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Peony Black Beauty is a varietal representative of the culture that came to Russia from America. Among the herbaceous varieties, Black Beauty is characterized by the darkest shade of red flowers. The culture is grown for the decoration of gardens, summer cottages and backyards.
Description of peony Black Beauty
Peony Black Beauty is a perennial plant. Budding begins in the third year of the biological cycle and lasts about 15 years. During this period, the peony gives a lot of root growth, the flowering rate does not decrease.
The Black Beauty variety is in demand among gardeners in almost all regions of Russia. The culture is distinguished by a high index of frost resistance, thanks to the deepened central root, it calmly reacts to Siberian frosts down to -350C.
The plant is light-loving, but it can also exist in partial shade. In a shaded place, it loses its decorative effect. Shoots become thin and small, buds are rarely formed.
The color of the Black Beauty petals changes with the time of day, in the morning the peonies are bright, and with the sunset a chocolate shade appears.
The peony is especially popular in the gardens of the Moscow region. Due to the high degree of drought resistance, Black Beauty feels good in a southern climate. This variety is often found in the resort area of the Black Sea and Azov coasts.
In the first year after planting, the growing season is aimed at forming the root system, in the next season the peony increases the green mass, intensively forming shoots, in the third year in the spring it lays buds, and by autumn the plant is suitable for division.
Black Beauty herbaceous peony grows in the form of a compact bush with strong shoots that do not deviate from the center under the weight of the flowers. Therefore, the variety is grown without a garter to the support. The advantages of the variety include persistent immunity to infections and pests. With proper care, the peony practically does not get sick.
Externally, the Black Beauty variety looks like this:
- The height of an adult peony is 80-90 cm, the bush is dense, with multiple shoots, very dense, the volume is within 50 cm, it grows rapidly.
Without dividing the parent plant, the crown becomes voluminous, but the flowers are smaller in size
- Stems are upright, with a rigid structure, red-brown, slightly pubescent. At the tops, up to three lateral shoots are formed, ending, like the main stem, with flowers.
- The leaves are fixed on long stalks of 3-4 pcs., The arrangement is alternate. The leaf plate is long and thin, with a sharp top and smooth edges, the surface is glossy, light green in color.
- The root system is a mixed species, the fibrous roots are close to the surface, the central part deepens to 60 cm.
With a compact bush and abundant flowering, Black Beauty is ideal for mass planting.
Flowering features
Black Beauty peony is a semi-double species with large inflorescences. The variety is medium early, the budding begins in late spring, the bush blooms for two weeks. After flowering and until late autumn, the peony retains its decorative effect due to its dense crown. When the temperature drops to zero, the leaves become crimson; after the first frost, the aerial part dies off.
The stems are vertical, long, without bends, so the peony looks graceful both in a flower bed and in a bouquet
How Black Beauty blooms:
- semi-double flowers consist of eight rows of petals, the lower ones are open, slightly rounded, with wavy edges, the closer to the center, the smaller the size becomes, the shape becomes concave, the edges turn out to be carved;
- the core consists of numerous filaments with bright yellow anthers;
- the flowers are large, the average diameter is 18 cm, if the lateral buds are removed, the central flower can grow up to 25 cm;
- the shape is lush, round, the aroma is weak;
- the color is maroon with a brown tint.
The splendor of a peony depends on the fertility of the soil, the degree of lighting, on the timely division of the bush.
Application in design
Black Beauty variety with a dense crown and strong stems does not disintegrate, keeps its shape throughout the growing season. The peony is suitable for growing in a large portable pot, it is an interesting option for outdoor containers.
Black Beauty grade is used to decorate the balcony of a city apartment, loggia, country veranda or winter garden. The plant will not lose its decorative effect in stationary conditions if it has enough space and ultraviolet radiation. The variety feels comfortable in greenhouses, but the beauty of Black Beauty is fully revealed only in the open field.
Peony is used to decorate the site in combination with different types of flowering and evergreen plants, shrubs. It is necessary that the crops have similar soil composition requirements.
Peony Black Beauty is planted in composition with the following plants: geraniums, dwarf forms of pine with various colors of needles, pyramidal thujas, ground cover junipers, irises, with white, yellow or cream roses, hydrangea, pelargonium, petunia, zinnia.
