years of age, people who take coagulants and individually do not tolerate the plant.