Obedient Plant Care : Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana), additionally accepted as apocryphal dragonhead, is a beginning bulb in the excellent ancestors that is accessible to grow. True to its name, the plant’s alone flowers are “obedient” and can angle in any direction.
Unfortunately, this fast-growing abiding is not so acquiescent in the garden, area it can advance absolutely aggressively by rhizomes. Its added accepted name, apocryphal dragonhead, acceptable came about because of the flowers’ affinity to snapdragons.
After actuality sown in backward abatement afore any snow is on the ground, acquiescent bulb flowers activate to accessible in backward summer, boring blooming from the basal of the annual axis upward. They should abide in blossom able-bodied into fall.
The long, ovate, denticulate leaves are adequately characterless during the non-flowering allotment of the season. Some varieties about-face red in the fall. The white, pink, and lavender flowers anatomy forth spikes, in four accurate vertical rows, and activate aperture from the basal up.
Pollinators like bees and hummingbirds are admiring to the acquiescent plant, which is accessible to abound from seeds and has a formation amount of about 100 percent.
Obedient Plant Care
Although acquiescent plants can advance throughout the garden, the alone plants tend to be clumpers. The annual stalks will angle and break angled if confused or absolute over.
Large plants may crave staking and complete plants will attenuate out in the centermost and can booty on an open, billowing form, cogent you it’s time to bisect them.
Obedient bulb combines able-bodied with the dejected flowers of the backward summer garden, such as caryopteris, Russian sage, and catmint. The annoying flowers are additionally a nice arrangement with asters, sedum, and coneflowers.
Because of its acquiescent habit, apocryphal dragonhead is a fun plant to affection in children’s area for the kids to comedy with. Flowers of the acquiescent plant accomplish abiding cut flowers.
The better aliment assignment is befitting the acquiescent bulb from advancing spreading. Although the plants cull out calmly enough, they assume to pop up everywhere.
If you’re tempted to delay and let them flower, be abiding to get out there afore they go to seed. Long-season gardeners can get a additional even of blooms by deadheading the aboriginal flowers. This will additionally cut bottomward on self-seeding.
Wait until bounce to cut aback old foliage. Leave it on the plants to act as a careful winter mulch.
Obedient Plant Care : Light
Obedient plants are happiest in abounding sun, but they can handle fractional shade, abnormally during dry summers. Abounding sun will aftermath the best blossoms.
Obedient Plant Care : Soil
Obedient plants are calmly accustomed and actual aridity tolerant, affectionate plants. Although they adopt moist, hardly acerb clay (5.5 to 6.3 pH), they’ll abound aloof accomplished in boilerplate to poor soil, and overextension will be beneath of a problem.
Obedient Plant Care : Water
Obedient Plant Care should be watered already or alert a anniversary already established.
Obedient Plant Care : Temperature and Humidity
These are boxy plants, anxiously able in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 10. They adopt hot, dry regions with a temperature of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Obedient Plant Care : Fertilizer
Don’t beget your acquiescent plants, unless they appearance signs of comestible deficiencies. Beneath fertilizer agency beneath advancing spreading.
Obedient Plant Varieties
There are several admirable varieties of acquiescent plant, including these:
- Physostegia virginiana “Pink Bouquet”: A abounding bloomer with bendable blush flowers, this is a acceptable best for arctic gardeners. It about grows amid 2 to 3 anxiety tall.
- Physostegia virginiana “Summer Glow”: A alpine agriculturalist with abysmal lavender-pink flowers, this array alcove 3 to 4 anxiety tall.
- Physostegia virginiana “Variegata”: White edges on leaves accomplish this array absorbing all season. It produces blush flowers and grows up to 24 inches tall.
- Physostegia virginiana “Vivid”: This bulb forms short, close clumps. It yields ablaze purple-pink flowers and grows up to 2 anxiety tall.
How to Growwing Acquiescent Plant From Seed
Obedient Plant Care be started from seed, about two months afore burying out or bisect absolute clumps in the spring. Cuttings taken from young, breakable shoots additionally basis well.
If burying from seeds outdoors, bulb the seeds aloof beneath the apparent of the clay in groups of about two to three seeds spaced about 18 to 24 inches apart.
If you’re sowing the seeds in containers indoors, the burying abyss will be the same. It will booty about a anniversary for seeds to germinate. Already the plants are a few inches tall, they can be crude to your garden a few weeks afterwards the aftermost frost.
Conclusion
The Obedient Plant is a hardy, low-maintenance perennial that will provide gardeners with colorful, eye-catching blooms throughout the summer. With a few steps of attentive care, the Obedient Plant can thrive in any garden.
Watering when the top inch of soil is dry, adding a slow-release fertilizer in the spring, and deadheading spent blooms will ensure the Obedient Plant will bring beauty to the garden for many years.