Do not combine Black Beauty with perennials with a creeping root system when planting. Competition for food will not be in favor of the variety. Mixborders with this peony are created without using plants with red flowers, since they will become invisible against the background of a bright culture.
Examples of growing Black Beauty in horticulture:
- For framing flower beds.
Peonies of different varieties are planted, creating a composition in contrast to the color of flowers
- They use mass planting to decorate lawns.
Burgundy flowers of Black Beauty peony favorably emphasize unpretentious field plants
- For the decoration of the recreation area.
In combination with flowering plants, peonies create a special flavor
- Planted on the sides of a garden or park path.
The peony alley looks bright and festive
- In the foreground of the estate as a tapeworm.
Peony will decorate any place on the site
- They create compositions with evergreen crops.
Dark flowers Black Beauty successfully harmonize with golden thuja
Reproduction methods
Black Beauty is suitable for any breeding method. Generative is used in nurseries, seedlings are massively grown for the sale of seedlings, but it takes 3 years for the peony to gain strength. You can increase the number of bushes on the site by cuttings and layering. These methods are ineffective, so gardeners rarely use them.
The variety grows well, forms young tubers in sufficient quantity, the adult plant is divided into several parts, so that each one has 3-5 vegetative buds, then it is determined to a permanent place. The next season the plant will give buds, in a year it will be a full-fledged bush.
Landing rules
In any climatic zone, peonies are planted at the end of summer or in the first decade of September. The frost-resistant plant fully adapts until winter and will enter the active phase of the growing season in the spring.
Site requirements:
- The place must be sunny, temporary shading is allowed. The site needs good air circulation.
- The soil is suitable for light, fertile, drained, you can not place the peony in a constantly damp place.
- The composition of the soil is neutral.
The planting recess is prepared 14 days before work so that the soil settles. The pit must be at least 60 cm deep and wide. Drainage is required to the bottom.Peat and compost are mixed, potash and superphosphate are added, the substrate is poured into the pit and filled with water.
Planting technology Black Beauty:
- In early September, the bush intended for dividing is cut to the first buds.
- They are carefully removed from the soil, washed off or shaken off the soil, and plots are prepared.
- Mix soil with compost.
- They put the peony in the center, put a bar on the edges, measure 4 cm down and place the buds at this level. Tie the root to the bar.
- The pit is filled with a mixture, compacted, watered, sprinkled with ash, and covered with mulch.
So that after watering the settled earth does not pull the root behind it, fixation is necessary
Follow-up care
Black Beauty's agricultural technology does not differ from other varieties with large red flowers:
- The main condition is feeding. On poor soil, the plant will not bloom, and shoot formation will also slow down. In early spring, organic fertilizers and urea are applied. When the buds begin to form, the peony is treated with the Bud stimulant. Fertilized with Agricola from mid-June. The drug stimulates the formation of kidneys for the next season. At the beginning of autumn, root top dressing with superphosphate and potassium agents is required.
- An adult peony is watered during budding and flowering. Then in mid-August and before wintering.
- Mulching is carried out immediately after planting, cover the soil around the plant with a mixture of peat and humus. At the beginning of each season, the material is updated.
- They loosen the soil without a specific schedule, with each compaction, remove the weeds as they grow.
- Before frost, the bush is cut off completely, up to the first buds.
Preparing for winter
In order for the bush to winter successfully, preparatory work is carried out. Activities required for the Black Beauty variety:
- cutting dry crown;
- water charging irrigation;
- hilling a bush;
- introduction of organic matter;
- increasing the layer of mulch.
In the first winter, it is better to cover young plants with any material, and cover them with snow in winter.
Pests and diseases
Of the pests on the peony, aphids can occur, less often a root nematode. Treated with Black Beauty Actara. The bush is rarely sick, only under unfavorable conditions (high humidity, shading) fungal infections (powdery mildew or rust) can progress. Eliminate the problem with Fitosporin.
Conclusion
Peony Black Beauty is a popular large-flowered variety with semi-double inflorescences. The plant is frost-resistant, suitable for growing outdoors in all temperate regions. Culture has found application in landscape design.
